The Most Famous Landmarks in Amsterdam

Are you looking to visit Amsterdam? Amsterdam is the capital city of the Netherlands and a popular tourist attraction site in North Holland. It has a lot of attractions and beautiful landmarks that you should visit when in the city. Let’s explore Amsterdam’s fascinating heritage.

Dam Square

Located on River Amstel’s mouth, the large dam was constructed in the 13th century and a sight to behold. Not only does it demonstrate state-of-the-art engineering skills, it also stands out as a national monument and landmark. You can walk from Central Station and enjoy viewing the settlements on either side of the river. Carry a camera and take photographs of the pigeons that pitch at Dam Square.

Weeping Tower

Popularly known as the Schreierstoren, the Weeping Tower is the remains of Amsterdam’s stone city from the middle ages. It is among the oldest monuments in the city and is famous as it is where Henry Hudson begins his journey to discover Northern America.

At the same place, the sailors’ wives watched them leave, and they wept. For this reason, the place earned the name Weeping Tower. Today, the Weeping Tower has a few cafes and outdoor terraces where you can take some snacks and beverages with your friends and family. Find it on Prins Hendrikkade 94-5.

Royal Palace

The Royal Palace is a crucial landmark in Amsterdam. Besides the historical heritage it holds, the palace has a beautiful sight to behold. It was used as a city hall for magistrates in medieval times and had all the ancient furniture.

While at the palace, you will see King Napoleon’s bedroom, the Magistrates’ chamber, the Secretary’s office, and the Citizen’s hall. While on the balcony, you can see the medallions and other beautiful features of the ancient palace. It is located at the Dam, Amsterdam 1012 RJ.

Anne Frank House

While it began as the most departed residences, Anne Frank House is one of Amsterdam’s heritage. There is a statue of Anne Frank outside dated 1929 to 1945. It would be a perfect place to take some photographs.

Anne Frank hid in this house together with her family during the Second World War. They hid from the Nazis with her family, and Anne began writing her diaries. They stayed there for two years, and this is now among the respected places.

Today, it is a museum and attracts a lot of tourists. In the museum, you will get Anne Frank’s diaries and other notebooks. The landmark is located in Westernmarkt 20, 1016 GV in the Netherlands.

Van Gogh Museum

The museum was opened in 1973 in honour of Vincent Van Gogh, a famous Dutch post-impressionist artist. It contains the largest collection of Vincent’s original work. While visiting the facility, you get to see over 200 paintings, more than 500 drawings, and over 750 letters that he wrote in his life.

The artist’s work is hung in a perfect arrangement for five periods. Besides the museum’s beautiful architectural plans, the museum is the most popular one in the Netherlands and attracts over 2.1 million visitors every year.

Conclusion

These are but a few landmarks that should be on your Amsterdam bucket list. These landmarks also have a couple of activities that you can have fun with your friends and family. Most of these landmarks are museums, parks, canal belts and galleries.

By Max Lang Orsini

What Are Must-See Attractions In Amsterdam?

Amsterdam is one of the most diverse and culture-rich cities in the world. Although Amsterdam is only small, this city is still bursting with plenty of museums and galleries to explore, whilst also boasting wonderful canal walks and outside spaces to unwind and relax in too. Famous for its liberal attitudes, Amsterdam attracts millions of tourists from all over the globe each year. Here are some of the must-see attractions in Amsterdam.

Rijksmuseum

This museum is a great place to start your trip. Here you can discover everything you need to know about Dutch history, dating back from 1200 to the present day. Along with original works by Vermeer and Rembrandt, this museum also hosts regular one-off exhibitions too, so there is always something new to see and enjoy.

Anne Frank House

The story of Anne Frank and her diary is famous throughout the world, and here at the Anne Frank House, visitors have the opportunity to see the main house belonging to Otto Frank, where the Frank family hid with two other families in the annex. Here you can also read extracts from Anne’s original diary and see personal objects that once belonged to the Frank family. The Anne Frank House also acts as an educational resource, making it the perfect place to visit for all ages.

Van Gogh Museum

Vincent Van Gogh is famous for his Post-Impressionist landscapes, portraits and self-portraits, and the Van Gogh Museum houses many of his most famous works. Along with paintings, here visitors can also enjoy reading Van Gogh’s letters which give a unique glimpse into the man behind the art.

For those who love Dutch art, current modern artist and designer Max Lang-Orsini have an exciting and emotive collection of artwork which can be viewed via his online portfolio for those looking to explore how Dutch art has evolved since Van Gogh.

