Hidden Amsterdam: 15 secret and unusual places

In the medieval centre

1. Our Lord in the Attic (Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder)

At Oudezijds Voorburgwal 38, a 17th-century merchant's house hides an entire Catholic church in its attic. After 1578, public Catholic worship was banned: people prayed in house churches, tolerated as long as they could not be seen from the street. This one, consecrated in 1663, held around 150 worshippers on two levels of galleries. The Our Lord in the Attic (Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder) museum is open every day from 10am to 6pm; tickets cost €18, and booking is required even with a museum card.

2. Het Houten Huys, in the Begijnhof

In the enclosed courtyard of the Begijnhof, near the Spui, the house at no. 34 is one of the oldest in the city: it dates from before the great fire of 1452 and its facades are made entirely of wood. Only two wooden houses of this kind remain in the city: this one and the one at Zeedijk 1. Entry to the courtyard is free, every day from 10am to 6pm, in silence: the houses are lived in.

3. The smallest house and the narrowest facade

At Oude Hoogstraat 22, between Dam Square and the Nieuwmarkt, Amsterdam's smallest house has a facade just 2.02 metres wide. First mentioned in 1738, it has been home to a workshop, a cigar seller, a jeweller and a florist; today it is a tea shop, Het Kleinste Huis, open Wednesday to Saturday from 11am to 5:30pm. At Singel 7, near the station, the canal-side facade is barely a metre wide: yet it is only the back of a much wider house, whose entrance is on the other side.

4. The Torensluis, the bridge that hid a prison

On the Singel, level with the Oude Leliestraat, the Torensluis is the oldest bridge in Amsterdam preserved in its original state. Built in 1648, it is 42 metres wide because it once carried a tower, the Jan Roodenpoortstoren, demolished in the 19th century. The tower's dungeons remain inside the bridge abutment, beneath the café terraces. On the deck, a bust of the writer Multatuli by Hans Bayens was installed in 1987. Free access.

5. The Schreierstoren, the Weepers' Tower

On the edge of the old harbour, at Prins Hendrikkade 94-95, the Schreierstoren is a late 15th-century brick tower, the last surviving defensive tower of the medieval city wall. Legend has it that sailors' wives wept here as the ships set sail, but its name more likely comes from the sharp angle the rampart made at this point. A plaque commemorates Henry Hudson's departure in 1609. You can see the outside freely; the inside is a café, open every day from 9am. For the rest of the area, see our guide to Nieuwmarkt and the Zeedijk.

In the canal ring

6. The Kattenkabinet, the cat museum

At Herengracht 497, in a 1667 house on the Golden Bend, the Kattenkabinet displays only works devoted to cats: paintings, drawings, posters and sculptures, from Rembrandt to Picasso, Toulouse-Lautrec and Steinlen. The founder created it in 1990 in memory of his ginger cat, John Pierpont Morgan, and several cats still live in the rooms. Open Tuesday to Sunday from 12pm to 5pm, €12.50.

7. De Poezenboot, the cat boat

Moored at Singel 38 G, near the station, this barge has been a shelter for stray and abandoned cats since 1968, the city's only floating animal shelter. You can go on board on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 1pm to 3pm, six visitors at a time; entry is free and a donation is welcome. The cats must not be picked up, and the boat is not wheelchair accessible. It closes over the holidays, from 25 December 2026 to 2 January 2027.

8. The Woonbootmuseum, the houseboat museum

At Prinsengracht 296 K, the Woonbootmuseum occupies the Hendrika Maria, a former cargo ship built in 1914 and converted into a home. Kitchen, bedroom, living room: you get to see how people live on the houseboats moored along the canals. Open from 10am to 5pm from October to June (until 8pm, or 20:00, from July to September), €9.50, €5 for ages 5 to 12, free with the I amsterdam City Card.

9. Huis met de Hoofden and the Embassy of the Free Mind

At Keizersgracht 123, the "House with the Heads", built in 1622 and attributed to Hendrick de Keyser, has six carved heads of Roman deities on its facade: Apollo, Ceres, Mercury, Minerva, Bacchus and Diana. A legend, never proven, says they are the heads of six burglars beheaded by a maid. The house is home to the Embassy of the Free Mind, a museum and library of old books on Hermeticism, alchemy and free thought, drawn from the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica. Open Wednesday to Sunday from 11am to 5pm; adults €15, free with the Museumkaart and the I amsterdam City Card.

