Book Olympic Air Flights to Amsterdam from €78*

Sightseeing

The museums of Amsterdam. In the city that is home to around 150 museums of all kinds, you will not know from which one to start. Museumplein (Museum Square) is home to three large museums, the Rijksmuseum (the Dutch National Museum for arts and history), the Van Gogh Museum and the Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art. In Nieuwmarkt you will find the Museum Het Rembrandthuis (Rembrandt House Museum) with works by Rembrandt, who lived and worked in this building for a period. Other interesting museums in the city are the Jewish Historical Museum and the Verzetsmuseum (Resistance Museum) in the district of Plantage, the fascinating NEMO Science Museum, designed by the renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano and which looks like a boat floating water, the Tulip Museum, the Scheepvaartmuseum (National Maritime Museum), the Sexmuseum and the Erotic Museum. Here we present some of the most important so that you can decide for yourselves which ones interest you the most.

The famous Dutch National Museum, the Rijksmuseum, is the most important museum in the country. Its collections include over 1 million works of art, including famous works by the major Flemish painters such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, Jan Steen and others. The museum is housed in the iconic Cuypers building, in the Museumplein (Museum Square), the city’s largest square.

One of the most famous sights in Amsterdam is the Anne Frank House, which has been open as a museum since 1960. Here you will see the attic in which Anne and her family hid during the Second World War and in which she wrote her now famous diary.

A whole museum is dedicated to perhaps the most popular Dutch painter. The Van Gogh Museum is home to the world’s largest collection of his works and regularly tops the list of most visited Dutch museums. Here you can see, among other works, a version of the famous “Sunflowers”.

Walks around Amsterdam

Amsterdam owes its nickname of “Venice of the North” to its characteristic canals with their 1000 bridges. The concentric semicircular canals were built during the Golden Age of the Netherlands, in the 17th century, around the centre of the older town. The three main canals are the Herengracht, Prinsengracht and Keizersgracht. Walk through the little streets that circle them, admire the charming bridges and go for a bike ride along the canals, like the locals!

Take a boat cruise and tour the canals with an audio guide as you admire the most important landmarks of the city. You can choose from a simple guided tour or an experience cruise, such as lunch or dinner on the boat.

Amsterdam’s best-known square is Dam Square – referring, of course, to the dams of the canals – which is centrally located and thus ideal for exploring the medieval centre of the city. Every day it attracts visitors and locals to the big events or the second-hand book market that are held in the square.

Around Dam Square are some of the most important sights in the city centre, the Royal Palace (Koninklijk Paleis Amsterdam), the old post office building of the Magna Plaza which is today a shopping mall, the New Church (De Nieuwe Kerk), the Madame Tussauds waxworks museum and the National Monument, a white obelisk erected in 1956 in memory of the victims of the Second World War.

The vibrant Leidse Square, full of restaurants, clubs and the famous coffee shops, lies at the heart of the city and attracts all those who wish to enjoy the pulsating atmosphere and thriving night Life of Amsterdam. Street musicians, performers and jugglers create a magical scene in the streets around Leidseplein, which stays up till the morning hours.

As you walk through the city, at some point you will come to the Red Light District next to the canals, with the lit windows of the prostitutes. To discover the history of this area, visit the Red Lights Secrets Museum: Museum of Prostitution, which offers an overview of the history of prostitution in Amsterdam.

The impressive and colourful Bloemenmarkt, the world’s only floating flower market, has been located in the Singel canal since 1862. Here you will find a large variety of genuine Dutch tulips, as well as every type of flower and bulb, some of which you simply must buy for your flowerpots at home.
Open Monday to Saturday 09:00 to 17:30 and Sundays 11:30 to 17:30.

Of the many beautiful neighbourhoods in the city, the hip district of Jordaan, with its picturesque lanes, numerous canals, cafes, galleries and charming shops where you can make some excellent purchases is one of the loveliest. Lose yourselves in its magic as you walk or cycle along the De negen Straatjes, the "Nine little streets” that unite the central canals.

Excursions near Amsterdam

It is not possible to visit Amsterdam and not notice its famous flowers during the spring.

Visit Keukenhof, the largest flower garden in the world, with hundreds of tulip species and seven million flowers, in an area of 79 acres and with many different themed gardens. There are restaurants in the gardens, and you can also have a picnic. Keukenhof is in the town of Lisse, just 44 km from the capital.

In the spring take the train from the city centre and in just 20 minutes you will find yourselves in front of an unprecedented spectacle: beautiful colourful tulip fields (Bollenstreek), stretching from the meadows of Haarlem to Leiden.

The biggest party of the year

King’s Day (formerly Queen’s Day) is celebrated each year at the end of April. And what a celebration! Amsterdam is literally dressed in orange, with people in orange wigs, huge glasses, hats and anything else you can find in the countless souvenir shops. A lively outdoor party, with flea markets everywhere, plenty of drinks, DJs playing music, and endless dancing until the early hours. This is a very popular national holiday that each year attracts over 700,000 visitors.

Getting from the airport to Amsterdam

Amsterdam International Airport Schiphol is located close to the city centre, just 20 km southwest of Amsterdam and can easily be reached by public transport (train, bus), bicycle, electric vehicle, or taxi. The most popular way to get to the city centre from the airport is to take bus 397, the Amsterdam Airport Express, which departs every 5 minutes. The bus has free Wi-Fi and sockets to charge your phone. It departs from the Schiphol Plaza stop, just outside the arrivals and departures areas.

The trains that depart regularly for the central railway station of Amsterdam from Schiphol Airport are also convenient. The Intercity Direct is the fastest train and it reaches the city centre in 14 minutes.

If you wish to take a taxi from the airport, there are many companies and services to choose from, such as the Schiphol Travel Taxi, which you can book online at a reasonable price.

You can also try the popular, small electric vehicles from car2go, which you will find parked around the city, as well as in a special area at the airport. These are two-seater vehicles with a small space for your luggage. You pay for the vehicle only when you use it.
For more information, visit wwwcar2go.com

Amsterdam offers the visitor countless experiences in any season of the year. Book your tickets to Amsterdam with Olympic Air and enjoy a high level of service, both on the ground and in the air.