
Wheelchair-friendly history museums in Amsterdam
Amsterdam City Archives

The Amsterdam Stadsarchief (City Archives) preserves documents about Amsterdam’s history. With over 50 kilometres worth of archived material, its vast collections tell the story of life in Amsterdam from past to present. The Amsterdam City Archives exhibits maps, prints, drawings, photography and historical films.
The main entrance of the Amsterdam City Archives is accessible only by a staircase. Wheelchair users can use a platform lift at the archive’s Stadsboekwinkel bookshop entrance or Café-Restaurant de Bazel. One lift leads to the top floor, while another leads down to the Treasure Room and Movie Theatre in the basement. The Amsterdam City Archives has a wheelchair-friendly toilet, and tours of the archives are also wheelchair-friendly.
Allard Pierson Museum

Allard Pierson holds the University of Amsterdam's internationally recognised heritage collections. It includes exhibitions on a wide range of Amsterdam-related topics, such as cartography, Dutch religious history, and the history of the University of Amsterdam.
Allard Pierson has a threshold-free entrance. Lifts lead to all floors and collections, and a platform lift provides access to rooms with floor space at different heights. Visitors can borrow wheelchairs and small foldable chairs. The archaeology workshop and gift shop are both wheelchair accessible, and the museum has multiple wheelchair-friendly toilets.
Museum Het Schip

Located in the Spaarndammerbuurt, Museum Het Schip highlights the 'Amsterdam School' movement in Dutch art and architecture. The museum focuses on prominent architects in Amsterdam and their connection to the creation of local housing corporations, which significantly improved the living conditions for the city's working class. Visitors can explore a variety of videos, audio recordings, and interactive displays.
The main building at Museum Het Schip has lifts to every floor and collection. Videos and audio devices are within sight and reach for wheelchair users. Only a limited part of the guided tour is accessible—while the old post office is wheelchair-friendly, the slum dwelling and social housing home are not. The gift shop is threshold-free; however, some pathways are too narrow for wheelchair users. The museum has a wheelchair-friendly toilet.
Amsterdam Museum on the Amstel

The Amsterdam Museum is an excellent place to learn about the city’s historical and geographic evolution. Currently, it is temporarily housed in the H’ART Museum until 2025 while the original Burgerweeshuis building undergoes renovations.
H’ART Museum has a threshold-free entrance with automatic doors. Lifts lead to every floor and collection. Visitors can borrow manual wheelchairs, rollators, and foldable seats. Wheelchair chaperones are granted free admission. The museum has a wheelchair-friendly toilet on the ground floor.
Arcam

Located along the Prins Hendrikkade, Arcam is a unique museum about Amsterdam’s architecture and urban planning. The museum features a permanent exhibition titled Timeline Amsterdam 2000-2030, which explores the city’s development over the past three decades. Arcam also hosts lectures and events related to Amsterdam’s architecture, offering numerous opportunities to learn how the city has evolved.
Arcam has a threshold-free entrance with manual doors. There is a lift to all floors and exhibitions, although some photos and information displays are placed at varying heights, making them less visible to those seated in a wheelchair. The gift shop is accessible by wheelchair, and a wheelchair-friendly toilet is located on the basement floor.
Museum of the Canals

The Grachtenmuseum (Museum of the Canals) focuses on the history and importance of Amsterdam’s grachten (canals). It is housed in a 17th-century canal house on the magnificent Herengracht at number 386. In addition to modern interactive exhibitions, the Museum has two beautiful period rooms.
The Museum of the Canals is one of the only wheelchair-friendly historic canal houses in Amsterdam, reason alone to visit. Wheelchair users can enter via a side entrance where, at the push of a button, the steps transform into a platform lift. All exhibition floors can be accessed with a lift, and ramps are placed where needed. The Museum of the Canals has a wheelchair-friendly toilet. Some things are out of sight for wheelchair users, such as part of the museum’s doll house. The museum garden can currently only be accessed by a staircase.
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