Royal Palace Amsterdam

If Johan Cruyff walked into Dam Palace, he’d probably say, “You only truly see it once you’re inside.” Dam Palace (officially the Royal Palace of Amsterdam) began life in the 17th century as Amsterdam’s city hall, built during the Dutch Golden Age when the city was running global trade like a perfectly organized midfield. Resting on thousands of wooden piles, the building was designed to project stability, power, and civic pride—later convincing Napoleon’s brother that it deserved a royal upgrade. Inside, everything is grand yet disciplined. Vast marble floors, balanced halls, and richly decorated ceilings make it clear this place was built to impress without showing off. The main hall alone feels big enough to host a coronation, a diplomatic summit, and still have space for a thoughtful pause. The visit blends serious history with playful modern touches. Case in point: in the gift shop, you can buy a can of “100% Amsterdam Air”, carefully blended from Total Air, Town Hall Air, and Imperial Air. Is it useful? No. Is it funny? Absolutely. Is it possibly the most compact souvenir of Dutch confidence ever sold? Without question. Step back outside into the lively chaos of Dam Square and the contrast is immediate. Inside: calm, marble, and centuries of ambition. Outside: street performers, pigeons, and tourists negotiating stroopwafel strategy. Five stars for history, architecture, and for proving that even the air here comes with a backstory.

The Palace does not look interesting from the outside, but it is such a gem on the inside. There is an audioguide offered, and you can choose the longer or shorter version to listen to, which I think is very convenient (I would suggest the longer version as this place is worth the time). There may be a group of students or tourists getting in at the same time as you are, so make sure to set aside some time for the possibility of waiting in a queue for the wardrobe.

My visit to the Royal Palace in Amsterdam was a truly special experience! The palace is stunning inside and reflects history and elegance in every corner. The interior design is magnificent, and the information provided during the tour was both useful and fascinating. I highly recommend visiting it to discover a beautiful part of Dutch history.

Great experience! The audio tour is great, good timing and flexible. You can go around the halls you want and click on the corresponding tracks in the device you’re given (for free) at the entrance. Many languages included, with exhaustive explanations. Really like the aesthetic and architecture of the palace. Rooms are really cool and there is very interesting history behind it all. Definitely recommend having a visit!

Beautiful art! Astounding craftsmanship! Overall wonderful experience except for demonstrations having sprayed red paint on the outside windows and walls. We thought our tour was canceled but we entered through another entrance on the other side.

We loved the visit to this splendid museum. Breathtaking views and a very great free audio guide, prices were good. Everyone was super friendly too.

I took a private tour through Viator of the palace. The sculptures are among the best in the world. The symbolism in each piece is astounding. The rooms are beautiful, and every step you take is heavy with history.

Beautiful building and furnishings and loved the artwork and sculptures. Entry fairly reasonable too with free audio guide and directs your visit. We got there before lunch, spent a bit over an hour, was a long line to get in as we were exiting.

Wow! So much more than I expected. Tour is about 75 minutes. The stonework is, hands down, the most impressive I've ever seen. Absolutely incredible and worth every penny of the 13.50 euro entrance fee. It was pretty busy and the tour was a little confusing, but don't let that keep you away.

I started my Amsterdam trip with a tour of Koninklijk Paleis. The Palace is located in Dam Square. Tickets are €12,50 and I was able to walk up and purchase a ticket at the main entrance. They have a free coat check which was useful. I did the self guided audio tour and I think I spent about 1.5-2 hours. The palace was built in the 17th century and it initially served as the town hall until Louis Napoleon claimed it as his palace. Now it's used for state visits. The palace is one of three residences of the royal family, however their primary residence is in The Hague. The architecture is beautiful. I really enjoyed Citizen's Hall. The self guided tour focused on the art and architecture while giving a history of past monarchs. It was kind of crazy walking through a room where executions were once carried out. I would have liked more information about the current royal family (King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima). I learned on a different tour that he is a pilot and occasionally flies for KLM. I didn't enjoy this tour as much as I thought I would. If you're short on time, I would recommend skipping the Palace.

This palace was built as a city hall during the Dutch Golden Age in the 17th century. The building became the royal palace of King Louis Napoleon and later of the Dutch Royal House. Today it is used by the monarch for entertaining & official functions during state visits and other official receptions, such as New Year receptions. Award ceremonies take place here. Queen Beatrix stood on the balcony in 1980, when her mother crowned her.

