Plantage in Amsterdam: zoo, botanical garden and Jewish quarter

The Plantage at a glance: from pleasure gardens to a well-to-do district

In 1682, the city of Amsterdam decided to lease the still-empty land east of the city as pleasure gardens. City engineer Jacob Bosch divided the area into fifteen parks of a hundred plots each and laid out the central axis, today's Plantage Middenlaan. That same year, the city's botanical garden moved to the western corner of the site. Permanent buildings were forbidden: Amsterdammers came here to stroll, have a drink or listen to music in wooden pavilions.

On 1 May 1838, the zoological society Natura Artis Magistra opened its garden in the neighbourhood. The ban on building in stone was lifted in 1859, and the Plantage became a residential area for wealthy families, with large neoclassical houses along tree-lined avenues.

From the 1870s, many Jewish families who had prospered, notably through trade and diamond cutting, left the very poor old Jewish quarter next door to settle in the Plantage. The neighbourhood then had cafés, theatres and concert halls. During the German occupation, it became a central site of persecution: from 1942, the Hollandsche Schouwburg, a theatre on the Plantage Middenlaan, was used as an assembly point before deportation. The last transport left on 19 November 1943. These places are now museums and memorials, in a neighbourhood that has become quiet and residential once more.

What to see in the Plantage

Artis, the city-centre zoo

Artis is the oldest zoo in the Netherlands and takes up the heart of the neighbourhood. The ticket includes the aquarium, opened in 1882, and the planetarium. On the Artisplein, two museums with separate tickets round off the visit: Micropia, devoted to micro-organisms, and the Groote Museum, about the links between humans and the rest of the living world. The zoo is open daily from 9am to 6pm until 31 October, then from 9am to 5pm. Adult tickets start at €29.50 online. Allow half a day.

Hortus Botanicus

Founded in 1638 and based in the Plantage since 1682, the Hortus Botanicus is one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world. You can visit the outdoor garden, the three-climate greenhouse, the butterfly house and the large palm house. It is open daily from 10am to 5pm; an adult ticket costs €14.75, card payment only. The Museumkaart is not accepted.

Wertheimpark and the "Nooit meer Auschwitz" monument

Opposite the Hortus, across the Plantage Middenlaan, Wertheimpark is billed as the oldest park in Amsterdam: it was laid out in 1812. Since 1898 it has been named after Abraham Carel Wertheim (1832-1897), a Jewish banker and liberal politician whose medallion adorns the fountain. In the park, the "Nooit meer Auschwitz" ("Never again Auschwitz") monument, designed by writer and artist Jan Wolkers, is made of broken mirrors laid on the ground that reflect a shattered sky. Installed in the park in 1993, it hosts the national Holocaust commemoration every year at the end of January, organised by the Dutch Auschwitz Committee. Entry to the park is free.

Dutch Resistance Museum

Opposite the entrance to Artis, the Dutch Resistance Museum (Verzetsmuseum) occupies the Plancius building, built in 1876 for a Jewish choral society. It tells the story of life in the Netherlands under occupation, from 1940 to 1945, and has a section for children, the Verzetsmuseum Junior. Open daily from 10am to 5pm, it costs €17.50 for an adult, audio guide included.

The Hollandsche Schouwburg and the National Holocaust Museum

On the Plantage Middenlaan, two buildings face each other. At number 24, the Hollandsche Schouwburg, a theatre opened in 1892, has become a memorial: tens of thousands of Jews were assembled there before being deported. At number 27, the National Holocaust Museum, opened in March 2024, is the first museum in the Netherlands entirely devoted to the persecution of Dutch Jews. From the neighbouring crèche, hundreds of children were saved by a network organised by Walter Süskind and Henriëtte Pimentel, among others. Both sites are open daily from 10am to 5pm and are part of the Jewish Cultural Quarter, together with the Jewish Museum and the Portuguese Synagogue, on the other side of the Nieuwe Herengracht. A combined ticket for the Holocaust Museum and the Hollandsche Schouwburg costs €20, and a ticket covering all four sites €30.

National Holocaust Names Memorial

On the western edge of the neighbourhood, on the Weesperstraat, the Nationaal Holocaust Namenmonument was unveiled on 19 September 2021 by King Willem-Alexander. Designed by architect Daniel Libeskind, it forms four Hebrew letters meaning "in memory of". Its brick walls bear the names of more than 102,000 Jewish, Sinti and Roma victims of the Holocaust in the Netherlands who have no grave. Entry is free, from the Nieuwe Keizersgracht, the Nieuwe Herengracht or the Hoftuin gardens, from 8am to 8pm from October to March and from 8am to 9pm from April to September.

