Anne Frank House
Eight people hid in the rear rooms of this Prinsengracht canal house during the Nazi occupation — the Secret Annex is still here.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Amsterdam offline.
The Secret Annex at the rear of this 1635 canal house is preserved as the real hiding place where Anne Frank, her family, and four others sheltered during Nazi occupation. Three adjoining buildings at Prinsengracht 263–267 expand the exhibition to cover Anne Frank's life and broader forms of persecution. The diary she wrote here was published in 1947; the museum has drawn over a million visitors a year.
What to look for
- The Achterhuis — the rear annex rooms at number 263 where eight people lived in concealment
- The canal-side façade, which dates from a 1740 renovation of the original 1635 building
- The exhibition on persecution and discrimination housed in the adjoining buildings at 265–267
Located on Prinsengracht close to the Westerkerk; with 1.27 million visitors in 2017 (third most visited museum in the Netherlands), book tickets well in advance.
Anne Frank House 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.