Things to Do in Amsterdam

Amsterdam is justly proud of its long-standing reputation for tolerance and with Ashkenazi Jews finding refuge in its borders throughout the 17th century, Jewish traditions have played an important part in the city’s heritage.

To honor this, the award-winning Joods Historisch Museum (Jewish Historical Museum) opened in the 1930s, and despite being shut down during the Nazi occupation of WWII, reopened in 1955. Its present location sprawls throughout the 17th-century buildings of 4 Ashkenazi synagogues on Jonas Daniël Meijerplein; as impressive outside as it is inside. Today, it remains the country’s only dedicated Jewish museum, exploring the history, culture and religion that have shaped so much of its population.

A vast collection of artwork, short films and photography accompanies the three permanent exhibitions, which showcase over 11,000 objects and focus on ‘Jewish traditions and customs’, the ‘history of Jews in the Netherlands’ and the harrowing tales and written testimonies of persecution under Nazi rule.

The modern museum also puts a twist on the storytelling in the adorning ‘JHM Children’s Museum’, where all ages are welcome to take part in Jewish-themed activities – if you’ve ever wanted to learn how to bake matzo, play traditional Jewish music or write in Hebrew, this is the place to learn. There’s even a café onsite, where you can recover from the day’s explorations – all kosher, of course.

Conveniently located right in central Amsterdam, Jordaan is one of the city's most important, and most interesting districts. Never short of things to do, it is the location of the famous Anne Frank house, where renowned holocaust victim Anne Frank hid from the Nazis during WWII.

Currently, the district is bustling with life, with tons of opportunities to visit one of its many specialty shops, soak in Dutch culture at an art gallery, or try some of the local delicacies at its street markets.
   
Prideful of its early 20th-century music culture, this central district also features wonderful music festivals and has scattered statues throughout, commemorating the likes of local hero and Dutch patriot Johnny Jordaan. Not dead, you can go check out Jordaan's lively modern music scene at many of its bars and club venues, these days mainly featuring alternative, punk and grunge music.

Few people know that Amsterdam has played an important role as a diamond center for more than four centuries, mostly because of the Dutch colonization in South Africa back in the 1800s. Since 2007, the Diamond Museum Amsterdam has helped visitors understand how diamonds are formed from a geological standpoint, through a process taking billions of years and beginning 200 kilometers underneath the earth’s surface. The museum’s permanent collection includes several world-famous pieces, such as the Katana, the Rembrandt Diamond, and The Ape Skul. Visitors can also witness diamond cutters and goldsmiths at work, turning stones into valuable and beautiful pieces of jewelry. The beam behind the museum has worked on the restoration of some of the most precious jewels in the world, including the Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom and the Saxon dynasty's Dresden Green Diamond. The museum also offers a Diamond Workshop (€475), in which a Master Diamond Cutter teaches visitors the basics of cutting and polishing a diamond, before they are invited to cut and polish one themselves, to bring home as a souvenir. 

Transformed from a complex for the elderly to a department of Saint Petersburg’s famous Hermitage Museum in 2009, a visit to the Hermitage Amsterdam starts with marveling its the impressive exterior. The sprawling Amstelhof building, designed by architect Hans Van Petersom, dates back to the 17th-century and stretches 105m along the Amstel riverfront, featuring a central courtyard garden shaded by chestnut trees.

Hermitage Amsterdam is now one of the largest museums in the country and features some of the country’s most captivating temporary exhibitions. The collections, rotated each 6 months, feature selections imported from the Russian museum’s enormous treasury of artifacts, including its famously expansive collection of French 19th and 20th century paintings. Past exhibitions have included Modernist and expressionist artworks; sizable exhibits on ‘Peter the Great (1672–1725), the modernizer of Russia’ and ‘The Immortal Alexander the Great’; and collections of historical artifacts from Russia, Siberia and Eastern Europe. 