Dam Square

As one of the most central points of Amsterdam, Dam Square provides a focal meeting point and is home to some of Amsterdam’s most notable and famous buildings.

Built during the 13th Century, here you can enjoy views of the Koninklijk Palace, also known as the Royal Palace, the Nieuwe Kerk, which often hosts a variety of exhibitions, along with the Dam Square monument, which commemorates those who perished during World War II. Dam Square is also a great place to shop for souvenirs and relax in one of its traditional bars and cafes.

Vondelpark

Named after the poet Vondel and opened to the public in 1865, the Vondelpark is the biggest park of its kind in Amsterdam and boasts over 10 million visitors a year. Located close to the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh Museum, this park is the perfect place to unwind and relax. Aside from its natural beauty, the Vondelpark also hosts concerts and open-air theatre performances in the summer months and has a restaurant, pavilion and a children’s playground, making it the ideal place to enjoy with all the family.

Amsterdam’s Top Art Attractions You Must Visit

Amsterdam is well known worldwide for its world-class art galleries and museums, making it a well deserved popular place of visit. In this article, I, Max Lang-Orsini, will break down to you the top art attractions you must visit when travelling to Amsterdam.

Amsterdam’s Art Movements

Amsterdam’s art exhibits are a great experience to visit, especially if you’re visiting for a short period. Amsterdam’s largest square is home to four museums showcasing many dutch masters, more than you can imagine, but is also a huge variety from modern art and contemporary art.

Van Gogh Museum

This article cannot exist without a mention from the iconic exhibition space that is the Van Gogh Museum. The name is as iconic as the museum with art being seen by millions of people and have been around since the golden age of Amsterdam. Home to 200 paintings, you will feel privileged to see Van Gogh’s greatest creations as you immerse yourself in his time.

Since this is a successful museum, tickets sell fast, so make sure you book your tickets in advance.

Joods Historisch Museum

The recent museum, Joods Historisch Museum, has been around since 1987 is full of old Jewish based religious artefacts, photographs, music and paintings giving an in-depth impression of Amsterdam’s history. This Jewish based museum focuses on displaying Dutch Jewish culture with an interactive exhibit experience.

Stedelijk Museum

Another icon of Amsterdam’s art culture that has to appear on this list. The Stedelijk Museum is the most iconic modern and contemporary art museum throughout the whole of the Netherlands. It includes incredible art collections from the works of Piet Mondrain, Yves Klein, Roy Lichtenstein and more. Showcasing more than art, the Stedelijk Museum also includes design objects side by side.

FOAM

FOAM is an excellent photography based museum that has been created in a 17th-century canal house. FOAM holds regular exhibitions for your photography worms and rotates their showcase every few months to show upcoming talent in the scene. Based around a great and friendly community, FOAM has the end goal of promoting the talented photographers that deserve it.

This Museum does not accept cash, book your tickets in advance or paying by card would be accepted.

Nieuwe Kerk

At the heart of Amsterdam on the Dam Square is where the Nieuwe Kerk church belongs. Next to the Royal Palace this ‘New Church’ belongs where the Dutch Kings and Queens have settled since 1814. Full of history, the New Church brings an old antique feel whilst showcasing it’s cultural style and events throughout this exhibition.

Rembrandthuis

Rembrandt bought this house for a massive sum of money. With the pressure of mortgage payments piling up, he was forced to move in 1656 when he was declared bankrupt.

After this situation unfolded, the clerks made a list of the house. It was these records that provided renovators with an idea of how the house looked. The Rembrandt house museum has recently gained the popularity of its interesting story.

CoBrA Museum

To the west centre of Amsterdam, the CoBrA museum is high up the foot chain of modern art. Artists such as Eugene Brands and Karel Appel used to be ‘troublemakers’ but now own the top museums in Amsterdam. With their modern style environment, the passionate group holds many temporary exhibitions outside of the CoBrA group too.

Moco Museum

Whilst this private museum is much smaller than the Stedelijk, it’s outside view is extraordinary with it being surrounded by many stunning contemporary sculptures. Moco is a modern art based museum, and the name stands for ‘modern contemporary’. Home in an early 20th-century mansion, this museum holds the most influential artists like Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons.

Rijksmuseum

The Rijksmuseum is a popular tourist destination people love to visit in Amsterdam. Designed by Pierre Cuypers and opened many years ago in 1885, the Rijksmuseum holds Amsterdam’s biggest collection of artefacts and art. The 80 galleries that are home to this museum showcases over 800 years of Dutch artistic culture from the golden age of Amsterdam.