So this was an unexpected stop on our recent trip to an Amsterdam. I wanted to go to dam Square because everybody said it was the center of the city and I wanted to see the monument in the center. I heard that the palace was beautiful, but I wasn't sure whether it was going to be open when we were there or not. We had some extra time and so we wandered in and lo and behold. It was open and it was only 1250 per person to go through it and that included the audio guide. The little one was free and they had a special scavenger hunt for him. He got a paper medal and stickers, and he collected them as he went around the castle and at the end he got some temporary tattoos, which he thought was pretty cool. It took the little one and Dad about 45 to 55 minutes to complete the kids tour. It took me just over an hour to complete the adult tour. The citizens hall was absolutely stunning and it was cool to look into all the different rooms. It was also very interesting to learn the history of the building as a City Hall and then a palace for Louis Bonaparte and today a royal residence. The visit to the palace was an unexpected treat. I'm glad we went in.

25€ for two (12,50€/ea adult). Such a gorgeous palace. Although it's no longer inhabited by the royal family, it's still used for state dinners, weddings, etc. Many gorgeous furnishings, and my favorite, the Atlas statue. Free headsets and audio tours with admission. The staff were wonderful. Also, handicap accessible with elevators -you simply have to ask.

The palace was very interesting to see, but it personally wasn't anything to rave about. It wasn't my style of "museum" but I still gave it four stars because it was very nice and I'm sure other people loved it. I appreciate that they had a free audio tour. Some parts were frustrating because the rooms were blocked with clear barriers and tour groups took up a lot of space so it took some time to see the rooms. The tour didn't take long as many doors were closed so it was quick to walk through. As other reviews noted, it is essentially just a tour of a big house but still very nice to see. The cloakroom and restrooms were very nice. I think it was priced fairly for what it was.

Being an American, we don't have royalty here. Unless you count the Kardashians and Beyonce. I kid! In all seriousness, this place is impressive. I got to walk the halls that Napoleon once did. Saw a room where people were killed for their crimes. So much history. The price to get in isn't out of range. You are issued a sound device that explains each room, very cool. Before you start the tour, be sure to drop off your coat and use the toilets. I can't remember how long it took us to finish the tour? I was beyond tired, because we went the day we flew in. A 10 hour flight with a child kicking my chair, I almost passed out at the palace. Oh there is a gift shop, be sure to check it out.

Beautiful and awe-inspiring! A definite stop when you are here in Amsterdam. Amazing paintings and art everywhere and loved learning about the history of Nederlands.

Incredible tour! Beautiful bathrooms, free cloakroom service, and free audio tour equipment. We were SO impressed with this entire operation. The rooms were beautiful, and such history! It's fantastic that the Royal Family allows so many to walk through each year. Don't miss this one!

It is situated on the west side of Dam Square in the center of Amsterdam, opposite the War Memorial and next to the Nieuwe Kerk. the Royal Palace Amsterdam once served as Amsterdam's town hall. The grand structure, which measures 259 feet wide and 180 feet tall, held the distinction of being the largest secular building in Europe for two centuries. ( yes taking a guided tour can be useful here ;). I did not go inside as it was a walking tour. It has been used by Dutch royalty for official events for many years. The public is welcome to tour the property when the building isn't in use for state visits. Time 10 AM- 5 PM. Entry is 12 euro and an audio guide is included in this. It's just a 5 min walk from Central station.

The royal palace in Amsterdam is a fun tourist attraction! Get the audio guide and listen to centuries of Dutch history while you explore the town-hall-turned-palace. There are many rooms to explore and enjoy -- and you'll get cultured while you're at it! I spent about an hour and a half here. Overall a fun stop during the day!

Beautiful palace that just inspires awe at every turn. To be among such great pieces of work and history is truly humbling. This place is very befitting of the title "Royal" and is a marvel with the intricacies of the paintings, sculptures, and works of art scattered throughout. The admission is fairly priced and comes with a free audio tour that provides nuggets of information on the various rooms and history associated with them. Additionally, the tour gives you options of learning the extra facts relating to a sculpture and/or painting. I really feel like you could come here 2 or 3 times and still learn or see something new here. Absolutely beautiful in hundreds of ways, witnessing this building and all its treasures firsthand is something spectacular. Pictures don't do it justice.

