Discover the history of Amsterdam’s primary Roman Catholic church. Built in the late 19th century after centuries of prohibition, its striking blend of architectural styles reflects the city's evolving religious landscape.
Visit the Schreierstoren, or Tower of Tears, a medieval structure from which women bid farewell to loved ones departing by ship
Stroll along one of Amsterdam’s oldest streets, once a sea dike that held back the waters of the IJ. At the Kolksluis, admire one of the city’s most picturesque lock bridges.
From here, we will make our way to the lively nightspot and market square, Nieuwmarkt which is found in the old city centre. This spot has been a centre for commerce and socialising in Amsterdam since the 17th century as the square’s location just inside the old city gate made it a convenient spot for traders and shoppers looking for fresh produce.
During our time at Nieuwmarkt, we will also see what is known as “De Waag”, a 15th century building that is one of Amsterdam’s oldest remaining non-religious buildings. Originally a city gate and part of the walls of Amsterdam, the building has also served as a guildhall, museum and firestation, among other things.
Moving on, we will see both the Trippenhuis & Klein Trippenhuis. While the Trippenhuis is Amsterdam’s widest home, spanning an enormous 22m, the Klein Trippenhuis is one of Amsterdam’s narrowest houses located right across from the Trippenhuis.
Step into the courtyard of the Dutch East India Company’s headquarters, the birthplace of the world’s first multinational corporation.
Marvel at one of the narrowest houses in Amsterdam, a reminder of how high land taxes once encouraged tall, narrow architecture.
Amsterdam’s first purpose-built Protestant church, designed by Hendrick de Keyser. Its elegant tower is one of the city’s defining landmark
Next we will pass by Rembrandt’s house, a historical building and art museum in which the Painter Rembrandt lived and worked between 1639 and 1656. The collection of the museum contains Rembrandt’s etchings and paintings of his contemporaries.
Following, we will go to what is known as the Stopera, a building complex housing both the city hall and the Dutch National Opera and Ballet. The construction of this building was at least 60 years in the making.
A rare 17th-century canal house located at the junction of three canals, with façades facing in three directions.
Following, we will see one of the oldest hofjes, or almshouses in Amsterdam, Begijnhof. It consists of a group of houses built around a secluded courtyard and garden, known to have provided homes for the Beguines – a group of unmarried women who lived together under vows of chastity. Today it is also the site of two churches.
One of the tour’s last stop includes the Dam Square. Its notable buildings and frequent events make it one of the most well-known locations in the city, as it includes the Royal Place, New Church and National Monument.
Admire the “Golden Bend” of the Herengracht, lined with the city’s richest and most ornate canal mansions from the Dutch Golden Age.
Pause outside the Anne Frank House, where the young diarist hid during WWII. Next door rises the Westerkerk, with the tallest church tower in Amsterdam.
Look up to spot quirky gable stones, carved with allegories and trade emblems, decorating some of the city’s most ornate façades.
Following, we will walk through one of the busiest squares in the city, Rembrandt Square. As you can tell by its name, Rembrandtplein is named after the famous Dutch painter, Rembrandt. Here you will see a bronze-cast representation of his most famous painting, The Night Watch, which was displayed as part of the celebration of the artist’s 400th birthday in 2006.
A 17th-century Protestant church built for the Jordaan district. Its unusual cross-shaped floor plan reflects the new ideals of Reformation worship.
End at one of the city’s prettiest canal corners. Visit Het Papeneiland, a brown café from 1642, said to serve the best apple pie in town.
We had a very lovely & personal tour with Cecile. She was enthusiastic and shared her wealth of knowledge with us gladly. Thoughly enjoyed our experience ! Well done Cecile.
Informative walking tour with knowledgable guide - the walking pace was perfect and it was really interesting to learn about the history of the city. Would highly recommend if you have a free day in Amsterdam.
We enjoyed the tour very much! Provided a great historical overview of the city.
I booked a semi-private Amsterdam city walking tour with Frank D, and once again, Babylon Tours delivered an exceptional experience. Frank was incredibly knowledgeable, and we spent 3.5 hours exploring Amsterdam while he shared so many interesting insights I would have never discovered on my own. This is probably my sixth tour with Babylon across London, France, Italy, and now the Netherlands, and they continue to impress every time. Highly recommend!
We met with our guide, Clare, as instructed. There were only 5 of us which made it easy to listen and to chat. Clare tailored the walk to what everyone wanted and made it so interesting. It was a fun afternoon and we would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting ..... to get to know the city and its history a bit before you go off and explore yourself. Thankyou Clare.
Really excellent tour from Fleur. She helped bring the exhibits to life and I was very moved by the devotion to restoring The Night Watch by Rembrandt including that we could see the conservators in situ whilst we viewed the art. I had a beautiful emotional tearful moment at that. Thanks Fleur for your guiding and the time and attention you gave to us and the exhibits. Andrew
This tour was the perfect way to learn our way around Amsterdam through the lens of Jewish history and the associated sights. Our tour guide, Josje, was extremely knowledgeable and did a wonderful job of contextualizing the events of WWII through the buildings that are still standing today. Note that this is the kind of tour where you're expected to continually ask questions and raise talking points - you might get a side eye or two from the guide if you aren't interacting enough. There's a bit of "this will be on the test" energy to the tour.
Guide was very versed on history of the city and region. She knew fun tidbits of historical information not presented in guide books. U would recommend her tour.
