Amsterdam Museum
Amsterdam's children slept here for nearly 400 years — now the building holds the city's whole story.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Amsterdam offline.
A former convent turned municipal orphanage from 1581, rebuilt by Jacob van Campen in 1634 and housing children until 1960, this museum spans Amsterdam from the Middle Ages to the present across 70,000 objects. The building's past is inseparable from the collection inside it.
What to look for
- Replica of Café 't Mandje — the Red-light district pub where prostitutes, pimps, seamen, and lesbian women gathered
- A Witkar, Amsterdam's 1960s experiment with an environment-friendly shared vehicle
- Rasp house artifacts: tools from the city's house of correction where prisoners rasped wood into sawdust
Currently showing at the Amstelhof on the Amstel River while the historic main building is under renovation — confirm the address before you go.
Amsterdam Museum is one of 36 sights worth the detour in Amsterdam, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Amsterdam pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Amsterdam
- RijksmuseumOne million objects collected over 200 years — and the 8,000 on display include the Dutch Golden Age painters who changed what art could be.
- Amstel RiverAmsterdam literally means "Amstel Dam" — the city takes its name from a medieval dam built across this river.
- Van Gogh MuseumThe world's largest Van Gogh collection exists because his sister-in-law spent years refusing to let his unsold work disappear.
- WeespA town that Holland deliberately over-fortified — then flooded on purpose to hold back armies.
- Johan Cruyff ArenaThe Netherlands' largest stadium exists because Amsterdam lost the 1992 Olympics bid to Barcelona — and built something better anyway.
- Defence Line of Amsterdam (Stelling van Amsterdam)Dutch engineers turned the polder itself into a weapon: flood the fields to about 30 centimetres — too shallow for boats to cross — and Amsterdam becomes an island.