Amsterdam in World War Two Cycle Tour

The past is still visible here. This small-group bike ride takes you through Amsterdam South, where wartime raids, resistance work, Nazi offices, and acts of defiance took place on ordinary-looking streets. You’ll cover more ground than on foot and use old photographs to compare each location with the Amsterdam you see today.

I like the maximum group size of six, which should make it easier to hear the guide and ask questions. I also like the way guide Rudy, a lifelong resident of the area and a history professor, connects major events to exact addresses and family memories. The main consideration is practical: you need to be comfortable cycling for roughly three hours, and the meeting information lists both Tesselschadestraat and Victorieplein, so confirm the precise starting point before setting out.

Key points worth knowing

• Archival photographs at the actual locations help you see wartime Amsterdam, not just hear about it.
• Amsterdam South is quieter than the city center, making it easier to cycle and concentrate on the stories.
• The route covers Jewish persecution, Dutch resistance, collaboration, and liberation, giving you a broad view of the occupation.
• Rudy and Peter guide the ride, with Rudy bringing personal ties to the neighborhoods and the period.
• The group is limited to six people, a useful advantage for a serious history tour.
• A short café stop at Café Wildschut provides time for coffee and a restroom visit.

Why Amsterdam South tells a different war story

Many first-time visitors connect Amsterdam in World War Two mainly with Anne Frank and the Secret Annex. That story matters, but this tour adds the streets and institutions around it. In Amsterdam South, you see where people were arrested, where Jewish property was processed, where resistance groups worked, and where German military offices operated.

The bicycle is a good match for this subject. The stops are spread across several neighborhoods, and riding lets you move between them without spending the whole morning on foot. You also get a look at residential streets that most sightseeing routes skip.

The route is not presented as a museum visit with objects behind glass. You stop outside buildings and squares, then use photographs, maps, and spoken explanation to picture what happened there. That approach works best if you enjoy connecting the past to the present.

The tour is offered in English and begins at 11 a.m. The stated duration ranges from two and a half hours to three hours and ten minutes. Allow the longer amount of time, especially if the group has questions.

From Victorieplein to the Frank family home

The route begins around Victorieplein, also known during the war as Daniël Willinkplein. The square is tied to the major raid of June 20, 1943, when large numbers of Jewish residents were arrested.

Dutch police units and volunteers from the Dutch National Socialist Movement assisted the German authorities. Arrested Jewish people were brought to places including Olympiaplein for registration before being sent to Westerbork concentration camp in the eastern Netherlands.

This is an important opening stop because it introduces one of the tour’s central themes: persecution depended not only on German forces, but also on cooperation from Dutch institutions and collaborators. The setting is a normal city square today, which makes the story especially difficult to absorb.

At Merwedeplein, you visit number 37-II, the former home of the Frank family. Otto Frank moved his family and several acquaintances to the Secret Annex in 1942. A statue of Anne Frank now marks the square.

The nearby Jimmink bookshop adds a small but striking detail. The shop sold the first edition of Anne Frank’s diary in 1947, and Otto Frank bought the diary there for his daughter. That link gives the square a personal scale. You are not only hearing about Anne Frank as a famous historical figure. You are seeing the neighborhood where her family lived and where the published diary later returned.

A trumpet, a bar, and the cost of survival

At Waalstraat 48, now Café Blek, you hear about the former Tilex Bar, named for Tilly and Lex van Weren. Lex van Weren survived Auschwitz because he was forced to play his trumpet at executions.

This is one of the tour’s most unsettling details. It shows how survival under Nazi rule could depend on a skill, an order, or a role imposed on someone. The stop also keeps the story rooted in a specific building rather than treating the war as a distant series of dates.

The former PBA barracks at Cornelis Troostplein 23 offer another look at local involvement. Before the war, the building belonged to a Catholic complex with convents and a school. During the occupation, it housed the Amsterdam police battalion.

The tour explains that SS leader Heinrich Himmler met with Rauter, chief of the Sicherheitsdienst and Gestapo structure in the Netherlands, at Museumplein in 1942. That connection helps show how local police facilities fit into a larger system of occupation and repression.

Museumplein as a German stronghold

Museumplein looks open and spacious today, but during the war it was turned into a German military stronghold. The buildings around the square held several German offices.

Facing the Concertgebouw, the former United States consulate building housed the Zentralstelle für Jüdische Auswanderung, the Central Office for Jewish Emigration. The name was a cruel disguise for an office involved in the persecution and deportation of Jewish people.

Nearby buildings housed the Ortskommandantur, or town commandant’s office, the Feldgendarmerie, or military police, and other Nazi party services. On the IJsclubterrein, the Amsterdam skating club grounds, the Germans built bunkers and anti-aircraft batteries.

