The Museum Quarter is defined by the three great museums that cluster around Museumplein: the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, and the Stedelijk Museum of modern art. It is Amsterdam's densest concentration of world-class institutions, and most visitors who come for the museums do not venture much beyond them — which means the residential streets south of Vondelpark and east toward De Pijp are quieter than they deserve to be.
Museumplein is a large open lawn between the museums, with a shallow reflecting pool that becomes a skating rink in winter. It is where the city gathers for large events. On a normal day it is a convenient open space to orient yourself between museum visits — the sight lines from the Rijksmuseum's north entrance through the archway to the Van Gogh Museum are one of Amsterdam's better urban compositions.
The Concertgebouw, at the southern corner of the square, is among the three or four best concert halls in the world by acoustics. The main hall was built in 1888 and has been refined but not fundamentally changed. Wednesday lunchtime concerts are free and often excellent — they run year-round and draw a local audience rather than tourists. The building's neo-Renaissance exterior is handsome without being showy.
Vondelpark, west of the museums, is Amsterdam's largest park and most democratic public space: joggers, cyclists, dog walkers, picnickers, and skaters all coexist with the Vondelpark Open Air Theatre, which runs free performances through summer. The park is long and thin — better for a walk-through than a destination in itself. The café at the Film Museum (EYE's predecessor was here) has been replaced by the Vondelpark 3 pavilion, which serves coffee and sandwiches at reasonable prices.