Amsterdam: World War Ii Private Walking Tour

Excelent walking tour… • Peter has and infectious enthusiasm and deep well of historical knowledge. Rather than reading from a dry script, he share personal stories, local context, and thoughtful answers to questions…Peter use historical photographs and documents during the walk to compare what specific Amsterdam streets and monuments looked like then versus now. We received photo copies and reference materials to take home. The route uncovers lesser-known memorial sites and street-level details that most independent travelers walk right past..would highly recommend this tour

Peter is an exceptional guide with a wealth of knowledge to share. He is friendly, warm and open to questions. Thanks for a wonderful morning together.

Peter was one of the best tour guides I’ve ever had. I had been to Amsterdam before and didn’t want to spend the day in another museum or doing the typical tourist stops. I really wanted to focus on Amsterdam during World War II and experience that history while walking through the city, and Peter’s tour was EXACTLY what I was looking for. He brought old photographs and documents and showed us what was happening during the war in the exact streets and places where we were standing. Being able to look at a historical photo and realize you were standing in that very spot was incredibly powerful. Peter is local, knowledgeable, personable, and made the history come alive. I’ve learned so much and enjoyed every minute with him. I only wish I had a Peter in every port! If you want to experience a different side of Amsterdam, especially its WWII history, I highly recommend Peter. This was truly one of the highlights of our trip!

What a wonderful tour! Peter was so friendly and knowledgeable and he really brought the history of Amsterdam to life with personal stories and photos of the city both during the war and earlier. We absolutely recommend this tour for any World War Two history buffs or anyone simply wanting to learn about the beautiful city of Amsterdam’s past.

My husband and I had a wonderful time on this tour. Our guide was Peter and he was amazing! His pride and passion for history and Amsterdam was contagious. He not only shared facts but also his own personal history as it related to WW2. His descriptions of Amsterdam then was supplemented with pictures and truly made the history come to life. Peter was very knowledgeable, thoughtful, and answered all our questions with ease. You will have no regrets booking this tour!

Our Guide, Peter Schaapman, was very personable and knowledgeable about the history of Amsterdam. His personal stories added richness to this sad chapter of the Netherlands history Highly recommended. A private tour meant we could go at our own pace and have deep conversations.

Peter was outstanding. He brought WWII history to life by taking us to the actual locations where events occurred and showing historical photos right where history happened. His knowledge of both the war and Amsterdam is incredibly deep, and he answered every question we threw at him. What stood out most was his genuine passion for the subject. After the tour, he even sent us his thesis on Jews in Denmark—we ended up reading the entire thing and highly recommend it. We took the tour in English, and Peter was excellent. As a native Dutch speaker, he also speaks German and apparently guides in German even more fluently. If we return to Amsterdam, we wouldn’t hesitate to hire Peter again. Beyond being a great guide, he’s simply a thoughtful, engaging, and genuinely good person. Highly recommended.

Peter gave us a extremely interesting tour of WWII history in Amsterdam and Holland, with detailed narrative and photos at each location. Highly Recommended!

Peter was excellent. His intimate knowledge of the city and its history was wonderful. I learned so much from the tour and give it my highest recommendation. Plus, Peter is just a fabulous person - warm, friendly, and engaging. You will love this tour!

Peter is a wonderful tour guide - full of very interesting facts and stories. We walked at an easy pace and stopped at key areas and points of interest. Peter answered all questions and my two children aged 13 and 11 also found the walking tour extremely interesting. Would highly recommend!

Peter took our group of four through a fascinating walk through neighborhoods, touching upon WWII history and the role played by Belgium. He provided links to some of his work as a historian, and photos of key places as they looked during the war. I highly recommend doing this tour to anyone interested in history!

We had a great time with Peter on this tour. He mixed personal experiences with history to give a unique look into the history of the Netherlands and Amsterdam during World War 2. We also enjoyed talking with him about modern events, the differences and similarities between people from around the world, and what it’s like to live in Amsterdam. We would highly recommend this tour to anyone looking to learn about Dutch WW2 history from a person who knows it well and presents it a most engaging way.

Highly informative walk of discovery with a charming published historian. If you want to know what Amsterdam looked and felt like under Nazi control then Peter is your perfect guide. Discover lanes and alleyways that you would never find on your own and stand in the very spots where the tragic history unfolded. 5 star guide. 5 star experience. Hugh and Barbara from Brisbane

Exceptional private tour with no more than 4 people. Very knowledgeable and prepared with details we appreciated. Suggest to visit the resistance museum first. Be prepared to be confronted. I learnt a lot and so glad that I did this tour. Thanks Peter and you are a national treasure.

The tour was excellent. Ben, the professor, made the stories of the Netherlands and WW 2 come alive. This tour was exactly what my history buff husband was hoping for. I enjoyed it as well.

Peter showed us sights and gave us insights we wouldn't have seen/had without him. He is knowledgeable about the history of his city and clearly loves to share it. We are grateful he agreed to share it with us. His willingness to share some of his source material and photos was a bonus! We are glad we had the opportunity to meet Peter and go on his tour.

The walking tour that Peter took us on was really informative, showing us all sorts of sights that we would not otherwise have found and illustrating his narrative with lots of old photos. It was quite casual and we weren't rushed from point to point to meet some sort of timescale. We even had a break in the middle for coffee and cake at a delightful cafe hidden away from the main tourist areas. Peter also provided us with some handouts, including a copy of his photos and later sent us his thesis on the rescue of the Danish Jews. I would thoroughly recommend a tour with Peter.

