Van Gogh museum, Amsterdam

Amsterdam has over fifty museums, attracting millions of visitors every year. Museum collections cover everything from masterpieces of art to porn, vodka and cannabis. The most popular ones can get very crowded in the summer peak season, so it’s worth exploring advance tickets or getting there off-peak (eg. very early in the morning). Some of the quality museums that you can’t miss:

• Anne Frank House – Dedicated to Anne Frank, a Jewish girl who kept a diary while hiding from Nazi persecution in hidden rooms at the rear of the building (known as the Achterhuis). It’s an exhibition on the life of Anne Frank, but also highlights other forms of persecution and discrimination.

• Rijksmuseum – First-class museum that has a large collection of paintings from the Dutch Golden Age. Some artists you can’t overlook are Rembrandt van Rijn, Johannes Vermeer, Frans Hals and Jan Steen. The must-sees are Rembrandt’s Night Watch and Vermeer’s Milkmaid. The museum also boasts a substantial collection of Asian art.

• Van Gogh Museum – Even those with no knowledge of art must have heard about Vincent van Gogh, the Dutch Post-Impressionist painter whose work had a far-reaching influence on 20th century art for its vivid colors and emotional impact. This museum has the largest collection of Van Gogh’s paintings and drawings in the world.

Tip: A Museum Card (Museum Jaarkaart) costs €39.95 and covers the cost of admission to over 400 museums across the Netherlands. It is valid for one year and can be bought at most major museums.

Other museums worth mentioning:

Multatuli Museum
Korsjespoortsteeg 20, 1015 Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: 020 6381938‎
Website‎ – Directions
The most important Dutch writer of the 19th century took his penname Multatuli (much experienced) from Roman poet Ovid. Born in Amsterdam in 1820 as Eduard Douwes Dekker, a son of ship captain, Multatuli achieved through his writings prominence lasting until our days. A small museum in the house of his birth, reminds his life and his writings.

Houseboat museum
Prinsengracht 296, 1016 Amsterdam, Amsterdam (Noord-Holland), Netherlands
Tel: 020 4270750
Website‎ – Directions
Ever wondered what it is like to live right on the canals of Amsterdam? This is your chance to visit a former sailing vessel, although the houseboat is no longer used as a home, it looks like the owner could pop back in at any moment.

Amsterdam Tulip Museum
Prinsengracht 112, 1015 Amsterdam, Amsterdam (Noord-Holland), Netherlands
Tel: 020 4210095
Website – Directions
A friendly, small museum about the tulip which is a symbol of the Netherlands, Amsterdam Tulip Museum is located just across the bridge from the Anne Frank House. You may see there interesting multimedia presentations about the history of tulip, its cultivation and the 17th century speculation with tulip bulbs – so called tulip mania. In the musum shop you may buy bulbs of rare tulips and many other decorative flowers.

Vodka Museum
Damrak 33, 1012 LK Amsterdam, Netherlands‎ –
Tel: 020 5286035
Website – Directions
The Vodka Museum features a small, professionally organized exhibit about the history of Russian Vodka. The timeline is completed with some unique, interesting vodka bottles, as well as hundreds of sorts of vodka from Russia and other countries, ironically completed by some old anti-alcohol drinking posters from the Soviet era. And while the times have changed, an elegant Museum Bar makes the vodka consumption possible directly on the spot, in the museum.

Jewish Historical Museum
Nieuwe Amstelstraat 1, 1011 PL Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: 020 5310333‎
Website – Directions
The museum consists of four synagogues, the oldest dating back to 17th century and houses a rich collection. It shows the history, religion and culture of Jews in the Netherlands.

Museum Amstelkring
Oudezijds Voorburgwal 40, 1012 GE Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: 020 6246604‎
Website – Directions
On the edge of the Red Light District, museum houses in the restored 17th-century canal house with two smaller houses to the rear. The lower floors of the building became a museum in 1888 and today contain refurbished rooms, as well as a collection of church silver, religious artefacts and paintings.

Hermitage in Amsterdam
Nieuwe Herengracht 14, 1018 DP Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: 020 5308755‎
Website – Directions
A small dependence of the famous Hermitage museum of Saint Petersburg, Russia, organizes each year two interesting exhibitions. Check their website for the current show – if the subject does interest you, it will be certainly worth seeing, because these exhibits are usually intersting and well presented. The Hermitage Amsterdam has some big development plans linked to the adaptation of the Amstelhof – an old and beautiful building at the Amstel River. It should make of Hermitage dependence one of the biggest museums in Amsterdam.

Museum van Loon
Keizersgracht 672, 1017 ET Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: 020 6245255‎
Website – Directions
An impressive patrician canal house at the very center of Amsterdam. Here is your unique possibility of entering such a house, still owned by the aristocratic Van Loon family, which decided to open it to the public. An interesting private museum documenting the life of the upper class in the city of Amsterdam.

Amsterdam Historical Museum
Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 359, 1012 RM Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: 020 5231822‎
Website – Directions
The permanent exhibitions are housed around the complex’s inner courtyards. Clear signposting allows the visitor to concentrate on a specific period of the Amsterdam’s history.

