Until 27 August
Hortus Botanicus

During the summer months, Amsterdam’s Botanical Gardens are open each evening until 9pm for dinner and a walk in the gardens. On Friday evenings from 5pm there is live music – jazz, flamenco etc. The Hortus is one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world, and was founded in 1638, originally as a medicinal herb garden. The collection expanded in the 17th and 18th century as ships of the Dutch East India company brought back not only herbs and spices from their travels but also exotic plants. Today it has around 6,000 plants of roughly 4000 different types in the garden and in the greenhouses. They also have a wonderful greenhouse full of butterflies (though not for those who get freaked out by Hitchock’s The Birds).