Badass Tours

24/04/2025

When we know where we come from, and what other have struggled with before us, we find strength to face where we’re going. History grounds us. Community carries us.

An extract from the stories our founder Elyzabeth Gorman told at the event "Russell Shorto: Taking Manhattan"! She brought history to life with a powerful dramatization of one of New Amsterdam’s prominent female residents from August 1664, right on the eve of the British takeover. 📜✨

For more stories, book a tour with us or join our next events!
https://badasstours.nl/tours/

23/04/2025

Amsterdam's history has seen some badass businesswomen:

🔸 Gracia Mendes Nasi used her shipping network to smuggle Jewish people away from the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions.
🔸 Elisabeth Samson became the first Black millionaire in the Americas and got the Estates General to allow in*******al marriage. (This image of Elisabeth is by Iris Kensmil, one of our favorite artists!)
🔸 Johanna Borski took over her late husband's business and ran it so well that she saved two banks.
🔸 Rosa Manus was born into 19th-century wealth that meant she wasn't allowed to work, so she used her executive skills and wealth to lead both the feminist and pacifist movements.
🔸 Haesje Claes used her wealth to found the Amsterdam city orphanage and its home for elderly men.

Join us for one of the tours to learn more stories like this!
https://badasstours.nl/tours/

22/04/2025

Amsterdam City Archives host a beautiful exhibition: "The Birth of the City. In Search of Medieval Amsterdam", until 6 July 2025.

🤩 We're excited that our guides Elyzabeth and Guus will be there telling stories of Amsterdam women from the Middle Ages, on the first Wednesdays of the month (in Dutch) and the third Saturdays of the month (in English).

Remaining dates:
🗓 Wednesday 7 May 13.00 (Dutch)
🗓 Saturday 24 May 13.00 (English)
🗓 Wednesday 4 June 13.00 (Dutch)
🗓 Saturday 21 June 13.00 (English)
🗓 Wednesday 2 July 13.00 (Dutch)

🎫 So get your tickets and let us guide you through the exhibition!

https://www.amsterdam.nl/stadsarchief/agenda/geboorte-stad-zoek-middeleeuws-amsterdam/rondleidingen/

15/04/2025

🔍 Amsterdam is full of surprises! Our Hidden Gems Tour takes you beyond the usual sights, uncovering stories and places most people miss. Here’s a sneak peek from one of our latest walk! 🚶‍♀️

12/04/2025

It's a beautiful season for a Women's History Tour! This is our new guide, Rissa, showing guests one of our favorite spots on the tour.

11/04/2025

✨ Exciting news! ✨

Badass Tours was featured on AT5, and we couldn’t be happier to share a bit of what we do with a wider audience. It’s always great to talk about the hidden (and often untold) histories of Amsterdam - the stories of women, LGBTQ+ figures, BIPOC communities, and others who helped shape the city.

If you missed it, you can check out the segment here: https://www.at5.nl/nieuws/231747/de-spot-elyzabeth-laat-historisch-amsterdam-zien-door-de-ogen-van-vrouwen-en-minderheden
AT5

A big thank you to everyone who joins our tours, supports our work, and helps keep these stories alive! 💜

And if you want to book a tour, head to our website: https://badasstours.nl/

10/04/2025

📣 𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐦𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐦! 🚶‍♀️
We have a bunch of fabulous new guides who we're training to tell our stories. We need guests for practice tours.

It's free and all you need to do is 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨@𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬.𝐧𝐥 to join! 📩

Jewish History tour:
🗓 April 17, at 10am-12:30pm
🗓 April 21, at 5:30pm-8pm
🗓 April 22, at 7pm-9:30pm
🗓 April 24, at 9:30am-12pm
🗓 May 5, at 7pm-9:30pm
𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝑹𝑺𝑽𝑷, 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒖𝒔 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒆𝒖𝒎 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒅.

Hidden Gems tour
🗓 May 12 5:30pm-7:30pm.

If you love history, walking tours, or just want to experience Amsterdam in a whole new way, this is your chance! Your feedback will help our guides refine their skills.

📣 Please share this with your friends who might be interested!

