Map view
Royal Palace Amsterdam
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- One of three palaces in the Netherlands which are at the disposal of the monarch by Act of Parliament
- The palace was built as a city hall during the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th century
- The building became the royal palace of King Louis Napoleon and later of the Dutch Royal House
Efteling
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Fantasy-themed amusement park in Kaatsheuvel, featuring attractions that reflect elements from ancient myths and legends, fairy tales, fables, and folklore
- The park was opened in 1952, and evolved from a nature park with a playground and a Fairytale Forest into a full-sized theme park
- It is the largest theme park in the Netherlands and one of the oldest theme parks in the world
Rijksmuseum
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- National museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history, located in Amsterdam
- The Rijksmuseum was founded in The Hague in 1798 and moved to Amsterdam in 1808, where it was first located in the Royal Palace
- It is the largest art museum in the country
- The museum has on display 8,000 objects of art and history, from their total collection of 1 million objects from the years 1200–2000, among which are some masterpieces by Rembrandt, and Johannes Vermeer
Van Gogh Museum
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Dutch art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries, located in Amsterdam
- Not commercially successful in his career, he struggled with severe depression and poverty, which eventually led to his suicide at age thirty-seven
- Today, Van Gogh's works are among the world's most expensive paintings to have ever sold
#21 in Best Museums in the World
Ten Boom Museum, Haarlem
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Museum in Haarlem, dedicated to The Hiding Place, the subject of a book by Corrie ten Boom
- The Ten Boom family ran a watch shop (horlogerie) on the corner of an alleyway and the main shopping street of Haarlem
- During the Nazi occupation of Haarlem starting in 1942, they provided safe harbor for Jews and other underground refugees in a hiding place they built upstairs
- Their large social network in church charities and watchmaker circles made the family quite successful in smuggling refugees until it was betrayed in 1944
- Many of the family members died in concentration camps, though Corrie ten Boom survived Ravensbrück concentration camp and returned to Haarlem and the watch shop, where she wrote several books about her experiences, and lived to age 91
Kinderdijkpad
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Village in Molenlanden, situated at the confluence of the Lek and Noord rivers, in the Alblasserwaard polder
- To drain the polder, a system of 19 windmills was built around 1740
- This group of mills is the largest concentration of old windmills in the Netherlands
Keukenhof Loop
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Known as the Garden of Europe, is one of the world's largest flower gardens, situated in Lisse
- The park features approximately 7 million flower bulbs, which are planted in the gardens annually
- Keukenhof is widely known for its tulips, and it also features numerous other flowers, including hyacinths, daffodils, lilies, roses, carnations and irises
- Keukenhof is only open to the general public for a world-renowned 8 week tulip display from mid-March to mid-May, with peak viewing arriving near mid-April, depending on growing season weather, which varies annually
Anne Frank House
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Writer's house and biographical museum dedicated to Jewish wartime diarist Anne Frank
- During World War II, Anne Frank hid from Nazi persecution with her family and four other people in hidden rooms, in the rear building, of the 17th-century canal house, later known as the Secret Annex
- She did not survive the war after Nazi authorities deported her family to concentration camps, but her wartime diary was published in 1947
- The museum opened in 1960, and preserves the hiding place, has a permanent exhibition on the life and times of Anne Frank, and has an exhibition space about all forms of persecution and discrimination
Vondelpark Loop
Walk difficulty: Easy
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Public urban park in Amsterdam, opened in 1865, and later renamed Vondelpark, after the 17th-century playwright and poet Joost van den Vondel
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam
- The collection comprises modern and contemporary art and design from the early 20th century up to the 21st century
- It features artists such as Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse, Jackson Pollock, and Andy Warhol
Heineken Experience
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- The Heineken Experience, located in Amsterdam, is a historic brewery and visitor center for the internationally distributed Dutch pilsner, Heineken beer
- The industrial facility was built as the first Heineken brewery in 1867, serving as the company's primary brewing facility until 1988 when a more modern, larger facility was constructed
Amsterdam Centraal Station
Best time to visit: April-May, Sept-Nov
Cost: $
- Largest railway station in Amsterdam, and the second busiest railway station in the country
- Amsterdam Centraal opened in 1889, and features a Gothic, Renaissance Revival station building