The Fault in Our Stars in Amsterdam: The Bench, the Canals and the Anne Frank House

Tickets for the Anne Frank House had sold out weeks before my trip, so the closest I came was the far side of the Prinsengracht, looking at the pavement packed with people outside. It is one of several places in the city that a generation of readers and moviegoers now knows from The Fault in Our Stars.

John Green’s novel was published in 2012, and the film followed in 2014, with Shailene Woodley as Hazel and Ansel Elgort as Augustus. Two teenagers with cancer travel to Amsterdam to meet Hazel’s favourite author, Peter Van Houten. Most of the film was shot in Pittsburgh. Filming began there on 26 August 2013, with a few days in Amsterdam before the shoot wrapped on 16 October. Pittsburgh also stood in for several of the Amsterdam interiors, which is why some of the most famous Amsterdam scenes are only half in Amsterdam.

Here is what is real, what was built elsewhere, and where to find each spot.

The Fault in Our Stars in Amsterdam at a Glance
🎬 The film · John Green’s 2012 novel, filmed in 2014 with Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort. Most of it was shot in Pittsburgh; only three days were filmed in Amsterdam.
🛋️ The bench · An ordinary green bench in front of Leidsegracht 4, where the Leidsegracht meets the Herengracht. Stolen after the film came out, since replaced.
🍽️ The “Oranjee” · Exterior only, at Keizersgracht 498. The restaurant isn’t real; the dining room was a Pittsburgh sound stage.
🏠 Anne Frank House · Prinsengracht 263. Only the outside and the entrance were filmed here; the attic was rebuilt in Pittsburgh.
💡 Tip · Book Anne Frank House tickets online only, every Tuesday at 10am, for six weeks later — and leave the City Card at home, it isn’t valid there.

The Bench on the Leidsegracht

The most visited location is an ordinary green bench in front of Leidsegracht 4, where the Leidsegracht meets the Herengracht in the Canal District. Augustus tells Hazel his news here on their last day in the city, and the embrace that follows is the scene most fans come for.

The bench has its own story. It was stolen shortly after the film came out and has since been replaced. Apart from its fame, it looks like any other green bench along the canals.

Date Night on the Keizersgracht

For their dinner at the “Oranjee”, Hazel and Augustus dress up and walk along the Keizersgracht. The restaurant does not exist. The film used the front of Keizersgracht 498 for the exterior only, and the lightbulb-filled dining room was shot on a sound stage in Pittsburgh.

The stretch of canal in the film runs between the Nieuwe Spiegelstraat and the Vijzelstraat.

Walking Past the Rijksmuseum

The same date night takes the couple past the Rijksmuseum. When I walked up on the morning of King’s Day, cyclists and walkers were already heading under a Metamorfosen banner and through the passage that runs under the middle of the building.

That passage is as old as the building. When the Rijksmuseum was renovated, the original plan closed the route to make room for a new entrance. Cyclists fought the change and won, and bikes still ride straight through the middle of the national museum.

The Anne Frank House

After a disastrous meeting with Van Houten, his assistant Lidewij takes Hazel and Augustus to the Anne Frank House at Prinsengracht 263. In the film they climb the steep stairs to the attic, where they share their first kiss.

Only part of this was filmed in the real house. The museum allowed the crew to film outside and in the first-floor entrance, but not on the stairways or in the upstairs rooms. Production designer Molly Hughes built three studio sets in Pittsburgh, one for each floor, working from photographs and from footage a local architect shot inside the house. According to Variety, the museum sent sample information placards and a patch of white wallpaper from one of the rooms so the sets would match. Hughes later explained that visitors are not allowed into Anne Frank’s upstairs bedroom, and that the film took a deliberate liberty in sending Hazel inside.

A museum spokeswoman later told Mother Jones that the Anne Frank House was not involved in the production, but that it gave the cast a guided tour and allowed filming outside. The museum receives the first thanks in the film’s end credits.

The Tram, the Hotel and Van Houten’s House

Hazel and Augustus take the number 4 tram on their way to meet Van Houten. Amsterdam’s white and blue trams run all through the centre, and one evening on the Leidseplein I caught one passing the International Theater Amsterdam just as its windows lit up.

Their hotel in the novel is Hotel De Filosoof. In the film, the exterior scenes were shot at the American Hotel, on the same square at Leidsekade 97, and the room interiors were filmed back in Pittsburgh. The hotel is the pale building with the striped awnings beside the theatre. The real Hotel De Filosoof, at Anna van den Vondelstraat 6, now trades as Pillows Anna van den Vondel.

Van Houten’s house is at Vondelstraat 162, close to the Vondelpark. It is a private home, so the front is all there is to see.

The park itself is worth the detour. On an April evening, crates of pink, yellow and white tulips were floating on one of its ponds, and people were out on the grass in the last of the sun.

Bubbly Tips

• Book the Anne Frank House at exactly the right moment. Tickets are sold only online, on the museum’s own website. Every Tuesday at 10am Amsterdam time, tickets go on sale for the week six weeks later, and they go quickly.
• Use the right door. The entrance is at Westermarkt 20, around the corner from the Prinsengracht front.
• Find the bench from the corner. Head for the point where the Leidsegracht meets the Herengracht and look for the bench in front of number 4.
• Leave the City Card in your bag. The I amsterdam City Card is not valid at the Anne Frank House.
• Pay by card. The museum accepts payment only by bank or credit card.
• Walk through the Rijksmuseum passage for free. You do not need a museum ticket, but stay to the side, since it is a busy cycle route.
• Pair Vondelstraat with the Vondelpark. Van Houten’s house is close to the park, so the two fit into one stop.
• Be respectful at private addresses. Keizersgracht 498 and Vondelstraat 162 are real buildings with real occupants. Look, take your photo from the street and move on.
• Have a drink at the American Hotel. The film’s hotel exterior is an Art Nouveau building on the Leidseplein with the art deco Café Américain inside, so it is the one hotel location you can actually walk into.

Final Thoughts

The Fault in Our Stars turned an ordinary bench on the Leidsegracht into a pilgrimage stop, and it did it with only a few days of filming in the city. Much of what looks like Amsterdam on screen was built in Pittsburgh, from the restaurant to the attic stairs.

The real places hold up without the film. The canals were here more than three centuries before the cameras, and the Anne Frank House was already the reason crowds stood on the Prinsengracht. Next time I will book my ticket six weeks out, on a Tuesday, at 10am sharp.

Until next time!

xoxo,
Bubbly 🎈