Amsterdam is home to 51 museums – no more and no less. You won´t be able to see all of them (unless you plan to live here for a period of time), so you will have to make choices. Which are the museums you absolutely can´t miss?

1.The Rijksmuseum: Holland has a famous school of painters, mainly from the 17th century – Rembrandt, Vermeer are names that come to mind. A visit to Amsterdam wouldn´t be complete without seeing them. The Rijksmuseum is undergoing an important remodeling that is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2010, but you still will be able to see 200 of the most important paintings. The Amsterdam Canal Bus Hop on Hop Off Day Pass and Rijksmuseum includes the entrance to the museum plus a ticket for the Canal Bus that runs along the touristic route of Amsterdam.

2.He might well be the most famous dutch painter, his sunflowers being a synonym for Holland: Vincent van Gogh. The Van Gogh Museum shows more than 200 paintings and 500 drawings of the unfortunate painter, who died in his and mentally ill.

3.The Stedelijk Museum is home of one of the finest collections of contemporary art in Europe. Malevich, Chagall, Mondrian and Picasso are just some of the artists you can see at the Stedelijk Museum.

4.The name Anne Frank stands for a dark period of European history – the Jewish girl who fled with his parents and sister from the horror of Nazi Germany and lived some years hidden in an attic in Amsterdam before she got deported to a concentration camp, where she died soon after. Her diary made her famous and it is a moving experience to see the place where she lived and experienced her first love, where she hoped for peace and finally got caught by the secret police. The Anne-Frank-House is one of the most visited places of Amsterdam, so it might be a good idea to make a reservation well ahead of time.

5.The Rembrandthuise is dedicated to another of Hollands most famous painters. Rembrandt lived in this house in the Joodenbreststraat for twenty years til 1659, when he had to leave due to financial difficulties.

6.Another synonym for Holland is the Heineken beer. The famous beer brewing plant at Stadhouderskade 78 stopped producing in 1988 and has been transformed to a museum, which now is one of the mayor tourist attractions of Amsterdam. If you are under the age of 18 you only can visit then place with an adult…
If you plan to visit the Heineken brewery, you might consider to get the Amsterdam Canal Bus Hop On Hop Off Day Pass and Heineken Experience. For one entire day it allows you to hop on and off the Canal bus, which passes by all the mayor sights, and it includes the entrance to the Heineken Museum.

7.If you travel with children a visit of the NEMO, the Cience Center is a perfect brake from too much art. The NEMO is a hands on place: it is forbidden NOT to touch…

Are you looking for more travel tips for Europe? Go Here!

I amsterdam Card – City Pass for Amsterdam

Need more information about Amsterdam? Try this post: Amsterdam – seven museums you can´t miss