Amsterdam
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Amsterdam combines the unrivaled beauty of the 17th-century Golden Age city center with plenty of museums and art of the highest order, not to mention a remarkably laid-back atmosphere. It all comes together to make this one of the world's most appealing and offbeat metropolises.
Built on a latticework of concentric canals like an aquatic rainbow, Amsterdam is known as the City of Canals—but it's no Venice, content to live on moonlight serenades and former glory. Quite the contrary: on nearly every street here you'll find old and new side by side—quiet courtyards where time seems to be holding its breath next to contemporary shopping streets like Kalverstraat, and scantily clad women in red-lighted windows by the city's oldest church. Indeed, Amsterdam has as many lovely facets as a 40-carat diamond polished by one of the city's gem cutters. It's certainly a metropolis, but a rather small and very accessible one. Locals tend to refer to it as a big village, albeit one that happens to pack the cultural wallop of a major world destination.
There are scores of concerts every day, numerous museums, summertime festivals, and, of course, a legendary year-round party scene. It's pretty much impossible to resist Amsterdam's charms. With 8,500 registered monuments, many of which began as the residences and warehouses of humble merchants, set on 165 man-made canals, and traversed by 1,700 bridges, Amsterdam has the largest historical inner city in Europe. Its famous circle of waterways, the grachtengordel, was a 17th-century urban expansion plan for the rich and is a lasting testament to the city’s Golden Age. This town is endearing because of its open, easygoing nature—but a reputation for championing sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll does not alone account for Amsterdam's being one of the most popular destinations in Europe. Consider that within a single square mile the city harbors some of the greatest achievements in Western art, from Rembrandt and Van Gogh to Mondrian. Not to mention that this is one of Europe's great walking cities, with much to discover along the way: tiny alleyways barely visible on the map, curtainless windows offering glimpses of daily life, floating houseboats, hidden hofjes (courtyards with almshouses), sudden vistas of church spires, and gabled roofs that look like so many unframed paintings.
Along the way, keep an eye out for joyful detail here and there—a bronze breast hidden among cobblestones, or witty stone tablets denoting the trade of a previous owner. And those "XXX" symbols you see all over town are not a mark of the city's triple-X reputation. They're part of Amsterdam's official coat of arms: three St. Andrew's crosses, believed to represent the three dangers that have traditionally plagued the city—flood, fire, and pestilence. The coat's motto ("Valiant, determined, compassionate") was introduced in 1947 by Queen Wilhelmina in remembrance of the 1941 February Strike in Amsterdam, the first time in Europe that non-Jewish people openly protested against the persecution of Jews by the Nazi regime.
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Top Destinations
Amsterdam-Noord
A two-minute ride on the free NDSM ferry behind Centraal Station will get you to a revitalized waterfront area north of the IJ. Once a bleak industrial no-man's land, the former shipyard, Nederlandsche Dok en Scheepsbouw Maatschappij (NDSM), now buzzes with activity. There are a handful of interesting restaurants and hotels as well as the EYE Film Institute Netherlands—you can't miss the huge, white swanlike structure. Amsterdam-Noord will soon be connected with the rest of the city via the Noord/Zuid subway line (construction is almost complete at this writing). You can also take a cab here from Centraal Station for about €20.
Amsterdam-Oost
Amsterdam-Oost, or Eastern Amsterdam, is a large, mainly residential neighborhood. The area has several nice parks, including the elegant late-19th-century Oosterpark just behind the Tropenmuseum, which has emerged from its 2014–15 renovation bigger and better than ever, with improved drainage, new playgrounds and fountains, and better views of the stunning surrounding architecture. Oost is also home to many excellent cafés and restaurants. Historic buildings, local nightlife, and a friendly neighborhood vibe make this an appealing and affordable base.
Canal Rings
Forming an area of unparalleled historical beauty, the famous Grachtengordel (Canal Ring) is located to the west, south, and east of the old city center. Amsterdam's canals were developed first for water management and defense, and then for transport; but in the 17th century came an original piece of town planning (and an epic job-creation scheme) to deal with the need for expansion.