The Amsterdam headquarters of the NSB, the Dutch National Socialist Movement, was next to the Concertgebouw. The bunkers were destroyed after the war, so the old photographs are especially useful here. They show how dramatically the square was altered and how much of that military presence has disappeared.

This stop is one of the best examples of the tour’s method. You look at a familiar public space, then compare it with wartime images. The contrast is sharper than a general explanation in a classroom.

Coffee at Roelof Hartplein

At Roelof Hartplein, the group stops briefly at Café Wildschut for coffee and a restroom visit. The stop lasts about ten minutes and admission is free.

That pause matters on a bicycle tour. It breaks up the historical material and gives you a chance to warm up, use the facilities, and chat with the small group. It is not a long meal break, so do not count on it as lunch.

Nearby, a former photo shop next to the library played a role in Dutch resistance work. Resistance members used the shop to develop photographs, including images by Charles Breijer of the first roundup of Jewish residents in Amsterdam by the SD, Gestapo, and German police.

The story of resistance photography gives the tour another angle. Resistance was not only weapons, forged papers, and attacks. Recording what was happening also mattered. The images helped preserve evidence of persecution at a time when the people carrying cameras were taking serious risks.

You’ll also see a small monument commemorating Jewish people taken from the neighborhood. It is a modest memorial, but that is part of its force. The route repeatedly asks you to notice how remembrance appears in everyday streets.

Retaliation at Beethovenstraat and Apollolaan

At the corner of Beethovenstraat and Apollolaan, the guide explains a brutal episode from late October 1944. Near number 6, SS officer and Gestapo agent Herbert Oelschlägel was executed by a member of the Dutch resistance.

The German response was severe. Two houses were burned, and 29 resistance fighters were executed. The fact that many house numbers remain the same as they were during the war makes this stop unusually concrete. You can stand near the location and understand the setting without relying only on an old map.

The tour then reaches Euterpestraat, now Gerrit van der Veenstraat. Gerrit van der Veen led a major Dutch resistance group, and the street preserves his name.

These stops help you understand the difficult choices made by resistance members. The tour does not present resistance as a simple adventure story. Acts against the occupation could bring retaliation against neighbors, homes, and captured fighters.

Nazi offices and the air raid on Rubensstraat

At the corner of Memlingstraat and Rubensstraat, two important Nazi oppression offices once operated. One was the Amsterdam SD headquarters, under Willy Lages. The other was the Hausraterfassungsstelle, an office that recorded and stole the belongings of deported Jewish people.

The office was connected to the Central Office for Jewish Emigration and led by Henneicke, a Dutch collaborator. This stop makes clear that deportation involved more than arrest and transport. Homes were emptied, possessions were catalogued, and property was taken.

In November 1944, Dutch resistance members sent a secret radio request to the Royal Air Force asking for an attack on the SD and Gestapo headquarters and the Hausraterfassungsstelle. The main aim was to destroy files. Group Captain Denys Gillam led the attack with 149 Typhoon Wing.

The route also points out a resistance safehouse near Rubensstraat and Gerrit van der Veenstraat. In June 1944, a female informant betrayed the address to the SD and Gestapo. A Stolperstein, or stumbling stone, marks the location.

This section requires careful listening because several organizations and names come quickly. Rudy’s use of maps and wartime photographs is especially useful here. If you are interested in the Dutch resistance, this is likely one of the strongest portions of the ride.

Olympiaplein and the machinery of arrest

At Olympiaplein and Parnassusweg, the route returns to the June 1943 raid. Jewish people arrested at the sports complex were registered here by the SD and Gestapo, with assistance from Jewish camp police sent from Westerbork.

The word assistance can sound neutral, but the circumstances were anything but. Prisoners were forced into roles within the camp system, often under threat. This stop shows how the machinery of persecution used pressure at every level.

Because the square is part of a functioning neighborhood today, the guide’s old photos help you understand the site’s wartime use. You are asked to picture registration, organization, and fear in a place that now looks ordinary.

Luftwaffe headquarters and quiet acts of defiance

At Valeriusplein, the Amsterdam Lyceum building served as Luftwaffe headquarters near the end of the occupation. The school’s wartime use is another reminder that German forces took over existing civic buildings rather than operating only from purpose-built military sites.

At the statue of Queen Emma on Emmalaan and Prins Hendriklaan, the story changes from occupation offices to quiet public defiance. In the summer of 1940, people placed flowers at the statue in opposition to the German occupiers.

The tour also connects this area to Charles Breijer, one of the resistance photographers. In 1944, he photographed a guard at the Kriegsmarine headquarters. His work gives a rare visual record of occupation life, including the people and buildings that official photographs might ignore.

