Museum
Canal house museums
Discover Amsterdam’s canal house museums
Amsterdam is renowned for its world-famous museums, but behind the façades of the canal-side houses lies a world that is just as remarkable. Scattered throughout the city, you’ll find canal-side house museums where you can literally step back in time and experience Amsterdam’s history.
From lavishly furnished merchants’ houses and former artists’ homes to hidden churches and historic residences: each museum tells its own story about living, working, collecting, worshipping and life in the city through the centuries.
Our Lord in the Attic Museum is part of this special group of museums. Together, they offer a unique glimpse into Amsterdam’s past, in the very places where that history actually unfolded.
Find out more below about canal-side house museums and historic houses that are well worth a visit.
Situated on the Keizersgracht, the Van Loon Museum offers a glimpse into the life of a wealthy Amsterdam family. The 17th-century canal-side house, complete with garden and coach house, shows how the city’s elite lived during the Golden Age and beyond.
This impressive townhouse on the Herengracht was once the home of art collectors Abraham Willet and Louisa Holthuysen. The lavishly furnished salons, period rooms and formal city garden offer a glimpse into the life of Amsterdam’s upper classes in the nineteenth century.
The Bartolotti House is one of the finest merchant’s houses in Amsterdam. Behind the richly decorated façade, you will discover an impressive interior that reflects the wealth and ambition of Amsterdam’s merchant elite.
Housed in the historic Wittenberg building, the Luther Museum tells stories about religion, care and community. The historic building itself forms an important part of the collection.
In the 17th-century Huis met de Hoofden, the Embassy of the Free Mind takes visitors on a journey through centuries of philosophy, spirituality and free thinking. A unique museum in one of the most beautiful locations on the Keizersgracht.
In Rembrandt’s former home and studio, you can discover how the famous artist lived and worked during his years in Amsterdam. A unique opportunity to get closer to one of the greatest painters in Dutch history.
This unique museum, housed in a historic canal-side house, explores the role cats have played in art and culture over the centuries. A surprising blend of history, art and humour.
At the historic Cromhouthuizen, the Art Zoo Museum combines art, nature and taxidermy. The result is a contemporary cabinet of curiosities that invites visitors to view the animal world from an artistic perspective.
As Amsterdam’s first photography museum, Huis Marseille presents temporary exhibitions in two 17th-century canal-side houses. The combination of contemporary photography and historic architecture makes a visit here all the more special.
FOAM is housed in a historic building on the Keizersgracht and is one of the Netherlands’ leading photography museums. Here, contemporary photography and Amsterdam’s history come together under one roof.
Not all homes in Amsterdam are on dry land. At the Houseboat Museum, you can experience what it’s like to live on an authentic houseboat, housed in a former cargo ship dating from 1914 on the Prinsengracht.
In a historic canal-side house on the Prinsengracht, you’ll discover a remarkable collection of pipes from various cultures and eras. The historic interior provides a fitting backdrop for this surprising collection.
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