When you think of Amsterdam, you probably imagine a city of sin, notorious for its legalised cannabis consumption and red-light district. But, if you dig beneath the surface using divento.com, you will realise Amsterdam is a treasure trove of history and culture. It has around 75 museums which exhibit history, art and science, as well as more risqué topics like cannabis, prostitution and torture.
With so many museums and historical sites, it is difficult to decide what to do on a short weekend break, but Divento has done the work for you! Follow our itinerary which includes what we think are the best cultural sights Amsterdam has to offer. Alternatively, create your own itinerary on divento.com, Make sure to customise it by using the dates of your trip, whether you want it to be laid back or full on holiday, and what you are interested in seeing. Use divento.com to take the stress out of your city break.
Our tour of Amsterdam, generated using divento.com’s itinerary planner, will start at one of the most famous memorials in the city, the Anne Frank House Museum which welcomes 1.3 million visitors each year (make sure you book your ticket in advance via the link on divento.com to avoid the long queue). The museum, which is opposite the Prinsengracht canal, tells Anne’s story, and the story of European Jews during the Holocaust through quotes, photos, videos and original items.
Amsterdam has many museums and monuments that commemorate lives lost during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands from 1940, including the Homomonument and the National Monument in Dam Square, both just a few minutes from the Anne Frank House and included on our cultural and historical Amsterdam tour.
As you can see on Divento’s handy map, just a 6-minute walk along the canals from the National Monument, is another unmissable cultural site, Spui. This is a historic square near Begijnhof, a Medieval courtyard and the Oude Lutherse Kerk, an old Lutheran church, both worth checking out while you are there. The square has a weekly book market on Fridays and a contemporary art market on Sundays where local artists display and sell their work. To have an authentic Amsterdam experience, take a look at its other markets: Noordermarkt, Albert Cuyp Market and the Flower Market (the only floating flower market in the world). Since the markets are only open on certain days, add your trip dates into divento.com’s itinerary planner to make sure you don’t miss the markets.
You cannot visit Amsterdam without going to discover Museum Square, just 15 minutes from Spui. Join over two million people who visit the Rijksmuseum each year. It is the most visited museum in the whole of the Netherlands and one of the most famous in the world. It has a display of over 8,000 objects and pieces of art which show the history of the Netherlands from the Middle Ages to the present. Make sure you stroll across the square to the Van Gogh Museum which has the largest collection of his work in the world, including Sunflowers and The Yellow House. Don’t worry about missing important exhibitions, Divento’s itinerary planner will slot these into your itinerary for you.
The final stop of the day is the Tropenmuseum, one of the largest and most beautiful museums in the city. It is an ethnographic museum looking at different world cultures through photography and modern and traditional visual arts. Make sure you take a visit to the Oosterpark which is just round the corner for a well deserved rest before sampling Amsterdam’s nightlife.
Enjoy improvised comedy sketches at Boom Chicago in the trendy Jordaan district, or visit Jazz Café Alto for some live jazz and blues performances just 30 seconds from the Leidseplein, the centre of Amsterdam’s nightlife. Adapt your itinerary on the planner depending on whether you fancy a night of comedy, live music or clubbing.