NEMO Science Museum
Five floors where you trigger chain reactions, sort plastic balls by hand, and test vitamin C — all inside a Renzo Piano building.
Coming soon on iOS — be first to walk Amsterdam offline.
The largest science centre in the Netherlands, drawing 728,000 visitors a year. Every floor runs on participation: first-floor chain reactions fire on the half-hour, the second floor holds a working ball-sorting factory, and the third is a full open lab. Origins go back to 1923, though the Piano-designed waterfront building dates to 1997.
What to look for
- The giant domino room on the first floor — contraptions in the chain reaction circuit include a giant bell and a flying car
- The ball factory on the second floor, where you sort plastic balls by weight, size, and colour and watch them route through to a packing station
- The third-floor science lab, where you can test vitamin C levels in various substances and examine DNA samples
The lobby gift shop sells small-scale copies of exhibits, including the domino set and DNA experiments; a cafeteria sits in the lobby and again on the second floor.
NEMO Science 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.