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Photo: Yamen, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The largest and most prestigious museum for sex art and sex history in the Netherlands. It shows a lot of sex oddities. Only ages 16 and up are allowed entry.
The Sexmuseum or the Temple of Venus is a sex museum located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The museum was opened in 1985. It had 675,000 visitors in 2015, making it one of the most visited museums in the Netherlands.
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The latest gimmicky tourist attraction near the Centraal Station, it's a small museum about medieval torture and torture devices. In the Middle Ages, torture was a widely known punishment for almost all crimes committed, ranging from rape to murder, and above all for heresy. The type of punishment depended on the victim's crime and social status. The Museum of Medieval Torture Instruments displays over 100 devices used to torture people. Before its make-over, it used to be the Vodka Museum; the vodka shop is still open in the basement with free entry.
Take a guided tour and check out the view from the top of the old stock exchange tower. It was built in 1903 (by Hendrik Petrus Berlage) and is considered the beginning of modern Dutch architecture. Costs €3.50, located on Beursplein near Dam Square.
Our Lord in the Attic
One of the oldest museums in Amsterdam, this is a Catholic church stuffed into the upper stories of a house built in 1663, when Catholics were persecuted and had to disguise their churches. It's amazing to see how they fit worshippers, an organ, and an altar into such a narrow place.
This beautiful building is an attraction in itself, so if you did not arrive in Amsterdam by train, it is well worth making a special trip to look at the station's facade. The station was built between 1881 and 1889 on three artificial islands. It was designed by Pierre Cuypers who also designed the Rijksmuseum in a similar neo-late-Gothic/Renaissance style. At the time, the project was highly controversial as the new station would effectively cut off the city from the IJ waterfront. Politicians in The Hague pushed it through anyway, and now it is widely regarded as the most beautiful station in the country.
The oldest of the five main churches in the historic centre, and probably the oldest building in Amsterdam. It is right in the heart of the Red Light District. You can climb the tower from April to September on Saturday and Sunday, every half-hour. Also open in the winter by group appointment (maximum 10 people) cost €70 per hour. E-mail for more information.
Used for royal coronations, including the crowning of King Willem-Alexander in 2013, and royal weddings, including his wedding to princess Máxima in 2002. The church is no longer used for services but is now a popular exhibition space. Admissions are limited: by tickets online to reserve a space.