It’s always nice to have a few places in hand to visit if you want to keep the budget down for your holiday. Any trip to Amsterdam should include the Civic Guard’s Gallery though, and not just because it is free to enter.

There are many notable portraits in here, and they all tell a story about those who took part in the Civic Guard. This is far from being an all day event – or even a half day event, since the gallery itself is definitely on the small side. But this does not make it any less worth seeing. If you appreciate good artwork you will appreciate the chance to walk through this corridor that links together two important places in Amsterdam. These places are Kalverstraat – close to where the Amsterdam Historical Museum lies – and the Begijnhof.

As such you can ideally fit in a quick visit to the Civic Guard’s Gallery when visiting either of the other two locations in Amsterdam. It is the perfect add on to another trip, somewhere you can go for a bonus look round without needing to pay anything for the privilege.

Make sure you don’t just rush through in a few minutes though. The paintings have stories to tell and they are of people who occupied higher positions in the Civic Guard. If you were in the Guard and you wanted to have your portrait painted, you had to pay a high fee for the privilege. This is why lower ranked members are never present in the paintings.

The Civic Guard’s Gallery may only show you a portion of the history of the Civic Guard’s, but it is a portion worth seeing nonetheless. It also delves back into history and shows you how people lived many years ago. It is, in its own way, a slice of Amsterdam history you may not get anywhere else.

The gallery is open from ten in the morning until five at night, so it is easy to pay a visit while you are nearby. Just slot it into one of your delightful days in Amsterdam.