Tour Details
Duration
3 hours
Product Type
Tour
Venues
- West India House
- Amsterdam Canal Belt
Photos & Highlights
- Discover the Dutch Golden Age on Amsterdam walking tour
- Led by a local historian
Select a date
Tour Description
As you wander along the streets of Amsterdam, it is impossible to escape the influence of seafaring trade and the influence it has had on the city. The endless charm of the canals, which brings visitors to the city today, is a direct result of the trade history of the city.
When you meet your expert guide at the West India House, they will immediately transport you to the 1600s in Amsterdam, when the building was the headquarters of the Dutch West India Company. They will paint the picture of the circumstances around some of the most important decisions made in the building, from various trade endeavors to the idea to start a small colony on an island called Manhattan.
As you move away from the economic center, your guide will weave stories together about the domestic and social lives of the upper classes in the Jordaan neighborhood, home to some of the more beautiful and well-preserved canal houses.
You will eventually find yourself in the middle of the canal belt, the perfect backdrop to consider how the development of the canal system has radically determined the city of Amsterdam has become. As you end your time with your expert guide, you will have a deep understanding of how the Dutch Golden Age set the stage for the city that is Amsterdam today.
Experts
- Amsterdam Canal Belt
- West India House
- If you are deeply curious about history and want to learn about how trade, power, and art intersected during the 17th century to produce the so-called Dutch Golden Age.
- You want to get out of the main tourist drag of Amsterdam and explore charming districts without the crowds.
- You like to come home from your trips with intriguing new facts and tidbits to share with your friends.
Tickets
This tour does not include any interior venues, therefore, no tickets are needed.
Additional Trip-Planning Resources
- For more information on planning your travels to the Netherlands, take a read through our Context Stories.
- Is this tour suitable for kids? This tour isn’t part of our family program, but we do have some family-friendly guides who lead this tour and will be able to adjust the content for kids (pending their availability).
- Is this tour suitable for people with mobility issues? This tour covers a fair amount of ground, and while Amsterdam is mostly very flat, the streets can get very busy, and there are bridges that may be a challenge for people with mobility issues. If you have any mobility concerns, please get in touch with our client services team, and we will be happy to advise you further.
Book with confidence — see Context's flexible cancellation policy here.
Where You'll Start
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239 Reviews
Reviews can only be left by Context customers after they have completed a tour. For more information about our reviews, please see our FAQ.
We were very disappointed in this walk, especially after re-reading the description on the Context website that got us excited about it in the first place. We wanted to hear the story of the Dutch golden age, and we didn't get it. We did not visit a canal house museum as stated on the website, and the visit to the West India Company House was just the outside as the initial meeting point. The visit to the Amsterdam museum was just to the lobby as the museum was closing. There were interesting details about the construction of the canal houses due to the docent's architecture background, but this walk didn't really tell us about the traders and explorers or tell us what life was like in that fascinating period.
Richard
Reviewed on:
May 10, 2017
Investors and Explorers in the Golden Age - I'm including this in the description because the docent, Belina, knew nothing about this topic. She's a nice person, who was obviously not an expert in the subject matter of the tour. She spent the majority of the tour walking in silence. In comparison to all of our other tours, context seriously let us down. I would like a refund.
Cathy
Reviewed on:
May 8, 2017
Belina was a delight and the tour very enlightening. I'm very happy that I signed up for it.
Katherine
Reviewed on:
May 5, 2017
