Alternative History Walking Tour

Amsterdam began its alternative history as the glittering hub of the 17th-century Dutch Golden Age. Wealthy merchants, philosophers, and artists painted their world in light and shadow. Rembrandt, Vermeer, and their contemporaries captured a city caught between Calvinist modesty and opulent excess. Fast forward to the mid-20th century and the war-weary city, scarred but unbroken, becomes a sanctuary for dreamers and dropouts. By the 1960s, it’s no longer just the city of merchants and painters—it’s a playground for hippies, pacifists, and visionaries. Dam Square becomes a stage for flower power protests, communal living experiments, and street theater. The Provo movement stirs the pot with anarchic humor, fighting police power with white bicycles and smoke bombs of wit. Today, that alternative history lives on in the cracks of the old canal walls, in the art squats turned galleries, and in the smoky corners of cafés where old hippies trade stories with tech nomads. From Baroque brilliance to stoner utopia, Amsterdam’s rebel heart still beats—sometimes offbeat, always alive.