There’s a lot to do in Amsterdam, even without
hitting the well-beaten tourist track.
Green spaces like Vondel Park
and the peaceful Beginjnhof offer
hours of lounging pleasure, especially for those who may have spent the morning
in a coffee shop. It is not necessary to
plan one’s day assiduously: small cafes (and not just the kind that sell
marijuana and mushrooms) abound, and it can be just as rewarding to be a tourist
who wanders (with periodic pauses for caffeinated, alcoholic, or sweet
refreshment) as it is to be one who “does” all the hotspots at a break-neck
pace.
But just in case you happen to be the kind of tourist who
likes to return home having experienced all the big-name sights (or even if you
just want to know what you’re missing), here’s a run-down of what Amsterdam has
to offer:
The Anne Frank
House, at the center of the city, is the 18th century townhouse
where Anne and her family hid from the Nazis.
Their story is dramatized throughout the building’s rooms, using diary
excerpts and contemporary photographs.
The Artis Zoo
is the oldest continually running zoo in the Netherlands. It has an extensive menagerie, daily
feeding-times posted for your convenience and entertainment, and even a
state-of-the-art planetarium.
NEMO is Amsterdam’s pretty new
science and technology museum. Designed
by architect Renzo Piano, this green
discovery center comes equipped with portholes and seems to walk on water.
The Rijksmuseum
is the largest museum of art and history in the Netherlands. Its gorgeous 1885 building is worth the trip
alone.
The Stedelijk
Museum houses a diverse collection of modern and contemporary art.
The Van Gogh
Museum contains the largest collection of works by Vincent Van Gogh on the
planet, more than 200 canvasses in all.
If you feel like being chauffeured around Amsterdam for 1-4 hours
(depending on how you stomach boats), you might want to try a canal cruise. For sporty folks, there are also canal bikes
for rent, which allow you to paddle-boat your way from place to place.
Thirsty? Curious
about what it’s like to be a bottle of beer?
The Heineken Experience can
help you out. Not just a standard
brewery tour, the Experience provides an opportunity to try out the “bottle
ride,” a mechanized simulation of the factory life of a bottle of Heiney. And yes, there will be samples at the end.
For more the staid glass-enthusiast, there is the
graceful architectural marvel of the
Jewish Historical
Museum, where four
former synagogues are joined under a series of glass roofs. The oldest of these synagogues dates back to
1670! But no one will look at you funny
if you find yourself most compelled by the dainties available at the in-house
kosher coffee shop.
Best for serious art-fans, the Rembrandt House has an astonishing collection of etchings by
the master, at least 290 in all, and preserves the home in which Rembrandt
stumbled into serious debt during the latter part of his life.
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