Amazing. This palace was a great stop for our visit to Amsterdam. We recommend checking out the website for hours because sometimes they close the palace for government events. You basically go on a walking tour through the palace, they always give you the option to learn more about certain furniture pieces or rooms. The only downside is that some of the furniture is not original. But regardless, nice tourist stop!

This was my all-time favorite place to be in Amsterdam to date. You walk in, give your bag up, and then you get an audio tour. Bring your own earphones otherwise you have to hold it like a phone. It's not that crowded, in every single room has its own tour an explanation. The staff are sweet sweet sweet, handsome, pretty, and all-around willing to help. The last room is a gift shop and is singularly the most inexpensive gift shop I've been to date

A decent stop in Amsterdam to learn a it about the city administration in its Golden Age, but mostly the rooms are appointed with furniture from Napoleon's time, so other than the names of the room and the somewhat slow silly audio tour, there is not much information gained by personally seeing the interior. One exception is The Tribunal in the basement, which has amazing relief sculptures.

As we were talking around town we discovered the royal palace and decided to visit. I'm glad we did! There is a audio tour which gives you a lot of information about the palace and it's history. Originally, it was the town hall and there is a lot of history regarding that on display. Today, it a palace and has been for quite a while. It has a beautiful hall where state dinners are hosted. Spend sometime look at the ceiling and the three marble inlays on the floor one of the astrological, and one of the eastern and Western Hemispheres. The cost is minimal at 10€ per person and tickets are available online in advance.

Dam Square was the perfect place to spend our one short day in Amsterdam. The palace was under construction, presumably to keep it up, but it was wonderful to explore the (gorgeous!) history within these walls. It was helpful to have an English tour, and though we couldn't bring our bags in, it only cost one or two euros to put them in the bag check. This was a beautiful place to hide from the rain and experience some Dutch history. The palace is a must see for anyone visiting Amsterdam!

A beautifully scenic building located right in the heart of Amsterdam's Dam Square. This place has a lot of history and is very picturesque from the inside out. This structure is pretty much a must see when in Amsterdam as it has a ton is historical significance and is visually stunning when seen in person.

Came here and joined the CMYE tour. If it weren't for that I would not have had the privilege to view the handful of exquisite royal artifacts, artwork and architecture inside. And with a group of ten awesome people. I have passed by Dam Square countless times and I have noticed the palace only once, because I'm too busy trying to find which street I'm suppose to be going to while in this hub of a square: twisting my foot on these stone pathways. The only thing I ever notice is the National Monument. The benefit of participating in the tour is that you get an organized and timely explanation on the details on particular objects on display. For example: statues, heirlooms, artwork...the history of Amsterdam besides the touristy side was explained. Some of the objects do not have written explanations of what they are. The tour guide explained the meaning behind the acronym SPQR (with royal crest under it), which she pronounced as Senatus Populusque Romanus . She also explained that the Brother of Napoleon had a rule in The Netherlands. The place definitely has a Roman and French influence. The God statues were of Greek? I did learn a few things. The downside to the tour is that if you want to spend a little extra time viewing something on display, and you take a moment while the group moves on, you might miss what the tour guide has to say. But luckily at the end, you are relinquished from the tour and can go about on your own to have a second look. Somethings that went through my head as we toured: The tour guide was very knowledgeable and pleasant. She reminded me of a librarian with her chic glasses and accent, rrrrrrrr. Never mind, back to what I was saying. Robert Langdon was here a decade or so ago. When I viewed the floor in the Central Hall where Atlas is holding the globe up, it immediately brought a picture of a scene from The Da Vinci Code. Minus the paintings. How much to rent a room for a month? I would like to rent a room here, bling son :o Everything is gold or plated as such. Ms Flip asked me what do I think. I was thinking what I can compare the Palace to and I was looking for a museum in New York City to compare it to: Metropolitan Museum of Art is the closest that came to mind for it's grand scale and for what's on display. Then I compared royalty of the past to government head of NYC present, does the billionaire Michael Bloomberg live this way? Does Amsterdam's government heads live this way?

While this is probably not the most ornate palace in Europe, or the biggest, it was worth the 10 EUR price of admission which includes an audio guide. You do have to check your bags and coats in the cloak room. When I did, I assumed that no photos were allowed so I left my camera in my purse. While wandering around the palace though, I saw many people taking pictures so I guess cameras weren't prohibited. It was interesting to learn about the uses of the various rooms at different times.

