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
How the choice of base plays out on the ground.
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.
Find hotels in Watergraafsmeer
Direct booking search for this neighbourhood.
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Things to do in and around Amsterdam
Ranked by global recognition; descriptions from Wikidata (CC0).
Museums & Galleries
1- Dutch Funeral museum
Churches & Religious Sites
7- Gerardus Majella church Heritage
- Martelaren-van-Gorcumkerk Heritage
- Koningskerk Heritage
- Archimedesweg 97, Amsterdam Heritage
- Emmakerk Heritage
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- Holy Family Church Heritage
- Sint-Theresiaklooster Heritage
Castles & Historic Sites
2- Gedenkteken Muiderpoortstation
- Gedenkteken W.A. Froger
Landmarks & Notable Places
8- Ringdijk 57, Amsterdam Heritage
- De Nieuwe Ooster-Directeurswoning Heritage
- Frankendael House Heritage
- Landbouwstraat 72, Amsterdam Heritage
- Brink 4, Amsterdam Heritage
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- Veeteeltstraat 118, Amsterdam Heritage
- Middenlaan 19, Zunderdorp Heritage
- Klein huisje behorende tot het complex van de Vergulden Eenhoorn Heritage
worth knowingacross 4 categories in and around Amsterdam
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. Around the Rembrandt Tower: fast links across Amsterdam from the polder's tall edge.
Good for
More areas in Amsterdam
Updated October 2026