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Roots Earth in Amsterdam: audio stories about 52 places

Roots Earth has audio stories about 52 places in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in Europe. The Amsterdam stories are in all seven Roots Earth languages: English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian. The app needs no account: open Amsterdam, pick a place on the city's map of places and play. Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection. The stories are written by local people.

The 52 places are listed below in the order the app shows them, and again further down with their coordinates. The lists were taken from the Roots Earth catalogue on 15 September 2026.

Published 16 September 2026. Markdown: amsterdam.md

The 52 places in Amsterdam with audio stories

In the order the app shows them.

  1. Canals of Amsterdam
  2. Rijksmuseum
  3. Anne Frank House
  4. Van Gogh Museum
  5. Dam Square
  6. Royal Palace of Amsterdam
  7. Westerkerk
  8. Oude Kerk
  9. Nieuwe Kerk
  10. Vondelpark
  11. De Wallen
  12. Begijnhof
  13. Stedelijk Museum
  14. Rembrandt House Museum
  15. Heineken Experience
  16. Magere Brug
  17. Museumplein
  18. Royal Concertgebouw
  19. Leidseplein
  20. Rembrandtplein
  21. NEMO Science Museum
  22. National Maritime Museum
  23. H'ART Museum
  24. Portuguese Synagogue
  25. Jewish Historical Museum
  26. Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam
  27. Artis Royal Zoo
  28. Bloemenmarkt
  29. Amsterdam Centraal Station
  30. Munttoren
  31. Montelbaanstoren
  32. Zuiderkerk
  33. National Monument
  34. Homomonument
  35. Eye Filmmuseum
  36. Jordaan
  37. De Pijp
  38. Albert Cuyp Market
  39. Noordermarkt
  40. Waterlooplein Flea Market
  41. Dappermarkt
  42. Nieuwmarkt
  43. Spui
  44. Brouwersgracht
  45. Westerpark
  46. Oosterpark
  47. Sarphatipark
  48. Amsterdamse Bos
  49. Flevopark
  50. NDSM Wharf
  51. Brouwerij 't IJ
  52. De Gooyer Windmill

Is there an audio guide for Canals of Amsterdam?

Yes. Canals of Amsterdam has its audio stories in the Roots Earth app: a short introduction and a deeper story, in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian.

It is place 1 of the 52 Amsterdam places in the app, at 52.365, 4.88778. Every one of the other 51 places in the list above has the same two stories.

Roots Earth is not a guided tour: you choose the place on the city's map of places and play its story yourself.

How to use Roots Earth in Amsterdam

Open Roots Earth and choose Amsterdam. The city has its own map of places with all 52 of them on it. Tap the place you are standing in front of, or any other, and play its short introduction or its deeper story. You decide what to listen to and in which order.

You can listen in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian, and there is no account. Download a city's audio, then it plays without a connection.

In full

All 52 places in Amsterdam, in the app's order, with their coordinates.

All 52 places in Amsterdam, with coordinates

Every place below has a short introduction and a deeper story in the Roots Earth app, in English, German, Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian. The names, the coordinates (latitude, longitude) and the one line descriptions are the app's own catalogue values of 15 September 2026; a place without a line here has none that this page can print.

1. Canals of Amsterdam

Coordinates
52.365, 4.88778
In one line
A ring of concentric 17th-century canals lined with merchants' houses, warehouses and arched bridges. Dug during the Dutch Golden Age and inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010, it defines the shape and spirit of central Amsterdam.

2. Rijksmuseum

Coordinates
52.36, 4.8853
In one line
The national museum of the Netherlands, housed in Pierre Cuypers's ornate 1885 brick palace. Its galleries hold Rembrandt's Night Watch, Vermeer's Milkmaid and the finest collection of Dutch Golden Age art in the world.

3. Anne Frank House

Coordinates
52.37525, 4.88432
In one line
A canal house on the Prinsengracht where Anne Frank, her family and four others hid from Nazi persecution for more than two years. Opened as a museum in 1960, it preserves the Secret Annex and the diary written within it.

4. Van Gogh Museum

Coordinates
52.3583, 4.8811
In one line
Home to the world's largest collection of works by Vincent van Gogh, including Sunflowers and The Potato Eaters. The main building, designed by Gerrit Rietveld, opened on Museumplein in 1973 and was later joined by a curving wing.

5. Dam Square

Coordinates
52.3731, 4.8928
In one line
The historic heart of Amsterdam, built where a 13th-century dam across the Amstel gave the city its name. Framed by the Royal Palace, the Nieuwe Kerk and the National Monument, it remains the city's main civic gathering place.

