Enjoy Amsterdam the way you want to! Stay for two nights and enjoy our breakfast buffet each morning. Get the 48hr I amsterdam card. The I amsterdam card is a discount card...
Hotel Amsterdam What's On
There's so much to do and so much to see in Amsterdam. See the latest events, happenings and attractions in the city.
Want to know which special events, parties, exhibitions, and much more are taking place in Amsterdam? On this page you'll find lots of information, courtesy of iamsterdam.com, and several other sources.
De Nieuwe Kerk
Inaugurated!
The family of Orange-Nassau and the Nieuwe Kerk
11 May–18 August 2013
On 11 May, Amsterdam’s Nieuwe Kerk will open its door for a unique, one-time exhibition about Dutch royal inaugurations. For exactly one hundred days, the church will focus its attention on the festive, ceremonial inaugurations of seven generations in the family of Orange-Nassau: Kings Willem I, II, and III, Queens Wilhelmina, Juliana and Beatrix, and the new monarch, King Willem-Alexander. The Netherlands is one of twelve European monarchies. Since 1813, its heads of state have all belonged to the Orange-Nassau family, descendants of the famous Dutch stadholders of the Golden Age. All their official inaugurations have taken place in the Nieuwe Kerk. Starting on 11 May, visitors can relive those inaugurations in this historic setting. When the new King Alexander is inaugurated in the Nieuwe Kerk on 30 April, the event is sure to be witnessed on television by millions of viewers. This exhibition will bring the symbolism and emotion of the event to life.
The exhibition is being organized in close cooperation with guest curator David Penney, a specialist in Native American Art and the Associate Director of Museum Scholarship at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC. This museum was established in 2004 on the initiative of the United States Congress and will be one of the major lenders to this exhibition.
Our Queen
Until May 25 you can visit the "Our Queen" photo exhibition at the Beurs van Berlage.
The exhibition shows the 33 years of her reign and 75 years of Beatrix on the basis of a selection of 145 photographs from ANP Photo, the largest archive in the Netherlands on the royal house. All photos are accompanied with short anecdotes and historical texts created by the news agency.
All the memorable moments in the life of Beatrix are shown, emphasizing the way she has chosen to reign. Beatrix is seen as an ambassador for the Netherlands, but also as a comforting head of state. Additionally, some sad and more personal moments are revisited.
The Westergasfabriek
People come to Amsterdam’s Westergasfabriek to meet, work and relax. This beautiful city park, with its historic factory buildings surrounded by expanses of green, also has workplaces, venues for large and small events, and a range of catering, film, theatre and exhibition facilities.
The Westergasfabriek develops and rents out spaces for creative, cultural and innovative entrepreneurs. They want to inspire a broad public and provide leisure opportunities in an exciting, sustainable and friendly environment. The Westergasfabriek is a meeting place for enterprising local, domestic and foreign visitors with refreshing ideas.
The Westergasfabriek encourages the use of its spaces for creative events, ensuring the area keeps its exciting and refreshing atmosphere. They participate in cultural projects and support collaborations between their business tenants. They use online media and their modern digital infrastructure to inform the general public about what they stand for and what they’re up to over at the Westergasfabriek.
Van Gogh, my dream exhibition
His 200 most beautiful works digitally restored. Discover Van Gogh at its purest, temporarily in Amsterdam. Van Gogh, My Dream Exhibition opens daily from 10 a.m. till 6 p.m. in the Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam, until May 19, 2013.
Van Gogh, My Dream Exhibition displays the 200 most important works of Vincent van Gogh. The works are digitally restored and where possible colors have been partly restored. The works have been printed photographically at the highest quality and are specially lighted.
Van Gogh, My Dream Exhibition is an exciting and innovative exhibition bringing you the work of Van Gogh as he himself envisioned it. You will experience the work of Van Gogh as never before. Part of the exhibition are seven 3D animations. By bringing well-known paintings from 2D to 3D and into motion visitors rediscover the works. Suggested movements come to life, new layers and details become visible. Visitors of the exhibitions receive special 3D glasses to enjoy these animations.
The Stedelijk Museum is now open!
