Best Tourist Attractions in Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Amsterdam is the capital of The Netherlands. The Netherlands is commonly called Holland and the language is Dutch. It is ruled by the new King Willem - Alexander, the son of former Queen Beatrix now Princess Beatrix of The Netherlands. She abdicated last April 30, 2013 during the celebration of Queen´s Day.

Amsterdam is one of the largest cities in Holland and one of the interesting places to see in Europe. People from all over the world travel to this unique amazing city. In Amsterdam you will meet different kind of people with different race, culture and traditions, so English language is commonly used to communicate with the tourists or the locals.

1. Rijksmuseum (Rijks Museum)

Rijksmuseum is located at the Museum Square near to Van Gogh Museum, Stedelijk Museum and the Concertgebouw or Concert Building. This museum was recently opened this year in April 13, after a decade of renovations. It houses the Dutch Arts and History with the paintings of the popular painters like Rembrandt and Johannes Vermeer. One of the most amazing paintings is the Night Watch of Rembrandt. The museum displays 8,000 art and history collections out of a million the Rijksmuseum has.

Rijksmuseum has its own new beautiful garden now, displaying the sculptures of Henry Moore, an english sculptor.The Reclining Woman Elbow and the Draped Reclining Figure of Henry Moore were displayed before at the entrance of Leeds City Art Gallery, England.

2. Van Gogh Museum

Van Gogh Museum is the museum named after the Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh. It houses more than 200 paintings, 400 sketches and some letters of the talented painter (Source: Van Gogh: Wikipedia). The Sunflowers, The Potato Eater and Vincents Bedroom are some of the popular paintings displayed in this museum.

Van Goghs Museum houses not only Van Goghs paintings, but some great and beautiful paintings of some popular painters like Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin, Manet and Tolouse- Lautrec.

3. Anne Frank Museum (Anne Frank Huis)

Anne Frank Museum was the house where a Jewish girl with her family and friends were hiding from the Nazis during the Second World War. They were hiding in a very small Secret Annex in this house at Prinsengracht, Amsterdam.

While hiding in this Secret Annex, Anne wrote a diary of what was happening inside, how they spent the day without going out and the fear of being discovered by the Nazis. Anne hoped that her diary would be published after the war. They were betrayed by somebody and were deported to different concentration camps in Germany.

Of the eight people hiding inside the Secret Annex, only Anne´s father Otto Frank survived. He was the one who let her diary published after the war. The diary was published many times in many different languages.

4. The Royal Palace

The Royal Palace in Amsterdam is located at the Dam Square. It was built in the 17th century as a City Hall by Jacob van Campen, a Dutch architect. It is one of the three palaces the Royal Dutch family uses. It is usually used for welcoming official visitors, for ceremonial awards, and celebrating the yearly Queen´s Day. This palace plays a big role in the Dutch Royal weddings and for crowning and for abdication of the Queen or the King.

One of the biggest celebrations in the Royal Palace every year is the Queen´s Day on the 30th of April. Since the abdication of Queen Beatrix this year on the same date, the Kings Day will start next year, 2014. The new King is her son, King Willem-Alexander.

The Royal Palace is open to the public when it´s not being used for official ceremonies. There are guided tours in different languages. For more information, please check the palace websites online.

5. Madame Tussaud

Madame Tussaud is a Wax Cabinet Museum located at Dam Square. It is one of the most tourist attractions in Amsterdam as it houses the wax figures of some popular celebrities like the Beatles, Madona, Lady Di, President Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela and of course the Dutch Royal families and many more.

The late Madame Tussaud, Anna Maria Grosholz who was born in 1761 and died in London in 1850 was a master and a skilled wax worker.She used to create death masks and head sculptures of some beheaded French royalties before she died. (Source: Amsterdam info)

6. Canal Cruises

One should not miss to experience this wonderful canal cruises in Amsterdam. Be it at night or at day time. Nowadays, the boats cruising the canals are no longer loud. The boats are powered by new electrical gadgets.

There are many different canal cruises for every one. From a romantic evening canal cruises, dine in sailing restaurants, to a barbeque canal cruises. For the tourists who don´t speak fluent English, they can have their canal cruises with the tour guides speaking their mother tongue languages. Of course, one can hop in and out to the places they choose.

7. Albert Cuyp Market

Albert Cuyp Market is a very long open air market at Albert Cuyp street. Over 300 stalls are lined up at both sides of the street. Every stall has its own products from vegetables, fruits, flowers, fish, meat, bread, DVD´s, clothes, furnitures, cheese, bags, purses and many more.

8. Bloemenmarkt ( Flower Market)

Bloemenmarkt or Flower Market is a floating flower market at Singel Canal. It is said to be the only floating market in the world (source: Amsterdam info) that sells season flowers on houseboats. Tulips and other bulb flowers are abundant for sale not only for the locals, but also for the tourists.

9. Museum of Handbags and Purses

The Museum of Handbags and Purses has an awesome and excellent collection of more or less 1,500 bags and purses that are displayed in this museum. Some of the bags have its own stories. For women, it´s a "must go" place.

10. Vondel Park

After a long days´ of walking and shopping, take a rest at the largest and beautiful city garden in Amsterdam surrounded by nature. You can sit on the grass or have a seat at the historic Pavillon restaurant while drinking your fresh brewed coffee or tea.

11. The Red Light

I´m sure you have read or heard about this Red Light District in Amsterdam. It´s in everybodies tongue when you hear something about Amsterdam. Check it out if you want to know if what you heard is true.

The Red Light District is where women display themselves almost naked at the window parlours. Women of all nationalities, offer themselves not only for a show in a private cabin. You will know when they have customers because they will close the curtains of their windows where they were displayed before that. Tourists all over the world, men, women, young and old visit this unique place of selling the flesh just to see (if not more) the reality.

Transportation in Amsterdam is very good. You can go everywhere by train, tram, buses, bicycles, by car and of course by boat from one canal to the other.

Biking is popular in The Netherlands. In fact, the bikers have their own bikers way and a bikers parking space. It´s quite safe biking there, safer than in any big city in Europe. If you don´t have a bike with you, you can rent one.

Driving by car to Amsterdam is an expensive thing to do as the parking places are very expensive and besides that, it is stressful to drive in the centre of Amsterdam.

Thank you for dropping by. Have a lovely trip to Amsterdam! Enjoy!

Sources: Wikipedia, Amsterdam info and my travel to Amsterdam.