Amsterdam has everything you need for spending a perfect day in the city. Start by having breakfast in one of Amsterdam’s beautiful cafés or brunch spots, then take in an art exhibition in a famous museum, stroll along the canals, stop for lunch… go shopping, have a drink in a laid-back brown café, go out for dinner to a cosy local place or a high-end restaurant, and then hit Amsterdam’s bustling nightlife with its glamorous cocktail bars, trendy new nightspots and clubs with big-name DJs.
Amsterdam is more spectacular seen from the water. Canal cruises are a popular way to see the city from the perspective of its canals. It’s the most relaxing way to get to know Amsterdam, as you’ll have your own personal audio guide. Amsterdam canal cruise takes you to rich history and many of the city’s highlights, The Westerkerk, the Anne Frank House, the narrowest house in Amsterdam or Magere Brug (Skinny Bridge). Amsterdam canal cruise is the way to get to know the city.
Anne Frank was one of the Jewish victims of Nazi persecution during the second world war. After Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940, increasingly severe anti-Jewish measures began here as well. The Frank family tried to escape by going into hiding. On July 1942, Otto Frank, Edith Frank-Hollander and their daughters Margot and Anne hid in this building on the Prinsengracht. The building consists of two parts, a front house and a back annex. Otto Frank’s business was located in the front house. The uppermost floors of the back anexe became the hiding place. After more than two years the group was betrayed and deported. Anne and Margot died of typhus in Bergen-Belsen in March 1945, only a few weeks before this concentration camp was liberated. During the hiding period Anne Frank kept a diary. In it she described daily life in the back anexe, the isolation and the fear of discovery. Anne’s diary survived the war: after the betrayal it was found by Miep Gies, one of the helpers.
Museums are also one of the main tourist attraction in Amsterdam. Everyone knows the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum and Stedelijk Museum, but there is much more. Amsterdam has over seventy museums which attract millions of visitors each year. Check out some art galleries or smaller museums or explore up-and-coming neighbourhoods.
Amsterdam Van Gogh Museum maintains the world’s largest collection of the works of the world’s most popular artist – Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), his paintings, drawings and letters, completed with the art of his contemporaries. Each year, 1.6 million visitors come to the Van Gogh Museum, making it one of the 25 most popular museums in the world. In 2015, the museum added the new glass entrance hall at the back of its building.
Cycle along Amsterdam’s flat and open city streets. Explore the historic city at a leisurely pace as you pedal alongside the UNESCO-listed canals and visit the green oasis of Vondel Park. Pass top attractions like the Anne Frank House and the Rijksmuseum, and check out Amsterdam’s oldest neighborhood, the Red Light District.
The Red Light District is the oldest area in Amsterdam and is by most people being seen as the entrance of Amsterdam. The area is known for its sex shops, coffeeshops and seed shops. What many visitors don’t know is that there are actually people living in the Red Light District. 8.060 people to be exactly. The unique mix of residential, shops and touristic features makes this the oldest part of town with many historic buildings, an attractive place for many residents and visitors.
Amsterdam coffee shops, not to be confused with cafés, have been a part of the city since the 1970s, when the Dutch government made a clear distinction in the law between ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ drugs. Unlike Amsterdam’s fully legal smart shops, Amsterdam coffeeshops have always existed in a legal grey area. Today, Amsterdam’s City Council, through agreement with the coffeeshop union Bond van Cannabis Detaillisten (BCD), allows coffee shops to operate with the provision of set, non-transferable licences – shown by the display of an official, green and white sticker in the window.