6. Royal Palace of Amsterdam

Coordinates
52.37317, 4.89136
In one line
A monumental Dutch Classical building on Dam Square, designed by Jacob van Campen and built between 1648 and 1665 as the city's town hall. Converted to a royal palace in 1808, it still hosts state occasions for the Dutch monarchy.

7. Westerkerk

Coordinates
52.37444, 4.88361
In one line
A Dutch Renaissance Protestant church beside the Prinsengracht, built between 1620 and 1631 to designs by Hendrick de Keyser. Its tower, the Westertoren, is Amsterdam's tallest church tower and the likely resting place of Rembrandt.

8. Oude Kerk

Coordinates
52.3744, 4.898
In one line
Amsterdam's oldest building, consecrated in 1306 and ringed today by the Red Light District. Its floor is paved with around 2,500 gravestones, and Rembrandt's wife Saskia lies somewhere beneath the worn stone.

9. Nieuwe Kerk

Coordinates
52.37389, 4.89194
In one line
A Gothic church on Dam Square begun around 1380 and rebuilt after the great fire of 1645. The setting for Dutch royal inaugurations since 1814, it now serves as an exhibition hall rather than a place of worship.

10. Vondelpark

Coordinates
52.358, 4.868
In one line
Amsterdam's best-loved park, opened in 1865 and laid out in the English landscape style by the Zocher family. Named for the poet Joost van den Vondel, its winding paths and ponds draw around 10 million visitors a year.

11. De Wallen

Coordinates
52.37333, 4.89806
In one line
Amsterdam's oldest neighbourhood and largest red-light district, named for the medieval embankments that once lined its canals. A maze of narrow lanes around the Oude Kerk, it blends centuries of history with the city's most famous nightlife.

12. Begijnhof

Coordinates
52.3694, 4.8901
In one line
A hidden medieval courtyard founded for the Beguines, lay Catholic women who lived in community without taking full vows. Documented from 1346, it shelters one of Amsterdam's oldest wooden houses and remains a quiet residential haven near the Spui.

13. Stedelijk Museum

Coordinates
52.35806, 4.87972
In one line
The Netherlands' leading museum of modern and contemporary art and design, opened in 1895 in a Neo-Renaissance building on Museumplein. Its striking white 2012 extension, nicknamed the Bathtub, houses one of the world's great Malevich collections.

14. Rembrandt House Museum

Coordinates
52.3694, 4.90129
In one line
The Jodenbreestraat house where Rembrandt lived and worked from 1639 to 1658, reconstructed from the inventory of his bankruptcy. It recreates his studio and displays a near-complete collection of his etchings.

15. Heineken Experience

Coordinates
52.35778, 4.89139
In one line
An interactive museum inside the former Heineken brewery, which produced beer on this site from 1867 until 1988. Exhibits trace the company's history and the brewing process, mixing original copper kettles with modern displays and tastings.

16. Magere Brug

Coordinates
52.36361, 4.9025
In one line
A white wooden double-leaf drawbridge over the Amstel, first built in the late 17th century and rebuilt in its present form in the 1930s. Reserved for pedestrians and cyclists, it lifts for passing boats and glows with hundreds of lights at night.

17. Museumplein

Coordinates
52.35726, 4.8816
In one line
A large open green at the heart of Amsterdam's museum quarter, laid out around 1900 and redesigned in 1999. Framed by the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Stedelijk and Concertgebouw, it serves as lawn, festival ground and winter skating rink.

18. Royal Concertgebouw

Coordinates
52.3563, 4.8791
In one line
A concert hall opened in 1888 and designed by Adolf Leonard van Gendt, celebrated worldwide for the acoustics of its shoe-box Main Hall. Home to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, it hosts hundreds of performances each year on Museumplein.

19. Leidseplein

Coordinates
52.36424, 4.88298
In one line
A lively square near the old Leidsepoort gate, once the parking ground for wagons arriving from Leiden. Home to the Stadsschouwburg city theatre and ringed by cafes, terraces and music venues, it is one of Amsterdam's busiest centres of nightlife.

20. Rembrandtplein

Coordinates
52.36611, 4.89667
In one line
A nightlife square once known as the Botermarkt, or butter market, renamed for the painter Rembrandt. At its centre stands his cast-iron statue from 1852, the oldest surviving public statue in Amsterdam, ringed by cafes and bright evening lights.

21. NEMO Science Museum

Coordinates
52.37408, 4.91235
In one line
A hands-on science museum housed in a green ship-shaped building by architect Renzo Piano, opened in 1997 above the entrance to the IJ tunnel.

22. National Maritime Museum

Coordinates
52.37167, 4.91472
In one line
Het Scheepvaartmuseum, the National Maritime Museum, fills a vast Admiralty storehouse of 1656 on the eastern docks. Its collection of ships, charts and globes traces the seafaring power that made Amsterdam a world trading capital.

