Amsterdam Dungeon Honest Review

In the time between Christmas and New Year 2023, I had my nephew for a few days. Theme parks are usually our thing, but the weather was horrible so we decided to skip the Efteling and go do a few attractions in Amsterdam instead. The Amsterdam Dungeon was one of the locations that was picked.

Please note that I paid for the tickets to the Amsterdam Dungeon myself. Nobody asked me to do this review and chances are the Amsterdam Dungeon doesn’t (currently) know of Themepark Freak’s existence!

The Amsterdam Dungeon Experience

In about an hour you’ll run through 750 years of Amsterdam darkest history. The experience starts with a photo shoot of you and your party trying to behead one another. After taking photos and receiving your ticket (in case you want to purchase pictures as souvenirs), you can either buy your tickets or scan your online tickets at the counter.

From there, you’re sent to a holding cell based on the language of the tour you’ll be going on. For my nephew and I, we went on the English tour even though we could have also gone on the Dutch tour.

After waiting about 20 minutes, the Keykeeper came and retrieved us for the very first of the nine shows.

The Nine Shows of the Dungeon

As I mentioned before, the Amsterdam Dungeon has a total of 9 shows for guests to experience.

The Descent: the first show of the tour starts with the Keykeeper coming and retrieving your tour group and taking you to the elevator. From here you learn the rules. You also learn if the elevator works. Unfortunately, I don’t have any photo or video from my time in the Dungeon since one of the rules was “no funny talking boxes.”

Torture Chamber: the second show ends up in a room that has a wicked looking wooden chair up on a little stage. The torturer will come out and give your group a little (comedic) lesson on torture devices that were used during this age. Make sure you stand up front. Nothing will happen to you, promise!

Spanish Inquisition: I think the Spanish Inquisition is supposed to be a separate show, but I believe that it was combined with the torture chamber in my tour.

The Flying Dutchman: this was by far the best of the 9 shows. Why? It made my 14 year old “tough” nephew scream. I’m not going to completely ruin the experience for you, but you learn about how the ship the Flying Dutchman disappeared and the superstition and ghost stories that came afterwards.

We were extremely lucky, our bar main was a great storyteller and actress. She knew how to captivate her audience and had great timing. That’s all I’m going to say.

Black John: at every Dungeon there’s a room, with a body that is having an autopsy performed on it. While the story might be a little different each time, the act is more or less the same each time. In Amsterdam’s show, Black John is the star. He’s an infamous criminal that was made immortal by Rembrandt in The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Deijman.

The Council of Blood: and of course, another feature at every Dungeon is the trial. Amsterdam’s flavor is the Council of Blood. A little history lesson for those that don’t know a lot about Dutch history. In 1567 the “Iron Duke” Fernando Alvarez de Toledo was ordered to punish the ringleaders of religious and political discord. Because the Duke was rather blood thirsty and a lot of people lost their lives, the tribunal became known as the Council of Blood.

So, the question becomes…have you done anything lately where you’ll be found guilty?

Witch Burning: witches weren’t welcome anywhere, were they? Amsterdam used to burn its witches in the center of Niewmarkt. And now you too can be witness to a witch burning!

Gallows Fileds: this is les of a “show” and more of an experience. In my tour, a lady ended up falling to her knees and screamed the entire time. Her family was trying to get her up and she was holding the rest of us up. Personally, I don’t think the situation was that terrifying, but hey ho. It was funny at least!

Murder on the Zeedijk: this was new to the last time I had been to the Dungeon, years ago. This is a good old fashion “historic” ghost story about the most haunted street in Amsterdam. The Zeedijk.

The Boring Practical Information

So now for some of the boring, but practical information.

Getting Your Tickets

You can purchase tickets for the Amsterdam Dungeon at the door, but you get a discount if you buy them online and schedule a spot. You can also book other attractions such as Madame Tussauds and This is Holland for a bit off the normal prices as well.

If you live in the Netherlands and are a member of ANWB, you can actually get double the discount you’d get for purchasing online from the Dungeon itself. There’s other sites giving a deeper discount, so take a look around.

I think I paid 67 euro in total for myself and my nephew, and that included tickets to the This is Holland attraction as well. Considering parking in Amsterdam for the day is more than that, I consider that pretty decent for 2 popular attractions for an adult and child a decent deal.

Arriving a Bit Early (or Late)

We arrived to the Dungeon about 20 minutes early and it was starting to rain. Since it wasn’t very busy, we were allowed in and put in our holding cell. We did have to wait about 30 minutes for the tour to fill up instead of the 15 minutes but at least we missed the down pour!

In the past I’ve been a little late for my time slot. As long as they’re not sold out, they’ll just work you in.

Dungeon Location

From the Amsterdam Centraal Station, the Dungeon is just a little more than a kilometer (0.6 mile) and straight down the road. We decided to walk since we were early and it was grey but dry. If we didn’t want to walk it, we could have taken Metro 52.

When you get to the Dungeon, you’ll be able to identify it from the black sunscreen and the velvet ropes. There’s usually someone who looks like they belong in the 1700s standing outside as well.

Is the Amsterdam Dungeon Worth it?

So, we’re at the end of my honest review of the Amsterdam Dungeon. Is it worth it? Yes, I think so.

I paid 19 euros for myself and 17 euros for my nephew to enjoy an hour of entertainment by fantastic performers. If you’re worried about it being a haunted house, it’s not. There’s a menacing overtone, it was dark and cruel times after all. There’s also a few teeny tiny jump scares. But it’s not a full on scare attraction.

Overall, I feel it was a good way to learn a little bit about Amsterdam’s history in an artistic and entertaining way.

If you’re going to be spending some time in Amsterdam and are looking for something to do, pick up a ticket and hope that elevator is actually working. The Keykeeper said that sometimes it doesn’t and guests become residents of.. the Dungeon.

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