Museum of the Canals, Amsterdam: Photos, Reviews & Location

History of Amsterdam's canals through films & audio & interactive exhibits in a waterside museum.

At a glance

#14 of 85 Tourist attractions in Amsterdam #9 of 54 Museums in Amsterdam

LocalGuideWorld score: 4.60

0.4 km from the center of Amsterdam

Rating breakdown

5 ★69%
4 ★22%
3 ★6%
2 ★2%
1 ★1%

Herengracht 386, 1016 CJ Amsterdam, Netherlands

grachten.museum

+31 20 421 1656

Photos of Museum of the Canals (101)

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Museum of the Canals, Amsterdam – photo 1

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Museum of the Canals, Amsterdam – photo 12

Quick facts

What is the rating of Museum of the Canals?: Museum of the Canals is rated 4.6 out of 5 based on 3,531 reviews.
How does Museum of the Canals rank in Amsterdam?: Museum of the Canals is #14 of 85 Tourist attractions in Amsterdam by LocalGuideWorld score (rating weighted by number of reviews).
Where is Museum of the Canals located?: Herengracht 386, 1016 CJ Amsterdam, Netherlands — 0.4 km from the center of Amsterdam.
How can I contact Museum of the Canals?: Phone: +31 20 421 1656 · Website: grachten.museum

Reviews (9)

Benjamin Brown 2023 Oct 07

Whoa, like seriously. If you need a museum to visit after the big art museums you need to go here, it's super well put together to explore the history of Amsterdam and how it was constructed, built, designed and maintained from a swamp village to modern times. It addresses the dark history of Dutch colonialism and slavery as part of the history, and it's very informative on why things are like the way they continue to be in the city. Really good audio tour, with cool rooms full of visual effects, a living dollhouse, a room full of sand to demonstrate canal building, and more. Super neat.

Hannah B 2023 Aug 27

The museum is very interactive and creative with presenting the history of the canals of Amsterdam! And it has the hidden gem — the garden on the backyard. It’s a magnificent place you don’t want to miss.

Numwan Huang 2023 Aug 12

While it might not be a must-visit museum in town, if you’re staying long enough and would like to understand how Amsterdam has developed into the city it is today, the journey won’t take more than 1 hour! Personally find it worth visiting.

Baebs Jenny 2023 Aug 01

Interesting and engaging exhibit about the canals construction. Its rather short with 45 min so great also for kids and really well done! Afterwards, there is free time to explore the garden and the contemporary exhibit about maintenance of the quaies... I loved the quiet garden.. its very rare to see these canal gardens! Definitely recommend to anyone who wants to know more about the history of Amsterdam.

Hannah Ackroyd 2023 Jun 30

Absolutely fascinating museum! Th experience was super interactive and really engaging. The audio guide provided a fascinating history to the development of the canals and the presentations in each room were so interesting. I love that each room ran to a timer so you could follow the story at a good pace while staying engaged. Very well thought out and presented!

Lauranne Bertrand 2023 Jun 14

Depuis le temps que je voulais visiter ce musée, c'est enfin chose faite ! Un excellent moyen d'en apprendre plus sur la ville d'Amsterdam au travers de différentes pièces avec différents thèmes.
Ma préférée ? Celle sur la manière dont sont construits les canaux et les maisons, que de choses apprises en quelques minutes !!
Compter environ 1h de visite, mais n'hésitez pas à rester 2 fois dans la même pièce si vous avez loupé des choses.

Lisa Whelpley 2023 Jun 13

This is a really good museum for adults and kids with decent attention spans. It's one up from the ground floor, so by ready for steps. Each room provides information about Amsterdam and it's history, with an emphasis on the canals. Very well presented.

Ishen Prithipal 2023 Jun 10

Good short tour explaining history of the canals in Amsterdam. Very immersive and audio tour guides on hand in different languages.

Guided tours are every 15/30 minutes and groups are small.

n hann 2023 Jun 08

This museum gives an excellent history of Amsterdam, the canal houses and how it all came to be developed. The audio and visual is excellent along with the construction models. The holographics in the model of the canal house are amazing. Highly recommend visiting this museum. The tour is in "groups" so that you are at the "beginning" of each "animation"