The subject of the current exhibition is the reign of King Louis Napoleon. It was fascinating - I had no idea (shame on me) that Napoleon Bonaparte's brother had been King of Holland. It opened up a whole new chapter of European history for me. It's a beautiful building with lots of marble, sparkly chandeliers and very old world and celestial maps on the floor of the great hall. The staff were very friendly, but I was a little surprised that I had to leave my bag in the coat check. It was absolutely fine, but just a little disconcerting!

Gorgeous on the outside! Easy to walk to as it is near the train station, tram stations, and other attractions.

Absolutely beautiful, and the tour system is well thought out. Multiple languages and a decent student price. You'll need to check any bags you have, just fyi. If you have the time, take the full tour; hear all the stops. The history behind each room and painting is incredible.

Great history and a good way to get new knowledge into my brain. Only ten euros to gain entry and that comes with a free audio module. Also you can take photos and sketches without being pressured to move on.

My boyfriend and I came here for a visit on our vacation to Amsterdam. We purchased tickets ahead of time online. It was well worth the money, gorgeous views of grand rooms. Also a guided tour which describes each room and certain pictures or furniture. Cute gift shop too!

The first thing to remember is that this isn't Buckingham. The royal family don't live here very often; it is an "official" palace for state occasions. Furthermore, it wasn't built as a palace, it was originally the Amsterdam city hall. Having said that, it is an interesting place to visit. The audio tour explains the use of each room back when it was a city hall, including one room where prisoners were taken prior to being hanged. The current arrangement as a palace dates from the Napoleonic Era, when Napoleon's brother was the titular monarch of the Netherlands. As such the furniture is largely Empire, though most of the wall and ceiling decorations are 17th century baroque reflecting the building's original heritage. (There are also some modern items reflecting its use as a working official building.) In general I found the large halls with their sculptural decorations more interesting than the palace rooms. Don't go expecting Schoenbrunn or Versailles; it is not on that scale. But it is an interesting and beautiful building. You also get to walk through the small hall where the ceremony in which one monarch abdicates and turns over the crown to his or her heir takes place.

Beautiful palace located in Dam Square is a great place to visit in spite of some major tourist crowds. Amazing to go through each room to see how Dutch royalty lived and the chandeliers are amazing. Admission is included in the I Amsterdam card so I recommend buying one to save money. Bought the 72 hour card for €69 and it saved quite a bit on many attractions.

Beautiful palace. It is pristine and full of rich history and art. The audio tour came with the tickets and was very good, and had options to expand the tour or keep it short. There were even very large Rembrandt paintings in the arches, which I included in the pictures.

Was nicer than I thought it was going to be. I pass by the outside all the time and never really thought to go in but since Yelp put together a tour I thought, why not? The inside is really pretty nice! I have to say that my favorite was the chandeliers in the smaller rooms. Very cool. With the tour (not included in the admission price...that's extra) you learn some pretty interesting things. Really neat how all of the artwork both built in and paintings where there or sort of reminders to the people that worked there, or came there. Reminders of how one should act in whatever role they were playing being citizen of Amsterdam, Judge, Mayor, etc.

This is a great place. It was closed last time we were in Amsterdam- and I'm glad we got to go this time. GET the AUDIO!!! It's great. There's so much history here. I couldn't take it all in at one time- so I feel like I need to go back. You get the history of each room- what it was used for at various times, what the symbolism is of the artwork, etc. I found the tour very informative. The place is huge, though, and you will get tired- especially, if like us, you did something before you got to the palace. The interiors are dark and you can't use flash- but you can take pictures. We had the museum pass so it was free- and I'll definitely try to go again (nice thing about the museum pass, you can go to all the museums as many times as you want to). I liked the gift shop- they had shopping bags of heavy cloth (4.95 euros) my souvenir of choice, since I use them for my shopping when I get home. The New Church is right across a small walkway from the Palace, and the Magna shopping center is just behind it. Many trams stop at the Dam- we took tram 2.

The audio tour is well done. The palace is well preserved. The staff is helpful. Also, it is not very expensive. It took us about an hour and fifteen minutes to see everything.

The inside of the palace is gorgeous, and the audio tour is worth listening to (maybe not all of it, but I learned a good amount from it and it was interesting).