1. Home
  2. Netherlands
  3. Amsterdam
  4. Essentials

Amsterdam · Essentials

Essential Amsterdam: from Anne Frank to The Night Watch

If you only have a few hours, this is your route. It starts on the Prinsengracht, in front of the house where Anne Frank wrote her diary, crosses the heart of the city via Dam Square and the secret courtyard of the Begijnhof, passes the floating Flower Market and ends at the Rijksmuseum, where The Night Watch is waiting for you.

  • 6 stops
  • 2.9 km
  • 2 h 15 min
  • Free
Start with GPS Read about this stop 1
The Westerkerk and its tower topped by the imperial crown

The route

Stop by stop

  1. 1 Anne Frank HouseThe canal house where eight people hid for two years and a girl wrote the most widely read diary in the world.
  2. 2 WesterkerkAmsterdam's tallest tower, crowned with an emperor's crown, and Rembrandt's lost grave.
  3. 3 Dam SquareThe city's living room: a palace, the church of royal inaugurations and the monument where the nation falls silent every 4 May.
  4. 4 BegijnhofA secret courtyard in the middle of the city, with Amsterdam's most famous wooden house.
  5. 5 Flower MarketA flower market on barges along the canal, and a tower that minted coins during a war.
  6. 6 RijksmuseumThe palace of Dutch art, with a cycle tunnel and The Night Watch at the end of the gallery.

Loading the map…

Start with GPS

Guide mode

Walk it with GPS.

Open guide mode on your phone: you’ll see your position and the distance to each stop, and we’ll let you know when you arrive. Then read or listen.

Start with GPS

  1. Turn on your location

  2. Walk to the spot

  3. Check the photo and listen

What you’ll discover

Essential Amsterdam: from Anne Frank to The Night Watch

The essentials in one walk

Six stops that sum up the city: memory, canals, flowers and the great painting of the Golden Age.

From the centre to Museumplein

A one-way route from north to south, with no doubling back, ending beside the great museums.

Context at every step

Concrete stories and details to look for that turn a sightseeing stroll into a visit that makes sense.

Keep exploring

More routes in Amsterdam

Back to Amsterdam
HistoryAmsterdam, from Dam to Golden Age Mysteries & legendsSevered heads, hidden churches and weeping women