I came here using my iAmsterdam card. I only checked out the museum areas and not the cafe. The…read morehouse is well maintained and has a lot of different rooms you can check out. The audio clicker gives you more background information for each of the areas. During my visit, there were pieces from Kehinde Wiley which initially confused me because it seemed so out of place, but honestly looked amazing in such a contrasting setting (historical house). You can go as quickly or slowly as you want at this museum, depending on your interest. I personally just liked walking through all the rooms and reading/listening to snippets that interested me (~45-60 minutes), but you can also do a more thorough visit. Overall, I had a good experience at Museum van Loon.

Nice historical house from the golden era of Dutch history. Very well preserved with a nice…read moregarden. It's a small place for a visit but it's considered a large home for the city and time period. It's part of the city cards too so if you have that, it's definitely worth including.

Museum of the Canals: located on Herengracht, a scenic street with beautiful, canal-side…read morehomes--this museum takes visitors thru the history of Amsterdam's canals, from the reasons for development, the process of designing and constructing, the growth of the city and industries around the canals. Arriving to the building you go up a short flight of stairs and are directed to a ticket counter followed by a wait to the left of the counter in a seating area with a few benches. At the counter they scanned my "I amsterdam" card, and passed each visitor a free audio guide, available in multiple languages. Then the staff indicated to wait for the next tour that happened to start in 5 minutes (I think they're timed about 15 minutes apart). At that point, a staff member motioned the 7-8 of us in a small group to the hallway and provided instructions on how to use the audio guide. Close to the entrance of each exhibit room there is a digital marker where you scan your audio guide listening device and the relevant recording starts playing. There were about 7-8 rooms in the museum, 5 for the main exhibit and 3 additional rooms for an exhibit "Animals of the Canals" and a period room with mirrors. Estimated time is about 45 min to 1 hour for this museum. I enjoyed the tour and learned about how they decided to lay out the canals in a semi-circular format, though wish I had a little more time to spend in the room with the museum building model. Regular admissions are-- Adult: € 17,50 Student/CJP: € 12,50 Children 6 up to 17 years: € 9,50 Children 0 up to 5 years: free Museumkaart, Stadspas, iAmsterdam City Card, ICOM Card: free Hours are Mon: 12-5PM, Tues-Sun: 10AM-5PM. For more info: https://grachten.museum/en/

I used my iAmsterdam pass here at the Museum of Canals. The main portion of the experience is timed…read morewhere you enter into different rooms that show a projector/hologram presentation. It was cool to learn about Amsterdam and its canals without it being terribly boring and information-overload. This is a good museum for kids. The only thing I wasn't really a fan of was that the last room went a bit long (because it is somewhat self-paced) and I could see other antsy visitors wanting to leave the room (not knowing it was the last room, so we didn't want to interrupt the group ahead of us). A sign stating that it was the last "timed" room and that we could exit that room early would've been nice.

This place is very close to my work ( I work, soon to be worked since I'm going to quit, at a…read moreday-care for autistic children in Amstelveen ). I love Elsenhove and me and the kids go to this place all the time. If you this the scenic route to this place you'll have to go through the woods and meadows to get there, which I love, but of course there is also a road to this place so you can park your bike or car next to the entrance. Everything at this place is so neat, nicely done and lovely. There are clogs at the entrance which you/the kids can use in case you want to wander around through the dirt with the goats. There are different kinds of animals like pigs, cows, goats, donkeys, rabbits, birds, rates, chickens..it's so much fun for the kids to see and pet them. There are fun informational games for the kids in the stables as well. Everything is very clean and there are different spots where you can wash your hands with soap and water. There is also an awesome playground, which was renovated this last winter. It is so much fun and actually kinda big. There are picnic tables where you can sit and relax and watch the kids. The little café next to the playground has drinks and ice-cream, so you can have a coffee while catching some sun. The best; all this awesomeness (except for drinks then) is free. You can leave a donation if you like but it is not expected or anything. I highly recommend visiting this place if you want to do something fun with your kids!

Such a cute place for kids and animal lovers alike. Upon walking in we were greeted with the farm…read morecat who snuggled up with me. Animals were all very friendly and were not afraid to come and have a intimate moment with you. The small cafe had hot drinks and snacks - all reasonably priced and a lovely interior. If you are in the area or looking for something to do with kids then this is a great lace to spend and afternoon!

Cheese museum, you say? Well, I say heck yeah! Free admission? Even better. Free samples? Give them…read moreall to me. Educational and historical information on cheese? Yes! Interesting and awesome. We learned about Gouda, the tools used to make cheese now and in the days of olde. Tons of fun photo ops and props. And once again, the tastings. I swear we tried at least 15 different cheeses. Had the cheesiest time! A+.