I like this part because it shows that resistance could be public, symbolic, and small. A flower display did not defeat the occupation, but it made opposition visible.

The final shootings of May 1945

The last historical stop concerns May 7, 1945, after the German surrender. Frustrated German troops and resistance fighters created dangerous conditions, and a shooting took place here on the final day.

A monument marks the victims. The detail is a sober way to end the historical portion of the tour. Liberation did not instantly remove danger, and the final days brought confusion as well as relief.

After this stop, the guide takes you through Vondelpark toward Leidseplein, where the tour ends or returns toward its starting area. The supplied meeting information gives Tesselschadestraat 1 as the start and says the activity ends back at the meeting point, while the route description refers to Leidseplein as the place where the tour started. Confirm the exact meeting and finish arrangements when booking.

What the guides add to the ride

Rudy is the central strength of this experience. He grew up in the neighborhoods on the route, and his connection to the area gives the stories a local scale. He is also described as a history professor and a well-read, friendly guide who answers questions clearly.

Rudy brings maps, archival material, and before-and-after photographs. The photos are not decoration. They help you locate vanished bunkers, identify changed buildings, and see how the same street looked under occupation.

Peter also guides the tour, and the two guides have been praised for answering a wide range of questions. If you want a guide who sticks to a short script, this may feel more conversational than expected. For most people interested in local history, that is a benefit.

The personal family connections add warmth, but you should still expect a serious subject. This is not a light sightseeing ride with occasional wartime facts. The route deals with deportation, executions, stolen property, collaboration, and forced labor.

Is $66.09 a fair price?

At $66.09 per person, this is not the cheapest way to rent a bicycle in Amsterdam. You are paying for the guide, the route design, the archival material, and the ability to visit many sites in one morning.

The value improves if you care about World War Two history. A self-guided route would require finding the addresses, researching the events, and locating images that show how the sites looked during the occupation. Here, the historical explanation comes at the exact place where the event occurred.

The group limit also matters. With no more than six people, the guide can answer questions and adjust the explanation to the group. That is a better setup for serious discussion than a large bus or a crowded walking group.

I would not choose this tour solely to see the famous center of Amsterdam. Most of the route is in Amsterdam South, and its appeal is the history rather than postcard scenery. But if you want a focused look at the city beyond the usual canals and museums, the price is reasonable.

Who should book this bicycle tour?

I recommend it to you if you:

• Have a strong interest in World War Two, the Holocaust, or Dutch resistance history.
• Want to see Amsterdam neighborhoods beyond the central canal belt.
• Prefer a small group and an involved guide.
• Like using photographs and exact locations to understand the past.
• Are comfortable cycling for up to about three hours.
• Want to ask questions rather than simply follow a fixed sightseeing route.

You might choose another activity if you dislike cycling, want a relaxed ride with little talking, or have limited time in Amsterdam. The subject is also emotionally heavy, so it may not suit you if you are looking for a cheerful introduction to the city.

The ride is offered in English, confirmation is provided when you book, and most people can participate. Free cancellation is available up to 24 hours before the local start time. Last-minute cancellations and changes are not accepted for a refund.

Should you book the Amsterdam in World War Two Cycle Tour?

Book it if you want the occupation explained street by street. The combination of Amsterdam South’s quieter roads, a group of six or fewer, old photographs, and Rudy’s local connection gives the tour real value.

The best reason to go is not simply that you will see more by bicycle. It is that you will learn to look at familiar buildings differently. A square becomes a registration point. A school becomes a military headquarters. A shop becomes a resistance photo lab. That is the lasting effect of this tour.

Confirm the meeting point, arrive ready to cycle, and leave room in your schedule for the full three hours. For anyone seeking Amsterdam’s wartime story outside the usual tourist route, this is a thoughtful and unusually personal choice.

FAQ

Where does the Amsterdam in World War Two Cycle Tour start?

The booking information gives Tesselschadestraat 1, 1054 ET Amsterdam, as the meeting point. The route description also refers to Victorieplein as the beginning of the bike tour, so confirm the exact starting location before the 11 a.m. start.

How long does the tour last?

The stated duration is approximately two hours and 30 minutes to three hours and 10 minutes. Plan for the longer time so you are not rushed afterward.

How many people can join the tour?

The tour has a maximum of six travelers. This keeps the group small enough for questions and clearer conversation with the guide.

Is the tour offered in English?

Yes. The tour is offered in English and includes a mobile ticket.

Does the tour include a break?

Yes. There is a short stop at Café Wildschut on Roelof Hartplein for coffee and a restroom visit. The stop lasts about ten minutes, and admission is free.

What is the cancellation policy?

You can cancel up to 24 hours before the experience start time for a full refund. Cancellations or changes made less than 24 hours before the start are not accepted for a refund.