A complete renovation of the Stedelijk’s historic building, designed by A.W. Weissman and dating back to 1895, has converted virtually all of its program spaces into galleries, enabling the first comprehensive display the Stedelijk has ever mounted of its permanent collection, widely acknowledged to be among the world’s most important collections of modern and contemporary art and design. The dynamic new building—designed by Mels Crouwel of Benthem Crouwel Architects and measuring 10,000 square meters (98,400 square feet)—will provide new space for the Stedelijk’s renowned and influential temporary exhibitions, as well as a host of new amenities. The innovative design also re-orients the entire museum to face onto Amsterdam’s Museumplein (Museum Plaza), activating a vital public space that is shared by the Stedelijk and its neighbors: the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum and the Concertgebouw.
“With this long-awaited opening, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam will reaffirm and strengthen its place among leading international art institutions, showcase Amsterdam as a center of artistic experimentation and bring new life to the Museumplein, re-establishing it as a cultural destination,” Ann Goldstein stated. “And with the completion of Mels Crouwel’s bold yet brilliantly functional building, we are effectively adding a major new work to our exceptional collection of Dutch modern design.”
Read everything about Keukenhof Holland by clicking here
A historic park filled with blooming tulips, hyacinths, daffodils and other spring bulbs.
A feast for the eye, and so are the unique flower shows in the different pavilions. And in the midst of this magnificent spectacle of colour you will also find exquisite works of art. At Keukenhof you can gain inspiration and relax in the beautiful surroundings. The 32-hectare park has 15 kilometres of footpaths. Keukenhof has surprises in store for visitors of all ages. Be sure to bring your camera along on this unique experience. Come to Keukenhof with your friends, family and associates and enjoy the ultimate spring feeling!
Keukenhof theme of 2013 : “United Kingdom – Land of Great Gardens”
For several years now, Keukenhof has chosen to feature a different theme country each season. The theme country is the focus of attention in the park, which ensures a great deal of publicity in the country itself. In 2013 the park's focus will be on the United Kingdom. Keukenhof will be paying a colorful tribute to the UK, which is an important export market for flowering bulbs but also a growing source of tourists. In 2012 around 70.000 British visitors passed through the gates of Keukenhof.
Visit the exhibition on English gardens, admire their beauty, get tips from British and Dutch gardening experts for your own garden, and admire the spectacular flower mosaic of Big Ben and Tower Bridge. Have you ever seen such a blooming good work of art? This alone is reason enough to visit Keukenhof this year.
Where Keukenhof is situated now, was a hunting area in the 15th century. Herbs for the kitchen of the castle of Jacoba van Beieren were also collected here; hence the name Keukenhof.
The current park was a section of the sizeable estate of Slot Teylingen, with beautiful untamed bushes and dunes. After the decease of Jacoba van Beieren Keukenhof fell into the hands of rich merchant families. Baron and baroness Van Pallandt invited landscape architects J.D. and L.P. Zocher, designers of the Amsterdam Vondelpark, to make a design for the garden around the castle. This design, in the English landscape style, has always been the basis of Keukenhof.
At the moment the estate belongs to a Corporation. On the initiative of the Lisse mayor of that time and a number of leading flower bulb growers and exporters, an open air flower exhibition was organised here for the first time in 1949. This expanded to an annually recurring event that has always drawn great numbers of visitors from all over the world. This is how Keukenhof became the park that we now know.
KEUKENHOF IS OPEN UNTIL MAY 20 2013
Opening times: 21 March to 20 May 2013
Daily from 08:00 – 19:30.
(Ticket office is open till 18:00).
After 10 years of renovations The Rijksmuseum is open again!
After ten years of rebuilding, renovation and restoration, the Rijksmuseum has opened its doors on 13 April 2013. Never before has a national museum undergone such a complete transformation of both its building and the presentation of its collection.
A first impression is often the most telling one. You start every journey with a first step and you never forget your first kiss. Each year, the Rijksmuseum creates first impressions for hundreds of thousands of people: they get a first impression of the museum as they stare a real Rembrandt ‘in the eye’ and get a taste of history. But it does not end there. In this day and age, in our quickly-changing society, that is quite an important task. As the museum is renovated, it is, so to speak, also being reinvented. The revamped museum will be completely in step with the 21st century. The Rijksmuseum will continue to dazzle art and history lovers, develop educational programmes and play a role in society. In addition to displaying the collection superbly, the Rijksmuseum will continue to undergo changes. Art and history are not merely a thing of the past and the Rijksmuseum is a modern museum - a museum where unique events take place, non-stop.
Wim Pijbes, General-Director of the Rijksmuseum
