Day Two

Start day two of your trip in the Museumplein Area. The Rijksmuseum is the Netherlands’ premier museum. When at full operation, the Rijksmuseum contains the world's largest collection of paintings by Dutch masters such as Rembrandt, Van Ruisdael, Vermeer, de Hooch, Terborch, and Gerard Dou.

 

Unfortunately for current travelers, it is under renovation until sometime in 2008. But you can still check out “The Masterpieces,” a temporary exhibit on display in the Philips Wing. Perhaps the most famous work is Rembrandt’s celebrated painting The Shooting Company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq and Lieutenant Willem van Ruytenburch,better known as The Night Watch.

 

Nearby, Vincent van Gogh has a museum all to himself. The Van Gogh Museum displays more than 200 van Gogh paintings, exhibited in chronological order. Art aficionados will enjoy debating whether or not van Gogh’s gradual descent into madness can be seen in the progression of his paintings (it can).

 

After a morning indoors, pick up some lunch and head to Vondelpark to soak up some sunshine. This is where Amsterdam residents come out to play. All manner of outdoor pursuits are evident here, but in-line skating and Frisbee-tossing tend to be the favorites.

 

When you are finished relaxing in Amsterdam’s most popular park, head to the east side of town to Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam’s famed botanical gardens, containing some 250,000 flowers and 115,000 plants, plus more than 8,000 tree varieties.

 

When you are done there, finish the day by heading over one block to 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.