Large English landscape park with rowing course, goat farm and recreational areas.
Large English landscape park with rowing course, goat farm and recreational areas.
Groot Kinderbad is one of the public paddling pools in the Amsterdamse Bos
A forest planted between 1934 and 1970 south-west of Amsterdam with around 150 tree species.
The Amsterdamse Bos (Amsterdam Forest) is large: 22 times as large as the Vondelpark and 3 times the size of New York's Central Park.
In the open air Bostheater paid concerts and plays are held during the summer.
All the trees were planted by hand during the crisis years between 1934 and 1940. The park was as a work relief programme.
The project provided work for more than 20,000 unemployed people. Prisoners also carried out forced labour.
Using no other technical means than wheelbarrows and metal dump carts on rails, the labourers created a forest from scratch using shovels as their main equipment.
The Amsterdamse Bos has 116 bridges. Of those, 67 were designed by the famous Amsterdam School architect Piet Kramer. None of these bridges are alike.
The Amsterdamse Bos has space for a variety of sports, including rowing, swimming, equestrian sports, climbing, field hockey, football, canoe, sailing, tennis, cricket, golf and fitness.
There are several ponds and streams that can be used for swimming. There is a sand beach along a part of Grote Vijver pond and 2 paddling pools for children - Klein Kinderbad and Groot Kinderbad - that are water-filled and monitored from May until September.
An important part of the park is the rowing course (called Bosbaan) from 1937, which is the world's oldest artificial rowing course. It hosted the World Rowing Championships in 1977 and 2014.
The Bosbaan is also used for other forms of water sports, like dragon boat races and speedboat races.
The Amsterdamse Bos is located in the southwest corner of Amsterdam Zuid, wedged between Buitenveldert and Nieuw-West.
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Olympic Stadion and Zuidas are nearby.
directions_bus 347 357 Amsterdamse Bos
local_parking Hoofdentree Amsterdamse Bos
more impressions
Bostheater - open air theatre where concerts and plays are held in summer
Ridammerhoeve - goat farm with more than 150 goats and cute little baby lambs roaming around freely
Historic Tram Line passing through the Amsterdamse Bos
Camping Amsterdamse Bos - camping, camper and holiday park located on the southern edge of the Amsterdamse Bos
Highland cattle graze in the southern edge of the Amsterdamse Bos. Photo: Ton van Eenennaam
National Dachau Monument - Memorial to the Dutch victims of the Dachau concentration camp, chiselled with the names of 500 concentration camps
Boerderij Meerzicht - former farm turned into a pancake house and playground for children
Zonneweide (Sun Meadow) - area for naturist recreation
BosbaanSwim - annual recreational swimming event at the Bosbaan
Fun Forest climbing park in Amsterdamse Bos
Download map of the Amsterdamse Bos (PDF)