Amsterdam Maritime History Tour with Tastings and Museum Entry

5.0 (one review) 3 hours Free cancellation Private tour

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5.0

Amsterdam Maritime History Tour with Tastings and Museum Entry — Photos: the activity supplier, via Viator

Amsterdam Maritime History Tour with Tastings and Museum Entry, photo 2 — Photos: the activity supplier, via Viator

About this activity

Walk Amsterdam's seafaring past with an expert guide in a small private group. From the Tower of Tears where Henry Hudson set sail, through the VOC warehouses and past admirals' houses, to a private guided visit inside the National Maritime Museum — museum admission included. Starts with a welcome drink and snack. The story of how a small city traded its way to global dominance, told on the streets where it happened.

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At a glance

Duration: 3 hours
Confirmation: Instant confirmation
Ticket: Mobile or paper ticket accepted
Group: Your group only
People per booking: 1–12
Guide: English
Operated by: Adam & Eve Amsterdam Food Tours

Ages: Children (0–12 years) · Adults (13–99 years)

What is included

Included

Included: Professional English-speaking guide
Included: Snacks: Welcome drink and snack at Schreierstoren (start of tour)
Included: Admission fees: National Maritime Museum (Het Scheepvaartmuseum)
Included: Ask your guide anything! He is happy to give you tips what to do in town.

Not included

Not included: Meals: Additional food and drinks beyond the welcome snack

Itinerary

Weeping Tower

20 min

Your guide meets you at the Tower of Tears, a 15th-century watchtower on Prins Hendrikkade where Henry Hudson set sail for America in 1609. The VOC story starts here over a welcome drink and snack included in the tour price.
Zeedijk

Passing by

A walk along Amsterdam's old sailor strip past Café het Aapje, one of the city's oldest bars. Sailors returning from the tropics paid their tabs with exotic animals. Your guide explains the VOC crew culture and where the Dutch expression 'broodje aap' comes from.
Nieuwmarkt

15 min

The square is dominated by De Waag, Amsterdam's oldest surviving castle gateway turned weighing house, dating to 1488. Your guide brings the spice trade alive here — the VOC used the Waag to weigh exotic goods from the East Indies, and the square once buzzed with merchants and sailors from across the world.
Montelbaanstoren

15 min

A 16th-century watchtower on the Oudeschans canal, the Montelbaanstoren was used by the VOC to muster sailors before departure. Rembrandt sketched it many times from the opposite bank. Your guide shares stories of the sailors who assembled here for voyages that could last three years.
Scheepvaarthuis

15 min

Amsterdam's most beautiful Art Nouveau building, completed in 1916 as the headquarters for six major shipping companies. The ornate facade is packed with maritime motifs — anchors, sea creatures and compasses — celebrating Dutch dominance of world trade. Your guide decodes the symbolism and explains how the building marked the peak of the VOC's legacy.
Prins Hendrik Bust

10 min

Along this grand waterfront boulevard your guide points out the house where Admiral Michiel de Ruyter lived — the man who twice defeated the English and French fleets and is buried in the Nieuwe Kerk. De Ruyter rose from rope-maker's son to commander of the Dutch navy, an extraordinary story of social mobility in the Golden Age.
Stop 7

15 min

Europe's largest 19th-century warehouse complex, built to store colonial goods from the VOC trading routes. The 84 warehouses each carry the name of a Dutch colony or trading post — from Batavia to Ceylon. Today it's a charming residential canal, and your guide explains how the spice trade that once filled these stores shaped the modern world.
Het Scheepvaartmuseum| The National Maritime Museum

one hour Admission included

Your tour concludes with a guided visit inside the National Maritime Museum, one of the world's finest collections of seafaring history. Housed in a stunning 17th-century naval storehouse, highlights include the full-scale replica VOC ship Amsterdam, historic sea charts, and the globe collection that once guided Dutch navigators to the ends of the earth. Admission is included in your tour price.

Meeting point and pickup

The operator picks every participant up from their accommodation or the points below.

Pickup points

Mister Highland Hotel
Travel Hotel
Rosalia's InnUpstairs
Royal Plaza Hotel
Old Nickel
Sofitel Legend The Grand Amsterdam
NH Collection Amsterdam Barbizon Palace
Radisson Blu Hotel, Amsterdam City Center
Hotel Y Boulevard
Van Gelder Hotel
Monet Garden Hotel Amsterdam

and 101 more pickup points

Please re confirm exact pickup location and time 24h before the tour, to double check we meet at the right place.

Using your ticket

Please show your e-ticket to your guide at the meeting point at Schreierstoren (Tower of Tears), Prins Hendrikkade 94–95, Amsterdam. Your guide will be waiting near the tower entrance.

Cancellation

Free cancellation

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

If you cancel	You get back
At least one day before	100%
Less than a day before	0%

The operator may cancel if the weather does not allow it; you then get another date or your money back.
The operator may cancel if too few people book; you then get another date or your money back.