Day Three

Start day three on the east side of the city. Hortus Botanicus is Amsterdam’s famed botanical gardens, containing some 250,000 flowers and 115,000 plants, plus more than 8,000 tree varieties. One block over is Artis, the oldest zoo in the Netherlands. It houses over 6,000 animals and also has a Planetarium, an Aquarium, and a Geological and Zoological museum.

 

Nearby is the Joods Historich Museum, which is housed in four 17^th and 18^th century synagogues. The exhibits tell the story of the Dutch Jewish community, and the neighborhood the museum is located in was the heart of the community until Hitler’s forces emptied the streets during World War II.

 

Another block over is Museum Het Rembrandthuis, which was Rembrandt’s residence. 250 of the 300 prints he made are on display here, along with his printing press.

 

If you have energy for one more museum, the Museum Willet-Holthuysen is close by as well. Housed in an authentic canal house, it is a terrific display of what life was like for Amsterdam’s wealthy during the 18^th and 19^th centuries.