The canal "belt" of the Golden Age consists of three main encircling canals. The first phase of construction yielded the Herengracht (Gentlemen's Canal, built in 1612), followed some 50 years later by a second phase, which produced the Keizersgracht (Emperor's Canal) and the Prinsengracht (Prince’s Canal). Together they became the premier addresses of historic Amsterdam, when wealthy bankers and famous merchants ordered homes built in the latest fashionable styles, ranging from Baroque to Neoclassical.
Developing from west to east (like a giant windshield wiper, according to historian Geert Mak), the innermost canal, the Singel, was widened, and the main canals were intersected with radial canals like the Brouwersgracht, Leliegracht, and Leidsegracht (all of which are well worth a diversion). The grandest stretch of the grandest canal is supposedly along the Herengracht between Leidsestraat and the Amstel, which is known as the Gouden Bocht (Golden Bend).
Centrum
As you walk down the Damrak from Centraal Station, you'll be heading toward the commercial center of Amsterdam and the place where most visitors organically converge—the Dam, the heart of the city since a dam was built over the Amstel in the 13th century. Home to the Royal Palace (Het Koninklijk Paleis), the 15th-century Nieuwe Kerk (church), and the oddly phallic National Monument, the Dam itself is a bit anticlimactic, but it plays a role as a focal point for protests and celebrations. There are lots of international-chain shopping opportunities in the pedestrianized Nieuwendijk and Kalverstraat leading off the Dam. Top cultural stops here include the Amsterdam Museum, as well as the peaceful Begijnhof, the best known of the hofjes, or almshouses built round a central courtyard. The entrance to the latter can be found off graceful Spui, which is the literary headquarters of the city–-it's a beautiful square with a clutch of great bookshops, and it hosts famous book and art markets.
De Pijp
For boho-chic done the Dutch way, head to De Pijp, where many streets are named after painters, including the main thoroughfare, Ferdinand Bolstraat, who was one of Rembrandt's pupils. This part of town was possibly named for its long, pipelike streets, or after an old word for a narrow waterway—modern-day Albert Cuyp street was once the Zaagmolensloot (sawmill canal). Whatever the case, by the end of the 19th century this was a low-income neighborhood with cheaply built housing to match. In the 1890s students, artists, prostitutes, and all manner of radical had rented rooms here, earning the neighborhood a comparison to Paris's Latin Quarter. The Heineken Brewery attracted the first Spanish guest workers to the neighborhood during the early 1960s, and, later, waves of guest workers from Turkey and Morocco, as well as immigrants from the former colonies of Suriname and Indonesia, also settled here. By the 1980s, De Pijp was a global village, with more than 126 nationalities. Fast-forward a few decades and things have greatly gentrified, although the proliferation of social housing here has kept some balance. Construction for a new subway line (due to be completed by 2018) has literally torn up the neighborhood, but it's still a great place to find hip restaurants and local bars and cafés. Dinner here, with an hour or so wandering before and a bit of bar-hopping after, is one good way to get a taste of the neighborhood; alternatively, you might visit the Albert Cuypmarkt in the morning followed by lunch or a picnic in pretty Sarphatipark.
Jordaan
Pronounced "Yore-dahn," probably from the French for garden (jardin), the Jordaan was long ago a working-class neighborhood, but has become steadily upmarket over the decades. In 1895 the area had a population of 80,000, making it one of the most densely populated parts of Europe; today the population is only around 20,000, and the whole area has been greatly gentrified. Its winding streets and sparkling canals are now lined with specialty shops, excellent restaurants, galleries, and designer boutiques, especially along the streets of Tweede Anjeliersdwarsstraat, Tuinstraat, and Egelantiersstraat. If you walk down the alleyway to the right of the Stadsschouwburg theater (Leidseplein 26), past the Melkweg and Sugar Factory and over the Leidsegracht, you'll have reached the southern perimeter of the Jordaan, quite different in its current incarnation than it was long ago. Built to house canal-belt construction workers in the 17th century, the city's smellier industries, like tanning and brewing, were also banished here. Living conditions were overcrowded and squalid, and the inhabitants gained a reputation for rebelliousness and community spirit. Elandsgracht was one of several canals in the area that were filled in for sanitary reasons in the 19th century. North of the Rozengracht, the Jordaan becomes even more scenic.
