Royal Palace on Dam Square and other Amsterdam, Netherlands Things to Do Tips

The Royal Palace was built in the 1600's and it served as the town hall. This is originally where the city began when the Dam was built here. This is also a great place to take pictures. This place was designed by Jacob van Campen when the old town hall burnt down.
This is the official home of the king or queen of the Netherlands. When they stay here this place is closed to visitors.

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Phone: +31-20- 6204060
Address: Dam 1
Directions: Admission is 4.50 euro
Website: http://www.koninklijkhuis.nl

This was the first place we stopped at. It was close to our hotel,within walking distance and we just sort of run into this place. It is said that this is where Amsterdam began. It was in the 13th century that a dam was built across the Amstel River. This is also how Amsterdam got its name. Right on this dam. Here the square is surrounded by the Royal Palace, Nieuwe Kerk (new church), The National Monument and Madame Tussaud's. There are alot of people around here,tourists, as well as local entertainers. Everyone is taking pictures here and its a busy spot. This is where you can find the citys ost imortant monuments.

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Address: Dam -
Website: http://www.damsite.nl/

This monument is a memorial to the Dutch citizens who lost thier lives in the World War II. It was built in 1956 and its located on the east side of the Dam Square. Not that you can miss it. It was built was a WWII memorial but now its concidered a monument for peace. There is a crucified Jesus Christ. There are four male figures signifying WAR, The is a woman and child representing PEACE, and there are two men with dogs representing resistance. You can also see two lions off to the side of the monument repersenting the Netherlands. Behind the monument there are urns filled with soil for the different states of the Netherlands.
Knowing all this you get a different prospective of this monument.

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Address: On dam square

This church is about 600 years old and is where Dutch monarchs are married and inaugurated. This church was a Catholic church but was turned into a Protestant church in 1578. Here you will find a very old organ built in 1655 that still is in use. There is a beautiful carved altar and beautiful stain glass windows.

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Phone: +31-20-6386909
Address: Dam 34-38
Website: http://www.nieuwekerk.nl

No trip can be complete to Amsterdam unless you have seen the Anne Frank house. I remember reading the book when I was a little girl so it had special meaning to me. It was like having read the book then coming here made it the more real to me. It was even alittle emotional. You cant take pictures in here but at the end of the tour there is a bookstore where you can purchase postcards of all the pictures you might have wanted to take. The post cards are about 1 euro each.
Here you can see pictures of Anne Frank and her family. There are also video clips of the father Otto Frank and other people who worked with, were in concentration camps, or knew either Anne frank or her family. The video clips of Otto Frank I found the most emotional. You can take a self guided tour of the house, see the bookcase that hid the entranceto their hiding place and see Anne Franks room. There are also pictures of what the place looked like back then. I think this place is a must see. You dont have to be Jewish to appreciate or to get emotional about what happened here.
Get here very early or very late to avoid the crowds. We came in November around 10am. We walked from the hotel we stayed at andthere was no line at all.

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Phone: +31-20-5567100
Address: Prinsengracht 267
Directions: The cost is about 7.50 euro and when we came the hours were from 9am til about 5pm. Check the times of operation before you come because hours do change according to what time of the year it is.
Website: http://www.annefrank.nl

Every book I have read about Amsterdam has this place on the top of their list of places that you have to visit. I have to say I am glad we came. We are not really into art like some people but we were familiar with some of his work. We also knew alittle about Vincent Van Gogh. This museum is very big and you can easily spend hoursin this place. They house the largest collection of Van Gogh's work here. There are over 200 paintings, over 500 drawings, and there are letters too. It is a very interesting place. There are also othe works by other famous artists like monet and a few others that I am not very familiar with.
You cannot take picturesin here but just likein the Anne Frank House there is a book store that you can purchase postcards of the painting that are in the museum.
One painting that I didnt see here was A Stary Night. It was on exhibition in New York City. Soif there is a painting that you have to see,calland find out if its going to be there during your visit.

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Phone: +31-20-5705252
Address: Paulus Potterstraat 7
Directions: We got here in the afternoon after the Anne Frank house. It was November and there was noline when we first came. When we left theline was very long. I think we just got lucky. Admission is about 13.00 euro
Website: http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl

We got here by accident. We got lost and found our way here. It seems that every big city has its own Chinatown. Amsterdams Chinatown is small but this is where we found the best food so far. I was never a big Chinese food person. I like it but its not top of my list. On top of that I didnt seem to have much luck in Amsterdam for food choices. Everywhere I went I ended up not caring toomuch for their food. By the time we got to Chinatown we were lost for a little while and we were hungry. We found ourselves in a temple and talking to the man there. He recommended a place and we went there. The food was good.
I also found a few places with good souveniers here. It was small but an interesting place.

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Address: Chinatown
Directions: Near the Redlight District

I love touring Brewerys. This was an unexpected great experience. The people here seem to really like their job and the tour was fun, interactive,and interesting. On top of that,with the price of admission you get two beers.
You get to know the ins and outs of making beer, you can also bottle your own beer and have it named after you. You get to send yourself or your friends emails with your picture doing something with the Heinekin Beer. You get to do alot of fun stuff.

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Phone: +31-20-5239666
Address: Stadhouderskade 78
Directions: Near the Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum. Admission is about 10euro and its open from 10am to 6pm
Website: http://www.heinekencorp.com

Some of the work of the most famous Dutch artist are housed here,like Rembrandt, Hals, Vermeer, and Steen.
It was going through some renovations when we came here but certain wings were open to the public. They are opened from 9am to 6pm and they are open late on Fridays til 10pm.
Admission is 9euro

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Phone: +31-20-6747047
Address: Stadhouderskade 42
Directions: Next to the Van Gogh Museum and near the Heineken Experience
Website: http://www.rijksmuseum.nl

This place wasnt on my list of must sees but after our dinner cruise on the cannals we got off and werent tired. We were walking back to the hotel and we saw this place. We decided to check it out. It was very entertaining. I thought it was very funny. It isnt sleazy or anything like that and this place is rather big. There are about 3 floors each with different eras in the evolution of sex and different societies and different fettishes. You can take all the pictures you like and admission is only about 3euro.
Its obviously not a place for kids but it is a fun place to visit if you have some time to kill.

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Phone: +31-20-6228376
Address: Damrak 18
Directions: Near the centraal Station