Josje B. provided one of the most in depth walking tours that we have ever been on. We were lucky to be the only clients on the tour and instantly felt a connection with her. We learned about Amsterdam's long history, formation of the city from watery beginnings, art, etc as well as introduction to neighborhoods for further visits. Thank you so much, Josje B. 😊
Our tour guide Huibert was amazing! He was so articulate, so knowledgeable and also personalized this experience for our interests. Yes, we got a wonderful overview history of Amsterdam but what really made this a memorable and magical time were all the hidden gems of Amsterdam he shared in a why a guidebook just can’t. I think the title should be “City Center and hidden gems of Amsterdam”! Cannot recommend tour or Huibert more highly.
Hannake was wonderful. Full of information, listening to our interest and questions. The time went very quickly and was very informative. Thank you!
Hanneke was an amazing guide for our walking tour. As a born and bred local she had a wealth of knowledge and experience and imparted this in an engaging, entertaining way.
Our tour guide was Monique and she did a fantastic job of showing us around Amsterdam and giving us a very detailed overview of the city. We had a great time and would recommend this this to anyone interested in learning more about the city and it’s unique history.
We toured the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gough museums with Paola. He was very knowledgeable and made our experience of these two museums very worthwhile. We would recommend him, and Babylon Tours, highly.Tour
Janet was an excellent guide and took us for a very enjoyable walk through Amsterdam. We saw so many things, many of which we would not have on our own. We had great photo opportunities. She gave us great historical information as well as local insights into the Dutch culture. Highly recommend this tour!!
Great tour with Henk! Walked through several neighborhoods of central Amsterdam, with historical, social and architectural information.
Anita Gosschalk Liemburg lead our tour. Anita was excellent! She is so knowledgeable and listened to areas, we had more interest than other areas. We covered a lot of ground at a very pleasant pace.
Birgitte was very passionate and I had the best time learning about Van Gogh with her! It was very enjoyable. Highly recommend!
Romy was a wonderful and informative tour guide. So well-knowledged and friendly and would definitely recommend to anyone.
Another great tour with Babylon. Anita our guide was very informative and I loved the story about the three crosses of Amsterdam! Would definitely recommend.
The Van Gogh Museum tour is a MUST if traveling to Amsterdam and Victoria with Babylon Tours was AMAZING! Her in-depth full immersion of all things Vincent Van Gogh was thoroughly educational, inspiring and very depth. To tour the museum is one thing, to tour it with Victoria is an altogether different experience! She’s invested in your education of art and her passion comes through on the tour. Please GO!!!
Frank our guide was wonderful! We went through each floor and he provided lots of interesting facts! Enjoyed the tour, would definitely recommend!
Our guide, Anita, was amazing. She is knowledgeable, fun, and shared a lot of history and tips on visiting Amsterdam. We had a fabulous day and got a lot of great stuff from the tour. Thank you, Anita.
Manuel was our guide. Outstanding tour. He was very knowledgeable . Very friendly and confident in his tour guide role. I would recommend this tour to everyone visiting Amsterdam.
It was an excellent experience. Anna explains a lot good data about Van gogh's life. Also she gave us candy and stickers.
We walked from the Van Gogh Museum to the Central Train Station. It took 2.5 hours. We made many turns to visit sites I never would have found on my own. Monique was very responsive to my sister's hearing loss and mobility issues. She gave us lots of history and information about modern Amsterdam. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour and her.
Janet our guide was wonderful, her knowledge was outstanding. We learned so much about Vincent van gough and his life. I would highly recommend a tour like this. We could’ve listened to Janet all day long. Thankyou for a fantastic experience.
We had David as out tour guide. He was punctual, and very informative. He gave us an excellent background into the history of Amsterdam. He then proceeded to show us the most important highlights of Amsterdam, that was both interesting and enlightening. Highly recommended.
Tijs was our guide through the Rijksmuseum and walking through Amsterdam and he was wonderful! We learned a lot about Dutch art & history tiday at our own pace. I highly recommend this tour!
American expat Shawn (Sean) took us a fabulous stroll thru the history of center city of Amsterdam - we saw the best sights and he told us history with other stories to entertain. The stroll was great would recommend it to everyone. *****
Great guide, very interesting tour of the Jewish quarter and Anne Frank’s story. Guide had great stories as he knew people who knew the Frank family
We enjoy interesting and unusual walking tours of cities, and we had an excellent Amsterdam city center walking tour with Melissa, who was articulate, knowledgeable, engaging, and friendly. She was enthusiastic about her adopted city (she is American), and as we happened to be the only couple on the tour that day, she tailored it on the fly to things we were especially interested in. Strongly recommended, if you like history and walking through a fascinating city.
My husband and I had a wonderful tour of the highlights of Amsterdam with our guide, Paula. She was very knowledgeable and easily adjusted the tour to fit our interests. We were very happy with the experience overall and would recommend this tour for any visitors!
Our semi-private tour ended up being a private tour and our guide, Gionnova (I think that was it), was great. She was prompt, informative and we truly enjoyed her company. We hit all the highlights of the center city area, including the red light district and some historical sites. It lasted about 2.5 hours and we stopped towards the end to have a cappuccino in one of the local restaurants. I would highly recommend this tour for really anyone who likes to walk at a slow to moderate pace and get a feel for the area.
Eve is an excellent, well qualified tour guide of Van Gogh museum. We thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. We learned a great deal about the contributions Van Gogh has made to the world of paintings.
Most excellent tour with our fabulous guide, Hanneke-a fifth generation Amsterdam citizen.
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