Netherlands · Provincie Noord-Holland · Amsterdam
Watergraafsmeer, Amsterdam — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Watergraafsmeer is a polder district of Amsterdam, low ground where Frankendael House survives as the last of its country houses.
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Where to stay in Watergraafsmeer
The right area depends on your trip — here's what each neighbourhood is best for.
Frankendael and the Rembrandt Tower bracket the choice here. The Frankendael side is low-rise and residential, while the Rembrandt Tower marks a taller and busier edge, and the difference in character between the two is larger than the short distance between them. Amsterdam's centre stays close. Most visitors still book there.
Few places to stay in Watergraafsmeer — most visitors book in Amsterdam nearby.
About Watergraafsmeer
What are the main landmarks in Watergraafsmeer?
Frankendael House is the survivor. Buitenplaatsen once filled the polder through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and this one alone came through, standing among the later streets as the district's oldest piece of architecture. Churches take up the rest of the register.
The Koningskerk, the Emmakerk, the Martelaren-van-Gorcumkerk, the Gerardus Majella church and the Holy Family Church serve or served their parishes, the Sint-Theresiaklooster stands with them, and the Rembrandt Tower, the Dutch Funeral museum and the De Nieuwe Ooster director's house round out the list.
What is the history of Watergraafsmeer?
The polder begins with an engineering decision. Diemermeer was a lake until 1629, when reclamation replaced open water with dry ground, and through the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries buitenplaatsen spread across the new polder. Only Frankendael House remains.
Later memory is harder: the Buchenwaldmonument and the Gedenkteken Muiderpoortstation each mark something the district chose to keep.
Where is Watergraafsmeer?
A reclaimed polder in North Holland, the district was drained from the lake Diemermeer in 1629 and counts among the lowest-lying ground in Amsterdam.
Common questions
What is the best area to stay in Watergraafsmeer?
Frankendael: the last buitenplaats left in the Watergraafsmeer polder.
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Updated September 2026