About

Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, is a city which is famous the world over for many different things; as varied as the many things this city has to offer. One of Europe’s great cities, a centre of European art, a beacon of enlightenment, freedom and tolerance throughout its long and proud history.

Amsterdam offers the traveller the full array of sensory pleasures and is a city that you can never get tired of going to and one in which people feel at ease in.

Things to see and do

As the capital city, Amsterdam is the political and cultural centre of the Netherlands; world class and world famous museums such as: the Rijksmuseum, which is the most important in the country with over 1 million artefacts including the most famous piece by Rembrandt – The Nightwatch, as well as extensive works my Dutch masters such as Jan Vermeer. A memorial to Rembrandt can be seen in the square that bears his name: The Rembradtsplein. The main museums can all be handily found in and around the Museumsplein or Museumsquare.

The Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank House are also top on most first time visitor’s list to Amsterdam. The Anne Frank Museum, is a touching and moving exhibition of the world famous Anne Frank diary; the memories of a young Jewish girl during the Germany occupation of Holland in WWII and depicts a vivid account of persecution of Jews and minorities by the Nazis which Anne kept and described their terrible fate and the lead up to one of Europe’s darkest periods and a testament to the courage of the Dutch people and the people of Amsterdam.

Getting to and from

The city is one of the most easy to navigate by foot and as with the rest of Holland, public transport is superb, cheap and easy to use - Schipol airport, the city’s main airport (and the 5th most important airport in Europe!) is 14km from the city centre and trains run 24 hours/day with journey time of 20 minutes costing only €3.80, a similar journey by taxis cost €45 approximately, there is also a Bus services provided by private companies Arriva and Connexxion, that links the city centre to the airport. Bikes are everywhere and residents of Amsterdam use their bicycles to go everywhere – the city is perfect for riding, being flat and with more bike lanes than roads, it makes sense to explore the city on 2 wheels. Trams and buses also ply the main arteries of the city so caution as a pedestrian is also advisable; check in both directions several times before crossing the road!