Two additional permanent exhibitions focus on the long standing relationship between the Netherlands and Russia and the history of the monumental building itself, and there are regular concerts and children’s activities organized onsite, as well as an on-site café and restaurant.

Amsterdam’s De Negen Straatjes, or ‘Nine Little Streets’, are the nine shopping streets linking the main Prinsengracht and Singel canals. The pedestrian quarter not only makes the perfect destination for window-shopping, but draw your eye above the shop fronts and you’ll find plenty of impressive architecture to marvel over. Many of the buildings here date back to the 17th-century and the area has been the go-to shopping area for locals for almost 400 years.

Ardent shoppers will find plenty to get excited about, with the area’s shops as varied and vibrant as the city itself. The cobbled streets abound with homegrown designer boutiques, vintage clothing shops and independent art galleries, with shop windows showcasing creative displays of artisan furnishings, alternative clothing designs and handcrafted accessories. The unique, quirky and bizarre reign in the small themed shops, with plenty of unusual finds and distinctive keepsakes on offer, but if you’re after typical souvenirs, you’ll be better heading elsewhere. Even the coffee shops here come with an independent flavor, with international chains passed over in favor of Amsterdam’s characteristic brown bars, hip bistros and homely cafés.
With their matchless charm and fierce individuality, these nine little streets are more than just a collection of shops. The vibrant, bustling neighborhood remains one of the most uniquely appealing areas of Amsterdam.

With its distinctive wheel-like shape and fire-engine red rind, Edam is one of Amsterdam’s most famous exports, although the cheese looks a little different in its home town - here, the cheese has an uncharacteristic yellow rind. Edam isn’t just a cheese, though; it’s also the name of the town where it’s made, a waterside residence settled back in the 12th century. 18km north of Amsterdam, the town lies on the banks of the IJsselmeer (IJssel lake) and is reachable by boat, as well as being a popular destination for cheese-loving tour groups.

In the heart of town is the famous cheese market and cheese-weighing hall, an ancient tradition that was reopened in 1989 thanks to tourist demand. The market runs weekly through the summer months, with locals getting into the spirit with traditional costumes, live folk music and, of course, stalls stacked high with cheese. For the full experience, pay a visit to the region’s cheese and dairy farms where you can marvel at the cheese warehouses and enjoy cheese-making displays.

There are plenty of attractions in town aside from cheese, too – the Edam Museum, housed in an early 16th-century townhouse, offers historic snippets of the town’s whaling past and the teetering Carillon Tower (Speeltoren) with its picturesque gothic façade is worth a visit. Alternatively, take a stroll around Edam’s idyllic drawbridges, canal houses and pretty teahouses.

One of Amsterdam’s most famous central squares, the busy Leidseplein, or Leiden Square, claims a prime location to the South of the city’s canal ring and opposite the popular Vondelpark.

Once serving as a 17th-century transport stand for horse-drawn carriages, the square remains a vibrant center point, alive with street entertainers and freestyle jazz performers. Here, costumed acrobats and break-dancers amuse punters at the square’s many cafés, shops and restaurants. As the sun sets, the city’s notorious brown cafés, Irish pubs and music venues fill up, and the square is at its liveliest, flickering with neon and echoing with music spilling from the clubs. Melkweg and Paradiso are two of the most famous music venues, with a number of acclaimed international artists performing alongside local acts.

Whether the sun’s shining or the snow’s falling, Leidseplein remains at the heart of the city’s festivities. Throughout the summer months, café terraces sprawl out into the plaza, while the festive season brings a giant open-air ice rink and food stalls serving seasonal delicacies and hot snacks late into the night.

There’s plenty to admire even in the quietest times, with some impressive architectural landmarks dotted around the square. Passersby can marvel at the neo-Renaissance facade of the famed Stadsschouwburg theatre, now home to the Dutch National Ballet, and the impressive Art Deco building that houses the renowned American Hotel.