04/04/2025

Russell Shorto's history of Amsterdam helped set me on my path to telling the city's stories. I'm beyond grateful the John Adams Institute asked me to perform at the launch of his new book!

💜
Elyzabeth

Photos: Gerrit Serné

https://www.john-adams.nl/russell-shorto-taking-manhattan/

03/04/2025

Watch live streaming from tonight's event where Elyzabeth will be performing:

It is August 1664, and the blue-gray waters of Manhattan’s harbor glisten in the late summer sun. A wind stirs, and the lookout cries, while the citizens of ...

03/04/2025

“So there I was, watching the Pride Parade. I was angry that most people didn’t know this story. I saw a drag queen dancing on a boat sponsored by a bank that invests in a country where they execute gay people and wondered if this was all pointless pinkwashing. I was going to go home when something across the river stopped me short.”

Read Elyzabeth’s story published on IGLTA's website:

https://www.iglta.org/blog/post/how-amsterdams-pride-parade-helped-me-with-history/

02/04/2025

Want to hear our stories in your own language? We have a good selection of languages for our Customized Tours, so contact us and let us know your preferences.

Also, our DIY self curated tour has the option to be translated with Google Translate!

https://badasstours.nl/tours/customized-private-tour/

Photo: Self-portrait, by Judith Leyster, National Gallery of Art

29/03/2025

What a trip! We got to meet one of the amazing scholars who runs the Heineken archive. Many Amsterdammers don't realize how the beer - and the family behind it! - have been part of Amsterdam's cultural development across the 19th and 20th centuries. It was so cool to explore a multimedia archive, including the prized possession: a blueprint of the original building with the founder's signature! What a fascinating place!

28/03/2025

✍Women writers who changed Amsterdam. Do you know them?
Tell us in a comment below. ⬇

26/03/2025

📢 𝐔𝐩𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭! 📢
📍 April 3, 2025 at the Rode Hoed, Amsterdam.

We are thrilled to announce that our founder Elyzabeth Gorman will be performing at the event "Russell Shorto: Taking Manhattan"! 🎉 Elyzabeth will bring history to life with a powerful dramatization of one of New Amsterdam’s prominent female residents from August 1664, right on the eve of the British takeover. 📜✨

📙 This is a unique opportunity to hear bestselling author Russell Shorto talking about his new book - Taking Manhattan, a story of how New York transformed from a Dutch outpost into a British stronghold.

🎤 The event is hosted by Dutch journalist Andrew Makkinga.

Project in collaboration with: The John Adams Institute
🎟 The event is now sold out, but it will be live streamed here: https://www.youtube.com/live/UAnVhd8wcbg

John Adams Institute Rode Hoed

21/03/2025

It was so exciting to be invited to the press launch of the Holland Festival's 2025 program. We are thrilled to be offering a tour - the Daring Women Walk - to complement Otemba at the Bimhuis. It was a trip to see it listed in the program for the press!
Holland Festival

Read more here: https://www.hollandfestival.nl/en/daring-women-walk

21/03/2025

🌸 Yesterday, the most beautiful flower garden in Europe opened its doors! 🌸
Keukenhof is now open until 11 May, so if you’re a fan of spring flowers, it’s definitely worth a visit. The gardens are a real treat!

20/03/2025

Big news! 🎉 Badass Tours will be featured on AT5! 📺 The crew joined us on a tour, and we can’t wait to see our stories about Amsterdam’s incredible women, LGBTQ+, Jewish, and BIPOC figures come to life on TV.

We can't wait to see it - and we'll let you know when it's coming out :)

AT5

19/03/2025

Today, the Holland Festival reveal their program for 2025, and we're thrilled that Badass Tours is a part of it!✨

🎭 In 2025, the Holland Festival will present the world premiere of Otemba - Daring Women, a music theatre performance based on the painting Portrait of Pieter Cnoll, Cornelia van Nijenrode, their daughters and two enslaved servants (Batavia, 1665) by Jacob Coeman, which is on view in the Rijksmuseum. Cornelia was the daughter of a Japanese woman and a Dutch man who had to fight for her rights when she was widowed in Indonesia.

In conjunction with this play, we're running tours of badass 17th-century women. Stay tuned for more info!