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Tropenmuseum Review

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Tropenmuseum

Address: Linnaeusstraat 2, Plantage, Amsterdam | Map It
Phone: 020/568-8200
www.tropenmuseum.nl

Museum of the Tropics

Category: Museums/Galleries, Educational Institutions
Location: East of the Amstel

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Fodor's Review:

The country's largest anthropological museum was first built to educate the Dutch about their colonial history in Indonesia and the West Indies, but now excels in hands-on exhibits covering all non-Western cultures. Its gorgeous, skylighted, and tiered interior, rich with wood, marble, and gilt, not only displays endless pieces of antiquity, art, and musical instruments, but also makes these accessible through workshops and in playful, simulated villages and bazaars that you walk through, touching, smelling, hearing music, and feeling the physical experience of life in Java, the Middle East, India, Africa, and Latin America (where you'll also find the city's smallest Internet café, El Cybernetico). There's also a great patio where you can enjoy food from the globe-embracing café. At the Tropenmuseum Junior (www.tropenmuseumjunior.nl), children can participate directly in the life of another culture through fun programs involving art, dance, song, and sometimes even cooking. Adults may visit the Junior section but only under the supervision of a child age 6-12. Every weekend the smallest children (under six) and their parents can visit the Kartini Wing, where they can enjoy drawing, building, and folding. For children aged four and over there are special children's routes through the museum. All children's activities are in Dutch only.

Cost: EUR 7.50, Tropenmuseum Junior EUR 2 extra
Open: Daily 10-5. Kindermuseum activities Wed. at 11, 1:30, and 3:15, weekends at 11:30, 1:30, and 3:15

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