Amsterdam being capital of the Netherlands is rich with culture, tradition, and splendor. Though it is the smallest city in the world it is culturally very vibrant and rich. One can learn about the city truly after visiting various centers of attraction there. Below are briefed some of the most exciting places to visit in Amsterdam.
• Old Center: While arriving at the Amsterdam central station, a person automatically walks towards the streets Damrak and Rokin. In the medieval age both the streets were actually used to be the end of Amstel Rivers. Those streets use to cut the Amsterdam in two half portions. East of the Damrak Rokin axis was the Old Side of the Amsterdam dating as back as to 13th century, where as the New Side was made later on. The division existed between the Old and New Side never diminished in the past and has a lot to offer to arriving visitors.
• Oude Kerk: It is an old church in Amsterdam that is a parish church and it was consecrated in 1306 by the bishop of Utrecht. It is located at De Wallen, that is now in Amsterdam is a prominent red light area. The square around the church is known to be Oudekerksplein. The bust of famous organist and composer Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck is situated here as he spent out the life and period spent out there. His early career even started at the quite early age of fifteen when he succeeded his deceased father as the Oude Kerk’s organist. He composed around 150 psalms and reserved an international reputation for him as a foremost Dutch composer. He is buried at the same church.
• Nieuwe Kerk: It is a 15th-century church in Amsterdam that is used for royal inaugurations and in recent memory, there inauguration of Queen Beatrix occurred in 1980. And for royal weddings, the wedding of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to princess Máxima held here in 2002. The Nieuwe Kerk also a burial site for Dutch naval heroes, involving Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, Commodore Jan van Galen and Jan van Speyk.
• Zuiderkerk: This is a Protestant church in the Nieuwmarkt area of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The church played an important part in the life of Rembrandt and was the subject of a painting by Claude Monet.
• Anne Frank House: The house on Prinsengracht canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, is a museum devoted to Jewish wartime diarist Anne Frank, who in order to escape from Nazi persecution with her family and four other people hid at secret rooms at the rear of the building. The house as an exhibition place for preserved house where Anne Frank along her family. The museum also is an exhibition place to display all forms of persecution and discrimination. The museum was open on 3 May 1960 with the assistance of public subscription.
• Rijksmuseum: The Rijksmuseum Amsterdam or Rijksmuseum is a Dutch national museum in Amsterdam, situated on the Museumplein. The museum is devoted to arts, crafts and history. The museum has a large collection of paintings from the Dutch Golden Age and a substantial collection of Asian art. It also shows up the HMS Royal Charles which was caught while on the invasion on the Medway.
• Van Gogh Museum: This is a museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, showcasing the works of the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries. The Museum has the largest collection of Van Gogh’s paintings and drawings. The main collection of the museum is Van Gogh’s life, from his childhood to his various emotional stages through his death. The paintings in the museum include The Potato Eaters, Bathroom in Arles and one of the three Sunflowers paintings with a yellow background. Moreover museum has exhibits on various subjects from 19th Century art history.
• Zoo: Artis, short for Natura Artis Magistra, that is the zoo located at the center of Amsterdam. It is the oldest zoo of the Netherlands. Along with zoo it also has a planetarium, a geological museum and a zoological museum. The zoo was founded in 1838 by Gerard Westerman, J.W.H. Werlemann and J.J. Wijsmuller. It is named as Artis, for their being three gates with Artis Natura Magistra written above them. Usually earlier only one gate used to open so people could easily pass through the gate.
• Botanical Gardens: Hortus Botanicus is the name of the botanical garden in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world and was started as back as in 1638 to assist doctors who are looking for herbs. The garden has more than six thousand tropical and indigenous trees and plants. There monumental Palm House dates from 1912 and is renowned for its collection of cycads. Hortus Botanicus’s initial collection was increased in 17th century when East India Company (VOC) brought herbs over there with possibility of their commercial use. The recent additions to the park are huge hothouse that incorporates three different tropical climates and plants.
• The Heineken Experience: It is an historic brewery and corporate visitor center for the internationally distributed Dutch pilsner, Heineken beer. The industrial facility here for the first time constructed there for the first time in 1867 it worked as a premier brewing facility of the company till 1988 when a more modern larger facility was made at the outskirts of the city in 1988.
• Homomonument: It is a memorial in Amsterdam devoted to the cause of gays and lesbians as murdered during the Second World War. This museum is a hope for gays and lesbians globally. In the museum there three equilateral triangles made of pink granite are connected and attached in a manner with pink bricks. These three bricks show off the past, present and future. It is situated between the Westerkerk and the Keizersgracht canal
Some other places of tourist attraction in Amsterdam are Blijburg, Stand West, Strand Zuid and Former Heineken Brewery.