23. H'ART Museum

Coordinates
52.365, 4.9025
In one line
The H'ART Museum occupies the Amstelhof, a vast classical almshouse of the 1680s on the Amstel. Formerly the Hermitage Amsterdam, it now stages major exhibitions through partnerships with the British Museum, the Centre Pompidou and the Smithsonian.

24. Portuguese Synagogue

Coordinates
52.3675, 4.9054
In one line
The Portuguese Synagogue, known as the Esnoga, was built between 1671 and 1675 for Amsterdam's Sephardic Jewish community. Still lit by candles rather than electricity, it survived the Second World War intact and houses the historic Ets Haim library.

25. Jewish Historical Museum

Coordinates
52.36694, 4.90403
In one line
The Joods Historisch Museum tells the story of Jewish life in the Netherlands. Founded in 1932, it now occupies four former Ashkenazi synagogues knitted together near Waterlooplein, and anchors the city's wider Jewish Cultural Quarter.

26. Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam

Coordinates
52.3668, 4.9079
In one line
Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam is one of the world's oldest botanical gardens, founded in 1638 as a medicinal herb garden. Stocked with exotic plants by Dutch traders, it grew the coffee that seeded the plantations of the Americas and keeps centuries-old specimens alive in the Plantage.

27. Artis Royal Zoo

Coordinates
52.36611, 4.91667
In one line
Artis, founded in 1838, is the oldest zoo in the Netherlands and one of the oldest in Europe. Set in the leafy Plantage, it blends nearly 900 animal species with grand 19th-century buildings, a historic aquarium, a planetarium and botanical gardens.

28. Bloemenmarkt

Coordinates
52.36667, 4.89194
In one line
The Bloemenmarkt, founded in 1862, is the world's only floating flower market. Its stalls rest on barges along the Singel canal between Muntplein and Koningsplein, selling tulip bulbs, blooms and souvenirs at the heart of Amsterdam.

29. Amsterdam Centraal Station

Coordinates
52.37833, 4.9
In one line
Amsterdam's main railway station, opened in 1889 on three artificial islands in the IJ. Pierre Cuypers designed its palatial Gothic and Renaissance Revival facade, a richly decorated gateway that turned the city's back to the water.

30. Munttoren

Coordinates
52.36694, 4.89333
In one line
A medieval gate tower at the edge of the old city, rebuilt after a 1618 fire with an elegant spire by Hendrick de Keyser. Its name recalls a brief spell minting coins during the crisis year of 1672.

31. Montelbaanstoren

Coordinates
52.37206, 4.90568
In one line
A defensive tower built in 1516 on the Oudeschans canal, once guarding Amsterdam's harbour. Hendrick de Keyser added its decorative spire in 1606, transforming a stern fortification into one of the city's most painted waterside landmarks.

32. Zuiderkerk

Coordinates
52.37028, 4.89972
In one line
Amsterdam's first church built for Protestant worship, designed by Hendrick de Keyser and completed in 1611. Its graceful tower inspired painters from Monet to Rembrandt, who lived nearby and buried three children here.

33. National Monument

Coordinates
52.37278, 4.89361
In one line
A 22-metre white obelisk on Dam Square, unveiled in 1956 as the Netherlands' war memorial. Designed by Jacobus Oud with sculpture by John Rädecker, it holds urns of soil from the provinces and former Dutch East Indies.

34. Homomonument

Coordinates
52.37444, 4.88486
In one line
The world's first monument honouring gay and lesbian people persecuted by the Nazis, unveiled in 1987 beside the Westerkerk. Karin Daan's design sets three pink granite triangles into the square and the Keizersgracht.

35. Eye Filmmuseum

Coordinates
52.38441, 4.90059
In one line
A striking white, angular film museum on the IJ waterfront, opened in 2012. Designed by Vienna's Delugan Meissl, it holds the Dutch national film archive and anchors the redeveloped northern bank across from Centraal Station.

36. Jordaan

Coordinates
52.37639, 4.88167
In one line
A former working-class quarter laid out from 1612 on the edge of the canal belt, its narrow streets named for trees and flowers. Once a crowded slum, the Jordaan is now one of Amsterdam's most beloved and expensive neighbourhoods.

37. De Pijp

Coordinates
52.35306, 4.89611
In one line
A densely built nineteenth-century workers' district south of the centre, thrown up cheaply from the 1870s to house Amsterdam's growing population. Long a bohemian and immigrant quarter, De Pijp is now a lively, multicultural neighbourhood famous for the Albert Cuyp Market.

