Anne Frank Walking Tour with Virtual Reality House Visit Amsterdam

Leidseplein and the start of the walk

The tour begins on Max Euweplein, a small square with giant chess pieces and chess tables right beside Leidseplein, one of the liveliest squares in central Amsterdam. From here your guide sets the scene: Amsterdam in the 1930s, the arrival of German-Jewish refugees such as the Frank family, and the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940 that changed everything.

The meeting point is easy to reach by tram to Leidseplein, about three minutes on foot. Please note that this Anne Frank tour does not start at the Anne Frank House; it starts here, on the southern side of the canal belt, so that the walk can follow the direction the family took towards the Prinsengracht.

The canal ring of Amsterdam

Most of the walk runs through the Grachtengordel, the ring of seventeenth-century canals that has been on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 2010. Along the Prinsengracht, Keizersgracht and Herengracht, tall merchant houses with gables and hoisting beams line the water, exactly as they did when the Franks walked here on a rainy July morning in 1942, carrying their belongings because Jews were no longer allowed to use public transport.

Your guide stops along the canals to read passages from the diary and to explain the step-by-step persecution of Amsterdam’s Jewish community: the yellow star, the bans on parks, trams and schools, and the deportations. It is a calm, respectful walk that turns a famous story into something very concrete, set in real streets you can still see today.

Westermarkt: the Anne Frank statue, the Homomonument and the Westerkerk

At Westermarkt stands a small bronze statue of Anne Frank, a quiet place where the group pauses for reflection. Nearby, on the edge of the Keizersgracht, the Homomonument remembers people persecuted for their sexuality, including during the war years. Both memorials help you understand how the occupation affected many different groups in the city.

Above the square rises the Westerkerk, a Protestant church completed in 1631 whose tower is the tallest church tower in Amsterdam. Anne wrote in her diary about hearing the chimes of its bells from the annex, and how much comfort they gave her. Standing beneath the tower, you hear those lines read aloud before walking the last few steps to the house.

The Anne Frank House on the Prinsengracht

The house at Prinsengracht 263 was the office and warehouse of Otto Frank’s company, and behind it lay the secret annex where eight people hid for more than two years until they were discovered in August 1944. Today it is one of the most visited museums in the Netherlands, and Anne Frank House tickets are released online and often sell out weeks ahead.

On this tour you see the building from outside and hear the story of the helpers who kept the families supplied, the arrest, and how the diary survived. Entry to the real museum is not included; if you want to go inside as well, book Anne Frank House tickets separately for another time slot.

The secret annex in virtual reality

The walk ends at a location close to the Anne Frank House, where you sit down and put on a virtual reality headset. You pass through the moving bookcase and enter a reconstruction of the annex with the furniture and belongings in place, something the real museum no longer shows, since its rooms were left empty after the war.

You explore the rooms at your own pace for about half an hour: the shared living space, the tiny rooms where Anne slept and wrote, and the attic window looking out to the chestnut tree. Many visitors find it the closest experience to the secret annex without the queues, and the most moving part of the tour.