Amsterdam Things to Do

For one weekend only, on April 14-15 2012, more than 500 museums around The Netherlands will waive their often-high entrance prices and allow free or discounted entry. Many of them will charge a symbolic ticket price of €1. This is the annual National Museums Weekend. It includes such important galleries as the Rijksmuseum which houses Rembrandt’s famous Night Watch painting; the Van Gogh Museum which also has a rich program of events including a creativity studio for children; and Anne Frank’s House which is one of the city’s most popular visitor attractions.

The Dutch love their art and rightly so – they have an incredibly rich history of painting and have given the western world some of its best painters and imagery. The famous Rijksmuseum in central Amsterdam is one of the most visited art museums in the world and also one of the most innovative.

The people behind the Rijksmuseum are the first to have opened an annexe at an airport. Don’t let’s downplay how important Schiphol airport itself is in this – it’s a fantastic airport and obviously very interested in making travelers lives more bearable as they await a plane.

If you can handle the cold, January is one of the best times of the year to visit Amsterdam. This is the time of year you’ll find the fewest tourists on the narrow streets and many of the 1,200-odd bridges criss-crossing the 160 or so canals are festooned with lights to counter the dark winter months.

Assuming you are going to Amsterdam for the tulips, you can book a pretty little tour to the tulip fields at Keukenhof Gardens. It’s a good way to fill up your camera’s memory cards with pictures of pleasant, Dutch scenery and millions of tulips, daffodils and hyacinths. The tours are either half-day or full-day, and there’s plenty of picnicking areas, as well as several restaurants should you want a bite to eat.