These four addresses link up on our walk through the canal ring, and you can visit more interiors with our guide to canal houses to visit.

In the Jordaan and the Western Islands

10. Electric Ladyland, the museum of fluorescent art

In the basement of Tweede Leliedwarsstraat 5, this museum opened in 1999 is devoted to fluorescence: minerals from around the world that change colour under ultraviolet light, old objects and posters, and a whole room of fluorescent art that visitors step into and become part of the work. It opens Wednesday to Saturday from 2pm to 6pm, by appointment only via its website; entry costs €5, free for under-12s. The museum is run by its founder alone: book ahead and confirm your slot.

11. The Pianola Museum

At Westerstraat 106, this small museum keeps player pianos and one of the world's largest collections of perforated music rolls. Visits run continuously, with demonstrations: the instruments play in front of you. Open Friday and Saturday from 1pm to 5pm and Sunday from 1pm to 4pm (16:00); €9, €7 for students and over-65s, €5 for children, free with the I amsterdam City Card. Concerts are also held there. The rest of the neighbourhood is covered in our guide to the Jordaan, which also introduces its hofjes, the hidden almshouse courtyards.

12. The Western Islands

North-west of the Jordaan, three artificial islands created between 1611 and 1615, Bickerseiland, Prinseneiland and Realeneiland, were home to shipyards and warehouses. The Western Islands have become a quiet residential area, where the old warehouses are now homes. The Drieharingenbrug, a wooden double drawbridge so narrow that only two people can cross side by side, links Realeneiland to Prinseneiland; it takes its name from a carved stone showing three crowned herrings. The Zandhoek quay, on Realeneiland, is lined with 17th-century houses facing the barges. Free access, about fifteen minutes on foot from Central Station. It also makes an ideal walk for two, like other ideas in our guide to romantic Amsterdam.

In the east and beyond the centre

13. The De Gooyer windmill and its brewery

At Funenkade 5, the De Gooyer windmill is a former wooden grain mill, rebuilt on this spot in 1814 on a stone base. It belongs to Stadsherstel Amsterdam and cannot be visited, but you can see it up close for free. Right next door, at Funenkade 7, Brouwerij 't IJ has set up in a former public bathhouse: its tasting room, with a terrace, is open every day until 10pm. Our guides to craft breweries and the Eastern Islands extend the visit.

14. Museum Vrolik, the anatomy collection

Inside the Amsterdam UMC university hospital (AMC site), Meibergdreef 15, this museum shows the anatomical collection assembled from 1800 onwards by Gerardus Vrolik and his son Willem, both professors of anatomy: skeletons, skulls and specimens in jars, including many foetuses with congenital malformations. The subject can be upsetting, especially for children. Open Monday to Friday from 11am to 5pm; €11, €7 for ages 5 to 17 and students. Getting there: metro 54 or train to Holendrecht station.

15. De Nieuwe Ooster and the Tot Zover museum

Opened in 1894 in the Watergraafsmeer district, De Nieuwe Ooster cemetery covers more than 30 hectares of parkland designed by the landscape architect Leonard Springer; it is a listed arboretum. Here you will find the graves of the painter George Breitner and the writer Nescio. The park, at Kruislaan 126, is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm, and at weekends and on public holidays from 10am to 5pm. On site, Tot Zover, the only museum in the Netherlands located in a cemetery, explores funeral rites: Tuesday to Sunday from 11am to 5pm, €11, free up to age 12 and with the Museumkaart. The rest of the area is covered in our guide to Amsterdam-Oost.

Summary table

Prices and opening hours checked in October 2026. Several of these places are free with the Museumkaart or the I amsterdam City Card: our comparison of museum passes will help you choose.

Tips for your visit

• Group by neighbourhood: places 1 to 9 fit into a day on foot; the Jordaan and the Western Islands combine into a half-day, on a Friday or Saturday if you want to find both the Pianola Museum and Electric Ladyland open.
• Respect lived-in places: the Begijnhof, the Western Islands and the Poezenboot are not attractions like any other. Keep your voice down and do not photograph residents' windows.
• Steep stairs: the attic church, the Embassy of the Free Mind and the houseboats have little or no access for wheelchairs or pushchairs.

Going further

These places slot in easily between two big museums. For more ideas that need no ticket, see our selection of free things to do in Amsterdam. If the weather turns, our guide on what to do in Amsterdam when it rains suggests indoor visits. And to place the Schreierstoren, the attic church and the Western Islands in the city's past, read our history of Amsterdam.