I'll cut to the cheese and get straight to the gouda part, where the smells in this store are…read moredelicious (and slightly funky, as cheese can be) and there are plentiful cheese samples to try. Groow-yere cheese knowledge at the mini cheese museum downstairs or really just a small room decked out with cheese-making equipment and some plaques describing the production process. Edam if I go back to Amsterdam, I might make emmental note to drop by and try some cheese and grab a small block or two to go(at). They pack in prep for shipping in airport luggage too. Aye-siago before I hava-arti-me living these puns down :)

Amazing tour inside the Dutch windmill on how windmills were built, used, and modified to perform…read morevarious milling activities such as grinding flour, pumping water, or sawing logs. They took you through the entire history of this windmill and of the area. They should the interior mechanics on how to turn the mill, convert the wind power to mechanical power, and you could even climb to the top. We were there at closing so we could see how they shut down the mill for the day. Don't worry on your climb up: there are several ladders, they all have handrails, and they show you how to go up and down safely. This a great site to see and a fantastic tour!

Very informative tour about the history of the windmill on this location, as well as the workings…read moreof windmills in general. Loved the different windmill (section) models showing how everything works! Highly recommend!!

The NDSM Werf is a good place to go for free if you want to enjoy an hour or two walking around and…read moreseeing artists works. This is the old Netherlands ship works - some large battle ships came out of this building. But now it's a fantastic space for creatives and their studios - we were fortunate to see graffiti artists at work on some new installations outside. There is also the STRAAT Museum which we did not take the time to do. It's easy to get to - Ferry 4 is right outside Central Station - ferries are free - and it takes right to the entry.

I jumped on the free ferry (F4) from behind central station and as you approach you already feel…read morelike the coolest person. I came especially to see the Anne Frank mural by Eduardo Kobra which I was really excited about and it didn't disappoint. I loved it. NDSM had such a funky cool vibe, covered in amazing graffiti and street art and there was even more art in the warehouses, some that are free to view and some you have to pay to get in. I saw a lamppost piled to the top with birdhouses, I saw a van stuffed with mannequin limbs, I saw a red crate covered in big black spiders but I was more interested in the street art to be honest and NDSM is the place to go to see some amazing street art. There are cool places to eat and drink and it's just a lovely chilled place to wander.

Aside from staying in one (rentals are available on various online platforms like Airbnb or VRBO),…read morewhere else than a working houseboat to better get a feel for these canal-side living arrangements so popular in Amsterdam? On a dreary fall morning I dropped by around 11am and the museum was empty aside for a couple staff. I showed my "i amsterdam" prepaid pass, they scanned it quickly and passed me the headset for a free self-guided audio tour, which lasts about 30 minutes. The tour starts at the front, where's there's an example of an older set-up, then leads to the back of the boat where a more modern layout is shown. Numbers next to signs tell you what to listen to on the audio guide. Some interesting tidbits I learned are that orange is practically a national color in the Netherlands, hence why the wall paper and decorations are all orange. New boats must be constructed according to strict regulations, and only a set number of spaces along the canals are allocated to houseboats so there's a limited supply. More interestingly, when the Netherlands football (soccer to us Americans) team won the European Championship in 1988, parties got so out of hand that some houseboats sank because too many people were climbing on them! I thought this was a calm, fun way to start my morning, and staff were friendly and helpful. This museum you can easily go thru in about 30 minutes, regular ticket prices are: Adults: €9.5 per person for Full Day entrance 10am-5pm Adults: €8 per person for Morning entrance 10am-12noon Children up to 12 years: €5 per person For more info: houseboatmuseum.nl

Super tiny museum because it's literally a houseboat. It is self-guided tour (you're given an audio…read moreclicker) that takes 30-45 minutes if you're listening intently to every section, or a speedy 15-30 minutes if you just want to listen and read about the main exhibits. Definitely not wheelchair/disability-friendly. The inside can be cramped in some areas, so be mindful of any bulky backpacks/bags you're carrying around. The information was pretty interesting - they definitely tried to cram a lot into a small space. I wouldn't recommend large groups here unless you break it up into groups of 4 people max. One and done type of museum.

Nothing really spectacular, unless you're into this stuff, but fun to go check out if you're around…read moreanyway. It's 39.37 inches in width, you should be able to make a fun Facebook pic :-)

This house is the narrowest in the world with only one meter in width. The best part is to walk…read morealone the canal and see this tiny house.