38. Albert Cuyp Market

Coordinates
52.35597, 4.89536
In one line
A bustling open-air street market running along the Albert Cuypstraat in De Pijp since 1905. The busiest daily market in the Netherlands, its stalls sell everything from fish and flowers to fabric and foods from around the world.

39. Noordermarkt

Coordinates
52.37917, 4.88611
In one line
A square in the Jordaan beside the Noorderkerk church of 1623, ringed by cafes. It hosts a popular Saturday organic farmers market and a Monday flea market, and once served as the gathering point for the 1941 February Strike.

40. Waterlooplein Flea Market

Coordinates
52.36833, 4.90167
In one line
A square created in 1883 in the old Jewish quarter, home to Amsterdam's famous daily flea market. With around 300 stalls of second-hand goods, it sits beside the Stopera city hall and opera house and carries the memory of a community lost in the war.

41. Dappermarkt

Coordinates
52.36222, 4.92778
In one line
A vibrant multicultural street market on the Dapperstraat in Amsterdam-Oost, designated a market street in 1910. Trading six days a week, it serves the city's many communities and was once named one of the world's best shopping streets by National Geographic.

42. Nieuwmarkt

Coordinates
52.3725, 4.90056
In one line
A historic square on the edge of Chinatown and the Red Light District, dominated by the medieval Waag weigh house. Once a city gate and later a guild hall with an anatomical theatre, it now anchors a lively square of markets, cafes and memory.

43. Spui

Coordinates
52.36861, 4.88944
In one line
A lively square at the heart of the old centre, once an open stretch of water filled in during 1882. Ringed by bookshops, brown cafes and the University of Amsterdam, it hosts a Friday book market and the bronze Lieverdje statue, a 1960s protest landmark.

44. Brouwersgracht

Coordinates
52.3814, 4.88684
In one line
A canal at the northern edge of the canal belt, named in 1594 for the breweries that once lined it. Its former warehouses, now sought-after homes, and its many bridges led readers of Het Parool to vote it Amsterdam's most beautiful street in 2007.

45. Westerpark

Coordinates
52.38611, 4.8775
In one line
A green and cultural space in Amsterdam-West built around the former Westergasfabriek, a gasworks designed by Isaac Gosschalk and began in 1885. After its soil was cleaned, the old industrial buildings reopened in 2003 as cafes, cinemas and venues amid lawns and ponds.

46. Oosterpark

Coordinates
52.35972, 4.92083
In one line
The first large park laid out by the city of Amsterdam, designed in 1891 by Leonard Springer in English landscape style. Its curving paths and ponds serve a diverse eastern neighbourhood and hold the National Slavery Monument, unveiled in 2002.

47. Sarphatipark

Coordinates
52.354, 4.896
In one line
A leafy 4. 5-hectare park in the De Pijp neighbourhood, laid out from 1881 to 1886 in English landscape style and named for the physician and reformer Samuel Sarphati. A memorial with his bust, erected in 1886, stands on a mound at its centre.

48. Amsterdamse Bos

Coordinates
52.3108, 4.8325
In one line
A vast manmade forest south of the city, around 1,000 hectares and roughly three times the size of New York's Central Park. Built largely in the 1930s as a Depression-era jobs project, it holds the Bosbaan rowing course, a goat farm and an open-air theatre.

49. Flevopark

Coordinates
52.36111, 4.94917
In one line
A relaxed neighbourhood park in eastern Amsterdam's Indische Buurt, opened in 1931 beside the Nieuwe Diep waterway.

50. NDSM Wharf

Coordinates
52.4016, 4.89151
In one line
A vast former shipyard on the north bank of the IJ, abandoned in 1984 and reclaimed by squatting artists in the 1990s. Today its warehouses and slipways host studios, festivals, a monthly flea market and a crane turned hotel.

51. Brouwerij 't IJ

Coordinates
52.36667, 4.92639
In one line
A beloved independent brewery opened in 1985 inside a former public bathhouse at the foot of the De Gooyer windmill. Its strong, partly organic beers and sunny canalside terrace made it a fixture of Amsterdam-Oost drinking life.

52. De Gooyer Windmill

Coordinates
52.36667, 4.92611
In one line
The tallest wooden mill in the Netherlands, standing 26. 6 metres high on the Funenkade in Amsterdam-Oost. This octagonal smock mill once ground grain for the city and now marks one of the most photographed corners of the eastern islands.

Roots Earth in short

Roots Earth has audio stories about 5,665 places in 130 cities, 25 countries and 6 regions, written by local people.

  • No account
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  • Audio stories in English and German in every city, and in Spanish, Italian, French, Dutch and Albanian in 126 of the 130 cities

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