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Floating Houses and houseboats and boats at channels by banks
Amstel River
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Amsterdam Vacation Packages and Tours

Overview

Take a trip to Amsterdam on your Netherlands vacation.

Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands. With more than one million inhabitants in its urban area, it is the country's largest city and its financial and cultural centre. It is sometimes known as the “Venice of the North” because of its many beautiful canals that criss-cross the city, its impressive architecture and its more than 1,500 bridges, all to be experienced on Netherlands vacations. It is also a city of tolerance and diversity. It has all the advantages of a big city: rich culture, lively nightlife, international-class restaurants and a good transportation system it is relatively quiet, largely thanks to its extensive canals and little road traffic. Just watch out for the hundreds of bicycles which transport many Amsterdamers around the city!

Amsterdam has one of the largest historical city centres in Europe, with about 7,000 registered historic buildings. The streets have been largely unchanged since the 19th century. The centre consists of 90 islands linked by 400 bridges, some of them beautifully lit at night.

It is a city for exploring and strolling as the centre is fairly compact. A start to getting a real feel for Amsterdam would be to walk along the central canals such as the very attractive Keizersgracht, Prinsengracht, Herengracht and Singel. Take note of Amsterdam's vacation of the charming canal houses lined along the banks of the canals. Another way to familiarize oneself with the city is to take a leisurely canal cruise. For approximately one hour or so, one can experience a totally different perspective of Amsterdam.    

At a Glance
LanguagesDutch
CurrencyEuro (EUR)

Museums and Galleries

For the culturally inclined on Netherlands vacations, Amsterdam has a number of excellent art galleries. The principal gallery is the Rijksmuseum. Recently modernized, it possesses many masterpiece paintings of Dutch and World art including Rembrandt’s “Night watch”. The Van Gogh Museum contains the World’s largest collection of works by Vincent van Gogh with more than 200 paintings and 500 drawings. The nearby Stedelijk Museum has one of the richest modern art collections in the World. 

Two other major museums of importance on an Amsterdam vacation are the Anne Frank House and the Rembrandt House. The former is where Anne Frank and her family lived in the annex of the building for two years hiding from the Nazis. Nowadays, the rooms at the Anne Frank House, though empty, still breathe the atmosphere of that period of time. The Rembrandt House is not an art gallery but is where the artist lived between 1639 and 1658. The house is a reconstruction of the painter’s life at that time.

Something totally different is the Heineken Experience. The museum part of the brewery shows authentic interiors, old photographs and state decorations the Heineken family received.  Another unusual site (and sight) is the Red Light District. Perhaps not on everyone’s visitation list, but it is still a colourful and safe area to walk around. The Begijnhof is entered via a narrow, vaulted passageway which leads to a charming garden surrounded by old houses. It was once occupied by devout celibate Begijn nuns but is now home to needy single women.

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