National Maritime Museum

Het Scheepvaartmuseum tells the story that made Amsterdam rich: the sea. It is housed in 's Lands Zeemagazijn, the vast storehouse built in 1656 for the Amsterdam Admiralty on an artificial island in the eastern harbour, where the navy once kept sails, ropes, guns and supplies for its warships. The building is a monument in itself, a square, classical block around an inner courtyard that is now covered by a spectacular glass roof whose leaded pattern recalls the lines of a nautical chart; it was added when the museum reopened after a major renovation in 2011. Inside, the collection is one of the finest maritime collections in the world: Golden Age marine paintings, beautifully crafted ship models, navigational instruments, atlases and globes, ornaments from long-lost ships and the gilded royal barge used on state occasions. The exhibitions are designed for a wide audience, with immersive galleries about life at sea, whaling, the Dutch East and West India Companies and the darker sides of the trade they ran, alongside children's exhibitions that make sailing and harbour life into a game. The star for most visitors is outside on the jetty: the Amsterdam, a full-size replica of an eighteenth-century East Indiaman of the Dutch East India Company, the VOC, whose original was wrecked on its maiden voyage in 1749. Your ticket includes going aboard, where you can explore the decks, the cramped crew quarters, the captain's cabin and the hold, and see how hundreds of people lived for months on the long voyage to Asia.

Why go: Amsterdam's canal houses, warehouses and Golden Age wealth all come back to shipping, and this museum explains how a small republic built a global trading network, and at what human cost. It is honest about the VOC's role in colonial violence and the slave trade, which makes it more thought-provoking than a simple celebration of ships. The building and the replica are impressive enough to engage visitors with no special interest in maritime history, and the views across the harbour towards the NEMO Science Museum and the old city are lovely on a clear day. Map and globe lovers should not miss the cartography rooms, which reflect the century when Amsterdam was the map-making capital of Europe.

Visiting well: the museum is open daily, and tickets can be booked online, with free cancellation until the day before through Tiqets. Start with the ship while you have energy, because it involves ladders and steep steps between decks, then explore the galleries around the courtyard at a slower pace. Families should head for the children's exhibitions, which are among the best in the city for younger kids. Maintenance occasionally closes individual exhibits, such as the royal barge, for a period, so check the museum's notices if something specific matters to you. The courtyard café under the glass roof is a pleasant place to break the visit, and the building has lifts to the main floors.

Around the museum: the Scheepvaartmuseum sits on the Kattenburgerplein, a fifteen to twenty-minute walk east of Centraal station along the waterfront, or a short bus ride. NEMO Science Museum, the green ship-shaped building on the Oosterdok, is a few minutes away on foot, making this the natural family day in Amsterdam. Continue east to the windmill at the Brouwerij 't IJ for a local beer, or south through the Plantage to the Hortus Botanicus and ARTIS. The eastern docklands, with their modern architecture, are a good place for a walk or a bike ride afterwards.