Highlights for tourist attractions in Amsterdam are the city’s historical canals, Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Concertgebouw concert, and Anne Frank House.
Amsterdam is perhaps best known for its canals, of which there are over 100 km (62 miles), and which you can cross with over 1,500 bridges…
…which is why the city is often nicknamed ‘Venice of the North‘.
The three most important canals in Amsterdam are:
- Herengracht,
- Prinsengracht, and
- Keizersgracht…
…along which you can see an estimated 1,550 of the most important Amsterdam landmarks and significant buildings.
There are around 200 boats and ferries offering canal cruises in the city.
Most of these depart from or near the central station, or alternatively, from the canals surrounding Leidseplein, Amsterdam’s entertainment center.
Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum are located within the same square, het Museumplein (‘Museum Square‘), in central Amsterdam.
Of these two, Rijksmuseum (rijksmuseum.nl) is best known for the world’s most extensive collection of classic Dutch art.
The size of the collection is around one million art objects, with especially the selection of works by Rembrandt (including “De Nachtwacht“) and his students being core of the collection.
Van Gogh, meanwhile, lived one of his most productive periods in Amsterdam, and many of those works are on display at the Van Gogh Museum (vangoghmuseum.nl).
Highlights of the Van Gogh Museum are his masterpieces:
- “Aardappeleters” and
- “Zonnenbloemen“…
…which have made this museum the most visited in Amsterdam.
Concertgebouw (concertgebouw.nl) concert, on the other hand, is part of itineraries for many friends of classical music.
Concertgebouw concert hall, in terms of acoustics, is considered by many critics to be the best in the world.
The architecture of the building, especially for its Grote Zaal (“Great Hall“), is very impressive.
Finally, Anne Frank House (annefrank.org) is one of the most visited buildings in Amsterdam, and famous as the place where Anne Frank hid from the Nazis, writing her world-famous diary.
In the house, you can tour both the well-preserved hiding place, as well as the exhibition about Anne Frank’s life and the period of time that she lived through.