Rick Steves Tour: Anne Frank House, Amsterdam

Anne Frank House Tour

ORIENTATION

Map: Anne Frank House

THE TOUR BEGINS

First Floor: Offices

Second Floor: Storeroom

Secret Annex

The Bookcase Entrance

Otto, Edith, and Margot’s Room

Anne Frank’s Room

The Bathroom

Common Living Room

Map: Anne Frank House: Secret Annex

Peter van Pels’ Room

Aftermath

Arrest, Deportation, and Auschwitz Exhibits

The Otto Frank Room

The Diaries

Anne’s Legacy

On May 10, 1940, Germany’s Luftwaffe began bombing Schiphol Airport, preparing to invade the Netherlands. The Dutch army fought back, and the Nazis responded by leveling Rotterdam. Within a week, the Netherlands surrendered, Queen Wilhelmina fled to Britain, and Nazi soldiers goose-stepped past the Westerkerk and into Dam Square, where they draped huge swastikas on the Royal Palace. A five-year occupation began.

The Anne Frank House immerses you, in a very immediate way, in the struggles and pains of the war years. Walk through rooms where, for two years, eight Amsterdam Jews hid from Nazi persecution. Though they were eventually discovered, and all but one died in concentration camps, their story has an uplifting twist—the diary of Anne Frank, an affirmation of the human spirit that cannot be crushed.

ORIENTATION    MAP    MAP

Cost: €10.50, includes a good audioguide.

Hours: April-Oct daily 9:00-22:00; Nov-March Mon-Fri 9:00-20:00, Sat until 22:00, Sun until 19:00. Closed for Yom Kippur.

Information: Tel. 020/556-7105, www.annefrank.org.

Getting Tickets: The Anne Frank House is extremely popular and often sells out. Tickets are available online only. Even with a sightseeing pass you’ll need to book an entrance time online (see next).