Amsterdam Travel Expert. Culture, Events and Apartments

Amsterdam has some magnificent museums on offer, and most are clustered around the Museumplein; a splendid location for some of Europe’s top cultural palaces.

Museum Mile Amsterdam

The Museum Quarter is located in the Hooftstraat district, the richest and most exclusive neighbourhood in Amsterdam. They are situated around a landscaped park and between the gardens and trees that are a feature of this elegant area. This area around the
Rijksmuseum – Holland’s most famous museum – is particularly lush.

This massive neo-Gothic palace holds an unparalleled collection of Dutch painting and sculpture, including the famous ‘Night Watch’ by Rembrandt.  At the other end of the spectrum, the Stedelijk Museum houses a superb collection of contemporary art, sculpture and decorative objects, with works by Chagall and Mondriaan, to name a few.

Few visitors should leave Amsterdam without visiting the Van Gogh Museum, also on the Museumplein. Housed in a cutting-edge building designed by the modernist architect Gerrit Rietveld, the collection holds pieces from all periods of the artist’s life, as well as hundreds of letters written by Van Gogh and personal objects.

Another highlight of Amsterdam’s Museum Mile is the Coster Diamond Museum, which I talked about in my last post.

It would be foolish to try and take all these amazing museums over one day, or even two. Instead I would choose one that interests you the most, spend the morning there, then the rest of the afternoon wandering around this privileged part of Amsterdam. Interested also in museums in Barcelona, Spain?

Whilst many people associate Amsterdam with tulips, canals and barges, diamonds may not immediately spring to mind. The truth is that Amsterdam was an important centre for diamond trade in the 16^th and 17^th centuries, with much of the business centered around the Rembrandtplein. The Second World War nearly killed the industry altogether, as skilled Jewish and polishers were tragically deported to the concentration camps.

Although greatly reduced, the diamond trade is still alive and well in Amsterdam. In fact many famous diamonds have been cut and

Amsterdam diamond museum

polished here, including the Cullian, the largest diamond ever found, and the Koh I Noor, which means ‘mountain of light’.

If you love diamonds, there are two places in Amsterdam you must visit. The first is the Amsterdam Diamond Museum (Paulus Potterstraat 8, Tel. 020 305 5300), which explains the life of a diamond from carbon atom to sparkling jewel and, most usefully, how to tell a real one from a fake. The second is tour of the Gassen Diamond Factory, where you will see expert diamond cutters at work and see all facets of production in a former steam-driven factory in the centre of Amsterdam (Nieuwe Uilenburgerstraat, Tel Tel. 020  622 5333).