This is an extremely popular museum to visit, book your tickets now.

Hermitage Amsterdam

The Hermitage Amsterdam has been opened for the longest time on this list, since 1683. It first opened as a home for the women in their elderlies built next to the Amstel River. Twice a year they host an exhibition based on the main hermitage collection. This 17th-Century golden age museum showcases the best portraits together in one place.

I hope from reading this article you understand more about Amsterdam’s art scene and would visit yourself one time, I would highly recommend it.

Written By: Max Lang-Orsini

What It Is Like To Study At The University Of Amsterdam?

Before this article begins, I want to mention that if you are an international student considering their options and the University Of Amsterdam is one, you’re making the right choice, I couldn’t recommend a better University experience!

What’s It Like Studying In Amsterdam?

There are many reasons why you should study at the University Of Amsterdam (UVA), and some of them aren’t even about the University or course!

University

Studying at the UVA is no mistake, to back this up, the UVA is classed as one of top universities in Europe. It is also ranked in the top 61 universities in the World University Rankings.

They offer a wide selection of Degree programmes and Masters programmes, so keep an open mind when searching for courses, the UVA will convince you! If not, try and attend a UVA opening day, or if you are struggling for travel, they do virtual opening days also.

Cheap & Affordable Course & Living Prices

When you compare the Netherlands to other western european places, the Netherlands provide cheap costs to those who are in student life. From my experience studying at the UVA, you will need just less than €500 (on average) a month on rent. You fund this by working part time jobs alongside your student loan that you will receive.

You can also apply for free public transport passes, giving you more money a week to spend on that student housing of yours! The dutch also offer scholarships that can fully reduce the tuition fee of your course!

I also found it to be a struggle when searching for an accommodation, this is because i was searching in the closing months to University. There is a huge demand for accommodation there in Amsterdam, so it’s worth researching early and getting yourself in one as soon as possible!

Teaching Methods

The Dutch educational methods are known for it’s high quality and are acknowledged worldwide for it. They focus much on teamwork allowing it to be much easier for international students. The Dutch are well known for their students’ relationships between each other and their tutor.

They primarily focus on practical methods over theoretical methods.

English Speaking

To make life easier, the degrees that are taught here are taught in the English speaking language. Since it is a common international university, most courses here are taught in English, which does have it’s benefit within the culture.

The Netherlands is known as the first non-native english speaking country which has universities that hold English speaking courses. If you come from a country that does not speak English natively, you will need to take IELTS, TOEFL, or similar English language tests. As a disadvantage to those who don’t speak English natively, the Netherlands are strict when it comes to speaking a language there.

Culture

The culture in Amsterdam has that Dutch essence with added international cultures and languages to give an internationally multicultural capital.

English Speaking

Following on from the last heading, Amsterdam is an international and multicultural filled environment, so English tends to be the primary language for shops, bars, pretty much everywhere! Since this is the case, the UVA tends to be a highly recommended place with over 95% of the locals there speaking English.

Multicultural Environment

Amsterdam is a widely internationally driven capital. During 2015, the international students there came from over 150 different countries, primarily from Italy, China, and Germany. The UVA has associations to help the international students throughout their studies there.

Country

Many international city capitals are usually extremely populated and crowded, however, compared to Amsterdam in the Netherlands, it isn’t as crowded. As of 2019, the population of Amsterdam was 860,000, which sounds like a lot, but when you compare this to other countries’ capitals, like the UK; 9,000,000, it doesn’t seem as excessive.

Famous Places

Whilst you live out your student life, you will more than likely not run out of entertainment and leisures to do there. It has many famous cafes, bars, canals, and more significantly, it’s Art Scene.

When you’ve had enough of constantly getting drunk and visiting the bars with your friends, the famous canals and art museums are in it’s own right worth exploring. The canals provide beautiful scenery as you go out for your morning jog, or perhaps your night walk.

The art scene in Amsterdam is like no other country and stands out within its own right. It’s history is plagued with it’s beauty and interest in art which provides the best insight for the creative students. The Van Gogh museum is the most common place of visit, but other museums like the Stedelijk and the Rijksmuseum are also other internationally known museums.

I hope this article gives you a great insight to what it’s like studying at the University of Amsterdam, good luck on your future endeavours!

Written By: Max Lang-Orsini