DK Travel : Amsterdam : Places of interest

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East Indiaman Amsterdam

This splendid replica of a Dutch East India Company ship that sank on its maiden voyage in 1749 makes a fine sight in Oosterdok. Visit the captain in his luxurious cabin and the cook in his galley, and watch the sailors hoisting cargo and swabbing decks (see Entrepotdok).
Enkhuizen

The fortunes of this attractive former fishing port declined dramatically after the construction of the huge Afsluitdijk in 1932 created the freshwater IJsselmeer and cut it off from the North Sea. Today it is home to the wonderful Zuiderzeemuseum, which includes a reconstruction of a typical fishing village with costumed “inhabitants” and craftsmen at work.
Ferry across the IJ

Join the locals on the five-minute ferry ride from Centraal Stationto North Amsterdam or to the Java Eiland.
Haarlem

Centred around the Grote Markt, with its buzzing pavement cafés and lovely buildings, the historic centre of this lively, wellheeled city is a delight. Highlights include the Frans Hals Museum, the Grote Kerk with its magnificent decorated Müller organ, and the Art Deco train station. Also well worth a visit is the Teylers Museum, with its excellent collection of science, technology and art exhibits.
Hash Marihuana Hemp Museum

Seen through a cloud of incense, exhibits in this tiny but fascinating museum chart the history of hemp (marijuana) from its earliest use some 8,000 years ago to the 20th-century drug wars. Ashennep , it was used in Holland for making lace, linens, fishing nets and fabric for sails, and processed by special windmills calledhennepkloppers . There are displays about smuggling, an array of hookahs and reefers, and a “grow room” where plants are cultivated.
Hollandsche Manege

Stylish 19th-century royal riding school (see Hollandsche Manege).
Joods Historisch Museum

Abel Cahen’s prize-winning design for the Jewish Historical Museum (1987) is a perfect marriage of old and new: the four synagogues that house it, built by Ashkenazi Jews during the 17th and 18th centuries, are linked by glass-covered internal walkways. Highlights of the exhibition, which is concerned with all aspects of Jewish life, are the Holy Ark (1791), focus of the Nieuwe Synagoge, the illuminated Haggadah manuscript (1734), and Elias Bouman’s airy 17th-century Grote Synagoge (see Jewish Sights).
Keukenhof

Throughout spring, but climaxing in mid-April when the tulips flower, a drab coastal strip between Leiden and Haarlem bursts into colour. Among these commercial bulbfields is the wooded Keukenhof park, the showcase for Dutch bulbs, a dazzling and unforgettable sight between late March and late May.
Leiden

An easy-going university town, full of cycling students, Leiden offers plenty of canals, cafés and museums, as well as the lovely Hortus Botanicus.
Lunchtime Concerts

At the Concertgebouw every Wednesday at 12:30pm and at the Boekmanzaal in the Stadhuis(see Stopera)every Tuesday at 12:30pm, October to June.