Museum Willet-Holthuysen
Herengracht 605, 1017 CE Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: 020 5231870‎
Website – Directions
Museum Willet-Holthuysen is a museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on the Herengracht canal. It is the only fully furnished canalside patrician house in Amsterdam that is open to the public. The museum has a large collection of silverware, plate, and books from the Dutch Golden Age and a substantial collection of art.

Rembrandt house museum
Jodenbreestraat 4, 1011 NK Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: 020 5200400‎
Website – Directions
The house where Rembrandt lived from 1639 until 1659 is now the home of a large collections of his etchings and the very place where most of them where made. It also has a large collection of paintings of people who inspired him, like Pieter Lastman.
Location: Jodenbreestraat 4

NEMO
Oosterdok 2, 1011 VX Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: 020 5313233‎
Website – Directions
Right next the Central Station is the largest futuristic science center in the Netherlands, housed in a ship like building designed by Renzo Piano. Here you can be amazed by the world of science and technology. Contrary to other museums, here you must touch the collection and experiment with it.

Nieuwe Kerk – New Church
Gravenstraat 17, 1012 NL Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: 020 6386909‎
Website – Directions
This late Gothic church is the home of several unique exhibitions throughout the year. Each exhibition will show only masterpieces of a certain era or subject.

Madame Tussauds
Dam 20, 1012 JS Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: 020 5230623‎
Website – Directions
Brings you face to face with waxwork images of the powerful and famous and allows you to step into the times, events, and moments that made them so. Life size and frighteningly lifelike.

Museum Het Schip – Amsterdam School of architecture
Spaarndammerplantsoen 140, 1013 XT Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: 020 4182885‎
Website – Directions
This is an excellent example of the Amsterdam School of Architecture from the beginning of the 20th century. “The ship” as the block is called, was designed by M. de Klerk, and it’s interior has now been carefully restored.

Verzetsmuseum – Resistance Museum – WWII
Plantage Kerklaan 61 D, 1018 CX Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: 020 6202535‎
Website – Directions
The main exhibition of this museum shows the work of the Dutch resistance during WWII, but it also makes the visitor think about the things we take for granted nowadays, like freedom.

Hortus Botanicus – the Botanical Garden
Plantage Middenlaan 2, 1018 DD Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: 020 6259021‎
Website – Directions
This oasis in the centre of the city has always been called the jewel in the crown of Amsterdam. It was established in 1638 as an herb garden for Amsterdam doctors and chemists and has since developed into a living museum with plants from all continents.

Theo Thijssen Museum
Eerste Leliedwarsstraat 16, 1015 TA Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: 020 4207119‎
Website – Directions
An old small house, typical for the Jordaan area of Amsterdam accommodates on its ground floor a museum of the popular Dutch writer, author of popular in the Netherlands books for children – Theo Thijssen. The sympathetic, very small museum with a strong local character.

ARCAM – Amsterdam Centre for Architecture
Prins Hendrikkade 600, 1011 VX Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: 020 6204878‎
Website – Directions
The ARCAM foundation aims to show the public all aspects of Amsterdam’s architecture – future, present and historical. It is housed in a unique building designed by René van Zuuk. You can find there different exhibitions throughout the year, and once a month a distinguished architect is invited to talk about his or her work.

Ajax Museum
Arena Boulevard 3, 1101 Amsterdam Zuid-Oost, Netherlands
Tel: 020 3111688‎
Website – Directions
This history of Ajax football club, images of 100 years of football legends from these “Sons of the Gods”, one of the best know teams in the Netherlands and across the borders.

Sex museum
Damrak 18, 1012 LH Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: 020 6228376‎
Website – Directions
Another must when in Amsterdam: The Venustemple houses an extensive collection of erotic paintings, pictures, objects and recordings from different ages and cultures all over the world.

Torture museum
Singel 449, 1012 Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: 020 3206642‎
Website – Directions
This small and dark museum shows some of the most horrid inventions to torture and execute people. Complete with straps, spikes, weights and blades, these machines will make you thankful that they are no longer used in modern times.

Erotic Museum
Oudezijds Achterburgwal 54, 1012 Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: 020 6278954‎
Website – Directions
Located right in the hart of the red-light district, this museum reflects the history of the area. Five floors full of erotic enjoyment and artwork.
Location: OZ. Achterburgwal 54

Heineken Experience
Tweede Weteringplantsoen 21, 1017 ZD Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: 020 5239239‎
Website – Directions
No visit is complete without taking a peek in the breweries of the worlds best beer. Find out everything you wanted to know about the history of beer making and take a bottleride to see the process of beer making from beginning until the end.

The Hash, Marijuana and Hemp Museum
Oudezijdsachterburgwal 148, 1012 DV Amsterdam, Netherlands
Tel: 020 6262988‎
Website – Directions
This small museum located on two unattached venues at one of the old canals of the Red Light District, is one of the Amsterdam best kept secrets. On the outside, one of many attractions of the local tourist industry – inside an interesting collection of objects and artifacts, paintings and photographs related to cannabis but also to its more important cousin – the hemp plant and its multiple, non-hallucinogenic uses.