Hidden gems in Amsterdam

A quiet 17th-century courtyard of almshouses in the Jordaan, one of several hofjes that visitors walk past.

• 🎟️ Price: Free
• 💡 Tip: People live here: keep your voice down and do not stay long. Visit the Zwaardvegershofje nearby too.
• 📍 Address: Egelantiersstraat, 1015 PX Amsterdam
• MapWebsite
• 🚶 Near Amsterdam Cheese Museum: 🚶 0.2 km · 3 min walk

A brick housing block shaped like a ship, with a museum apartment and post office in the Amsterdam School style.

• 🎟️ Price: €15 adults, €7.50 students, €5 children 5–12, free under 5
• 🕗 Hours: Tue–Sun 11:00–17:00; closed on King's Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day
• 💡 Tip: The ticket includes a guided tour that starts every hour from 11:00 to 16:00; the 15:00 tour is always in English. It is in the Spaarndammerbuurt, a short tram ride from Centraal Station.
• 📍 Address: Spaarndammerplantsoen 140, 1013 XT Amsterdam
• MapWebsite
• 🚶 Near Westerpark: 🚶 0.6 km · 8 min walk

The world's first fluorescent art museum, in a canal-house basement in the Jordaan, run by one person.

• 🎟️ Price: €5; children under 12 free
• 🕗 Hours: Wed–Sat 14:00–18:00, by booking only
• 💡 Tip: Walk-ins are not accepted: book ahead. The visit takes about 45 minutes.
• 📍 Address: Tweede Leliedwarsstraat 5, 1015 TB Amsterdam
• MapWebsite
• 🚶 Near Westerkerk: 🚶 0.3 km · 3 min walk

A museum of art about cats, in a 17th-century canal house on the Herengracht with real resident cats.

• 🎟️ Price: €12.50 adults; €7.50 seniors and students; free under 12
• 🕗 Hours: Tue–Sun 12:00–17:00; closed Monday
• 💡 Tip: Combine it with a walk along the Herengracht and the Negen Straatjes.
• 📍 Address: Herengracht 497, 1017 BT Amsterdam
• MapWebsite
• 🚶 Near Museum Van Loon: 🚶 0.2 km · 2 min walk

A free garden around the Rijksmuseum with sculptures, lawns and a view of the building, without a ticket.

• 🎟️ Price: Free
• 🕗 Hours: Daily 09:00–18:00
• 💡 Tip: The passage under the museum is a free cycle and footpath. Inside, the Cuypers Library can be seen from a balcony with a normal museum ticket.
• 📍 Address: Museumstraat 1, 1071 XX Amsterdam
• MapWebsite
• 🚶 Near Rijksmuseum: 🚶 0.1 km · 1 min walk

A 90-metre red bridge shaped like a python, from 2001, in the Eastern Docklands, designed by West 8.

• 🎟️ Price: Free
• 🕗 Hours: Always open
• 💡 Tip: Go on foot or by bike; combine with a walk around Borneo and Sporenburg and the modern housing there.
• 📍 Address: Sporenburg, 1019 Amsterdam
• MapWebsite

A former shipyard site turned into a green workspace of old houseboats, with a café on small jetties over the water.

• 🎟️ Price: Free to enter (food and drink extra)
• 🕗 Hours: Tue–Wed 12:00–23:00, Thu 12:00–00:00, Fri–Sat 12:00–01:00, Sun 12:00–23:00; closed Monday
• 💡 Tip: Take the free ferry behind Centraal Station to Buiksloterweg, then walk or cycle; the site is near the NDSM wharf.
• 📍 Address: Korte Papaverweg 4, 1032 KB Amsterdam
• MapWebsite
• 🚶 Near Eye Filmmuseum: 🚶 1.1 km · 14 min walk

A long row of 18th- and 19th-century warehouses along a quiet canal, now homes, with cafes and terraces.

• 🎟️ Price: Free
• 💡 Tip: A short walk from ARTIS and the Hortus Botanicus; people live here, so keep the noise down.
• 📍 Address: Entrepotdok, 1018 AD Amsterdam
• MapWebsite
• 🚶 Near Resistance Museum (Verzetsmuseum): 🚶 0.2 km · 3 min walk