We had a fascinating tour with Peter Schaapman. He walked us through many parts of Amsterdam where we had already been but never noticed the historical landmarks from WWII until he pointed them out to us! He has an extensive knowledge of the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands and even gave us copies of many artifacts (photos, logbooks, narratives, etc.) from the period. I would highly recommend signing up for this walking tour!

Peter was the perfect guide and showed us that memories of World War 2 are all around Amsterdam. He was a wealth of information, a lot of it personal. This included stories about his family and he had done a lot of research about families that lived in Amsterdam and were taken to concentration camps. We found the attention to detail very poignant and moving. Peter had a lot of photos to support his tour and these were fascinating. We also felt that Pater showed us Amsterdam though a local’s perspective and we felt like we really got a taste of this beautiful city! We were sorry when the tour ended as Peter was very easy company.

This is our second time taking a World War II walking tour with Peter Schaapman. The first was a small group and this time it was a private tour for me and my wife. Peter is an outstanding guide. He presents a very well organized and researched tour for three hours. Even though we took the tour again, we saw many different sights and much additional or new information was added. The tour is three hours with a coffee break midway through. Peter comes prepared with so much information, sources, and handouts and is such a pleasant guide that it is a shame when the tour ends. You feel very well informed and entertained after spending a few hours with Peter. I can also say that the value of the tour, group or individual, is excellent and very reasonably priced. I am glad to recommend this tour for anyone interested in the history of Amsterdam during this particular period of time.

We enjoyed the tour a lot. Our children said that this was one of the best activities we did during our holidays in the Netherlands. Thank you Peter!

We very much enjoyed out tour with Peter Schaapman. It was interesting and informative. He was very engaging, well spoken, and knowledgeable. We highly recommend this tour!

I found this tour from the great reviews below - and I can confirm this was the best time. We did a private tour for 4 people, all of us very interested in WWII history. Much better than going to a museum - this way you get learn while also seeing the beautiful city. Peter was very knowledgeable and answered all of our questions. If you’re worried about walking for 2-3 hours, it is not bad at all. It’s paced very well, made some indoor stops due to rain. Also very accommodating with days and times if you’re looking to book outside of normal hours on the website. Overall, a must book! Thanks to Peter for giving us this great experience.

We had a fantastic morning with Peter on his private WWII walking tour. He was very organized, thoughtful and full of interesting facts. He also showed us photos that provided context to his narrative. He pointed out details that we would have missed without his guidance. The morning went by too fast! We could have spent the entire day with him. I highly recommend booking a private tour with Peter. It was one of the highlights of our trip to the beautiful city of Amsterdam.

Peter was an excellent and knowledgeable guide who gave us a wonderful private tour of WW2 in Amsterdam. His passion and energy shines through and after walking with him we know that basically every spot in the city has some mark or monument to the War. After our tour we saw the city in a whole different way. Peter also showed us some really great coffee shops and pointed out great restaurants along the way that we later tried. A great and memorable part of our trip!

This was absolutely the highlight of our trip. My husband and I find WWII FASCINATING and our three teens found it interesting too. Ben was amazing and really made everything that we have read in history books come alive. We had so many questions and his knowledge was excellent. If you have any interest in WWII history then you should definitely take this tour. Our three teens have said repeatedly how much they loved this tour.

If you want to know more about Amsterdam’s WWII history this is who to come to, to learn both about the history and the city. Peter was fantastic, quite knowledgeable and helpful. He wove personal details into all the things he shared. I recommend Peter to anyone who wants indepth knowledge and understanding of Amsterdam in the 1940’s.

Peter was our tour guide and I was amazed how passionate he was to take us on tour in horrible cold winter day. We arrived and met him and luckily there were only 2 of us taking tour with him, so it was almost like a private tour. He has pictures of major events and he took us to places where the events did happen. We also spoke about more than just Amsterdam and he was very open and discussed other countries and their state during the WW2. I really loved his enthusiasm to learn more about our country and indirect involvement in WW2 and asked us to share the material or google links so he can study further. He also shared some material collected to give us which was carefully printed and bonded. I loved that personal touch and care that he showed to enhance our knowledge. we took one break and he spoke a little bit about his family and current political affairs of the world. In a nutshell, this was a thorough researched, studied and well organized tour for us. We actually learnt a lot about a lot that happened during WW2. Highly recommended for history lovers.

Peter is a wealth of knowledge about this subject. We enjoyed our tour with him and highly recommend it. Peter also shared several publications with us that he and others authored so that we could get even deeper understanding of the WWII era in the Netherlands.

Ben is an interesting guide, full of stories and details about Amsterdam and the German invasion during World War 2. He met us in front of the Anne Frank House and lead us throught Amsterdam's streets ending at the National Holocaust Names Monument. As we walked along listening to his stories he shared pictures depicting the period of time that Germany occupied the city. We were able to envision how it had looked and felt to be in the city during that time. He was willing and able to answer all our questions. I highly recommend this tour for anyone interested in Amsterdam's history.

Private WWII walking tour through Amsterdam. A walk back in time through the streets of Amsterdam with a detailed history of what life was like during this time period. We had a wonderful time! Thank you so much Peter. Would highly recommend the tour!

Awesome guide and great tour. Guide was super friendly and knowledgeable and tailored the tour to our pace, wants, and liking. I would recommend this tour to anyone who likes history or just wants to know more about the city during a dark but fascinating time.