How to Judge an Obscure and Odd Museum: No Mouse Mats for Sale in the Gift Shop - Museum Van Loon, Amsterdam

I love a museum-in-a-home when it feels as if the original occupants have just left. In the case of The Van Loon house in the centre of Amsterdam, in fact, they haven’t. The descendants of the family still occupy the traditional back house behind the grand stone edifice. In 1602 Willem van Loon co-founded the Dutch East India Company and his grand house stayed a family home until 1973 and remains one of the hidden treasures of one of Europe’s prettiest cities. Check it out for fake doors leading nowhere and fabulously ornate wallpapers.

Museum Van Loon Keizersgracht 672, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. + 020 624 5255
http://www.museumvanloon.nl/