City Archive

Cost: Free; special exhibitions and tours cost extra
Located in De Bazel, a vast granite building that originally housed an investment bank, the Amsterdam City Archive allows visitors to seek out information and documents from Amsterdam's history. It's a tale that dates back to around 1200.... Continue reading

Chess at Max Euweplein

Cost: Free
Budding grandmasters of any age will appreciate the excitement of playing chess at Max Euweplein, using a walk-around 'board' and pieces that are one metre high. Max Euweplein is a busy square and a small crowd always gathers.... Continue reading

Concertgebouw

Cost: Not Specified
Built in 1888, the world-famous Concertgebouw in central Amsterdam is the city's premier classical music venue. The two auditoria have fabulous acoustics and host concerts by myriad visiting performers as well as the hall's own orchestra, the Royal... Continue reading

Hermitage

Cost: Admission €15; adults, children under 17 free
Housed in the neoclassical Amstelhof, Hermitage Amsterdam is a branch of Russia's renowned State Hermitage museum. With two exhibits every year, works on display include paintings by Dutch and Flemish Masters alongside modern art displays from New ... Continue reading

Homomonument

Cost: Free
Westermarkt's Homomonument was inspired by a symbol of persecution, the pink triangle the Nazis forced gay people to wear, which was turned into a badge of pride. It comprises three rose-toned granite triangles, one projecting out over the Keizersg... Continue reading

Hortus Botanicus

Cost: €7; 5-14s €3.50; group rates available
Amsterdam's Hortus Botanicus is one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world. Thousands of plants from thousands of species grow here in the outdoor gardens and seven climactically controlled greenhouses. Originally, the Hortus was a medicinal... Continue reading

Museum of Bags and Purses

Cost: €6.50; concessions €5; 13-18s €2.50; under 13 free
With 3,500 bags, accessories and other items on display, the city centre's Museum of Bags and Purses charts the history of the women's bag in Western culture, from the Middle Ages to present day. The museum shop has bags for sale. If you can diffe... Continue reading

Rijksmuseum

Cost: €12.50; under 19s free
Much of the city-centre's Rijksmuseum is closed for renovation until 2013 but key artworks and other items from the 17th-century Dutch 'Golden Age' collections can be viewed in the Philips Wing. They include Rembrandt's famous painting The Night Wa... Continue reading

Van Gogh Museum

Cost: €14; under 18s free
More than 200 paintings by Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, and nearly every sketch, print, etching, and piece of correspondence he ever produced, are housed here. The city-centre Van Gogh Museum has the world's largest collection of the artist's wo... Continue reading