Amsterdam's Jewish Heritage: Private Tour with VR Experience
Explore the fascinating, inspiring, and humbling Jewish history of Amsterdam and the life of its most famous resident, Anne Frank on this private four-hour walking tour. With your expert guide, discover the Jewish Quarter and experience what life was like in the Secret Annex with Virtual Reality.
On your private tour, you will:
- Explore the historic Jewish Quarter of Amsterdam with your expert local private guide;
- Enjoy the cobbled streets and historic beauty of the neighbourhood, as well as hidden gems along the canals;
- See some of the highlights of the area including the Portuguese Synagogue and the city's oldest park;
- Stop outside the Dutch theatre, which became the Jewish Theatre during the Nazi rise to power - and eventually a holding prison before deportation to the death camps;
- Learn about the monuments created by the Jewish Community including the National Holocaust Memorial;
- Walk or take a tram to see the famous Westekerk, the Protestant church Anne could see from the Annex loft with its 85-metre tower;
- Pass by the Anne Frank House where Amsterdam's most famous resident lived in hiding during the Nazi Occupation;
- Enjoy a refreshing soft drink, a small beer or wine and a slice of apple pie at a favourite local restaurant;
- End your tour with an amazing Virtual Reality Experience of walking through the famous bookcase to Anne Frank's Secret Annex, designed in full detail by the Anne Frank Foundation.
Travel back in time to 16th and 17th-century Amsterdam - a safe place for Jewish families who were fleeing Catholic persecution in southern and eastern Europe, and with your expert private guide explore the Jewish district of Amsterdam. Enjoy the beautiful historic buildings as your guide tells you about Amsterdam's rich Jewish culture and history.
The Jodenbuurt - Dutch for Jewish Quarter - has been a cultural and community Jewish hub since the 1500s and is today visited for its beautiful buildings like the stately Portuguese Synagogue dating back to 1675, and for its moving Holocaust Memorials and Museum. It is famous for being the home of Rembrandt, the birthplace of Baruch Spinoza, and of course the Jewish Ghetto during the dark days of the Nazi Occupation.
As your wander around this beautiful neighbourhood, enjoy the scenic canal paths, charming cobbled streets, and a few hidden gems. Afterwards, head to the famous Westekerk by tram or on foot - you decide. This is a large Protestant church built in 1675 with a massive 85-metre-tall steeple. This was the monument Anne Frank could see from the loft in the Secret Annex, just a short walk away. Pass by the Anne Frank Museum where you'll learn all about her life in hiding with her sister, mother, and father, the Van Pels family and Fritz Pfeffer. Hear about the dramatic discovery of their hiding place, capture, and deportation. Thanks to Anne's father, Otto, we have her famous diary - so that these events are never forgotten, so that we remember both with sorrow - but also with hope for a brighter, more tolerant future. As Anne wrote in her diary "Don't think of the misery, but of all the beauty that still remains".
Your tour ends at our favourite cafe with a cup of tea or coffee and a delicious slice of apple pie! Here you'll also be able to experience the Secret Annex through the magic of Virtual Reality, an incredibly detailed concept by the Anne Frank Foundation. You'll enter through the famous bookcase, and be able to "walk" around the rooms in which they lived from 1942-44, and unlike the real house, is still filled with their furniture and belongings - as though they were still there.
