The Garden Hotel stands on the Dijsselhofplantsoen, a green crescent of brick villas in Amsterdam Zuid, far from the crowds but close to the museums. The Concertgebouw is thirteen minutes on foot and the Rijksmuseum twenty, or twelve minutes by car. The canals and Dam Square are further away, so for the old centre we usually bring a car and let the walking start where the interesting streets begin.
The Dijsselhofplantsoen is named after Gerrit Willem Dijsselhof, a designer of the Dutch Art Nouveau, and it was built up in the 1920s as part of the southern extension of the city. Several of its villas were designed in the Amsterdam School style, among them a house by Piet Kramer, one of the architects of the Scheepvaarthuis.
Walk the curve of the street before you leave for your tour and you will see the same brick, tiled roofs and careful detailing that the architects used in the large housing blocks elsewhere in Zuid, here at the scale of a family home.
For forty years the hotel was known for its restaurant, De Kersentuin, the cherry garden. It opened in 1980, became one of the early champions of nouvelle cuisine in the Netherlands and held a Michelin star from 1985 to 1992. The restaurant closed in 2020, the year these photographs were taken.
It is a small reminder that Amsterdam Zuid was where much of the city’s fine dining grew up in the late twentieth century, away from the tourist streets of the centre.
Dam Square is 46 minutes on foot, so we recommend the car, which takes around 23 minutes.
Your guide can string several of these together in a single walk. They appear on the Private Van Gogh Museum Tour, and the Private Rijksmuseum Tour passes close by.
From Zuid most of the city is a short drive away, so these six can all start with a pick-up at the hotel. City Highlights, the Anne Frank tour and the food tour take you into the canal ring and the Jordaan. The architecture tour can begin in Zuid itself, among the streets you see from your window. Amsterdam in a Day covers the lot, and Zaanse Schans is for a morning among the windmills.
Amsterdam City Highlights Private TourFrom 400 euroView this tour
Private Anne Frank and Jewish History Walking TourFrom 515 euroView this tour
Private Architecture Tour AmsterdamFrom 400 euroView this tour
Private Dutch Food Tour, Eat Like a LocalFrom 445 euroView this tour
The Ultimate Amsterdam in a Day TourFrom 990 euroView this tour
Private Zaanse Schans Windmill and Dutch Villages TourFrom 1,100 euroView this tourSee all our private tours from Amsterdam about Private Tours Amsterdam
The hotel lies close to the ring road, which makes it one of the best bases in Amsterdam for a day out. The car waits outside, and within half an hour you can be in Haarlem, among the bulb fields of Keukenhof or on the way to Delft. See our private driving tours page for all the options.
Guests in Zuid often want a calmer pace and a guide who handles the logistics. We plan transport as part of the tour, send a written itinerary before arrival and are the only contact they need. We also contact the guests directly before the tour. Details of our commission are on the travel advisor page.
The front office can book a tour with us for guests as well.
At the hotel entrance on the Dijsselhofplantsoen. There is room for a car to stop, and we confirm the pick-up time with you the evening before.
Yes. Museumplein is less than twenty minutes on foot, so the Van Gogh Museum tour and the Rijksmuseum are easy from here.
By car it takes about twenty minutes to reach the centre. On our City Highlights tour the guide can collect you at the hotel and start walking where the canals begin.
Yes. With our guide for a day you decide the plan together, from museums in the morning to shopping or a canal walk later on.
Yes, they can reserve the tour for you, or you can contact us directly. Either way we speak with you before the day to agree the details.
Often, yes. The earlier you ask, the more choice of guide, but tours for the next day are frequently possible. Our contact page or a phone call is the fastest route.