De Burcht, the former diamond workers' union headquarters

At Henri Polaklaan 9, De Burcht was built by architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage for the General Diamond Workers' Union (ANDB), founded after a successful strike in 1894. Opened in 1900, it is the oldest trade union building in the Netherlands; its murals date from 1904. The street is named after Henri Polak, co-founder and long-time leader of the union. The building now hosts events and a documentation centre on the labour movement; it is not open to casual visitors, but a few guided tours are held during the year.

Entrepotdok

North of the zoo, the Entrepotdok lines up 84 former warehouses along the water. King William I set up a bonded warehouse here in 1827, the Algemeen Rijks Entrepot. Now listed monuments, the warehouses were converted into social housing between 1985 and 1988. The houseboats moored along the quay and the gabled facades make it one of the most photogenic walks in the neighbourhood.

Where to eat and drink in the Plantage

The Plantage has fewer restaurants than the centre, but a few long-established places let you take a break between visits. Check their opening hours before you go.

• Café Eik en Linde (Plantage Middenlaan 22a): a brown café whose history goes back to the 19th century, when it stood on the site of today's zoo; it has been at this address since 1967. Billiards, board games and a local atmosphere.
• Café-Restaurant De Plantage (Plantage Kerklaan 36): a restaurant with a terrace on the Artisplein, next to the zoo entrance, for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
• Plancius (Plantage Kerklaan 61a): a brasserie in the Plancius building, next to the Resistance Museum and opposite Artis, with a large terrace in summer.
• De Oranjerie: the Hortus Botanicus café, inside the garden, for lunch or a pastry between greenhouses.

A walk through the Plantage

Allow half a day for this loop of about 4 kilometres, not counting museum visits.

1. Leave the metro at Waterlooplein station and cross the Mr. Visserplein. Waterlooplein Market, right next door, is worth a detour for its second-hand clothes and bric-a-brac stalls.
2. Cross the Nieuwe Herengracht by the Hortus bridge and enter the Hortus Botanicus.
3. Cross the Plantage Middenlaan to Wertheimpark and stop at the "Nooit meer Auschwitz" monument.
4. Walk up the Plantage Middenlaan to the Hollandsche Schouwburg (number 24) and the National Holocaust Museum (number 27).
5. Turn left into the Plantage Kerklaan: the Resistance Museum and the Artis entrance face each other.
6. Head back to the Henri Polaklaan to see the facade of De Burcht, then make your way to the Entrepotdok, north of the zoo, and walk along the warehouses.
7. Return towards the Waterlooplein via the Weesperstraat and the Names Memorial, then finish on the banks of the Amstel at the H'ART Museum, housed in the Amstelhof, a former almshouse dating from 1681.

The Amstelhof also housed a branch of the Amsterdam Museum, closed since December 2025: for the city's history, check its page before you go.

Practical information

Getting to the Plantage

Tram 14 links Central Station (Centraal Station) to the neighbourhood via the Dam and the Waterlooplein; it stops at Mr. Visserplein and Artis, on the Plantage Middenlaan. Metros 51, 53 and 54 stop at Waterlooplein station, a five- to ten-minute walk from the Hortus and Artis. From the Dam, allow around twenty minutes on foot. Full details on tickets are in our guide to getting around Amsterdam.

Summary of places to see

Prices checked in October 2026 on the official websites. The Museumkaart and the I amsterdam City Card give free entry to the Resistance Museum and the Jewish Cultural Quarter sites; only the City Card is valid at the Hortus.

When to go

Come on a weekday as soon as things open to enjoy Artis and the Hortus before the crowds. When it rains, the Hortus greenhouses, the Artis aquarium and the museums offer several hours under cover. The memorial sites call for a quiet visit: allow plenty of time, and ideally save them for part of the day without very young children, as the Holocaust Museum is recommended from age 10.

Further reading

To place these sites in a complete itinerary, read our guide to Amsterdam and the Second World War. To the east, the Plantage runs into Amsterdam-Oost, with its Oosterpark and markets. And if you like the Hortus and Wertheimpark, compare them with the city's other green spaces in our selection of the most beautiful parks and gardens in Amsterdam.