Leidseplein
The Leidseplein is one of the main tourist centers of Amsterdam and, like Rembrandtplein, is surrounded by neon-lighted eateries and bars, their terraces packed with visitors and shoppers set for the Leidsestraat. This is also the city's vortex for the performing arts, with street performers, music venues, theaters, and jazz bars. The Stadsschouwburg (Municipal Theater), with its Neo-Renaissance facade, is here, too . The Amsterdam American Hotel, at Leidsekade 97, is an Art Deco standout. (Keep an eye out for the statue of the woodcutter in the trees nearby.)
Museum District
Rembrandts, Van Goghs, and Mondrians are all on evocative display in Amsterdam’s three main art museums, all in close proximity: the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum, and the Stedelijk Museum. The sheer quantity of quality on display in the museums located around Museumplein offers a remarkably complete lesson in the history of Western art. Lest you overdose on art, the neighborhood is also home to the magnificent Vondelpark, where you can neutralize your art-soaked eyes with the restful greens of grasses and trees. There is high-class shopping along the country's most famous fashion strip, P. C. Hooftstraat, and antiques shops along Nieuwe Spiegelstraat. The city's premier concert hall, the Concertgebouw, is here, too , where there are often free concerts on Wednesday afternoon.
Nieuwmarkt
At the bottom of the Zeedijk and bordering the Red Light District lies Nieuwmarkt Square and the brooding Waag, or weigh house, a former city gate. The area has been a marketplace since the 17th century, with vendors selling cheese, herbs, cloth, and fish, as well as spices brought back from the ships of the Dutch East India Company. Public executions and other gruesome punishments took place here as well, supplying cadavers to the Surgeon's Guild for dissection. (This is where Rembrandt came to watch Professor Tulp in action before painting The Anatomy Lesson.) During WWII, the Nieuwmarkt was known for a flourishing black market and as a collection point where Jews were held before being shipped off to concentration camps. Today it's a popular square, ringed by restaurants and cafés. There's a farmers' market every Saturday and occasional antiques and curiosities sales. After the hustle and bustle of the Red Light District, this square and the neighborhood around it are a refreshing break. Due east is a cluster of less-touristy, canal-lined streets (the Rechtboomssloot is especially scenic). Directly south, straight up the Kloveniersburgwal, is the University of Amsterdam, in myriad lovely old buildings along and between the canals.
Oosterdok
Directly east of Centraal Station is the body of water called the Oosterdok, which was created in 1832 when this part of the IJ was closed off by a dam. (To the west of the station the Westerdok was made in a similar way.) In the last 20 years, there has been a great deal of building going on around the Oosterdok, including the building of a new library with a top-floor restaurant that affords spectacular views over the city, the green copper-clad NEMO Science Center, the ARCAM architecture center, and many hotels and apartment buildings. Opposite NEMO is the Scheepvaartmuseum (Maritime Museum), the top attraction in this area and an impossible-to-overlook example of Dutch 17th-century architecture, while a bit farther to the east you'll find the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ and the swoopy-roofed Passenger Terminal Amsterdam.
Oud-West
This hip neighborhood, with its fun restaurants, trendy boutiques, and concept stores, is the place to be if you want to mix with the locals. Kinkerstraat and Jan Pieter Heijestraat are good for shopping, while De Hallen, a former tram depot off Kinkerstraat, has been turned into a culinary and cultural hotspot with a buzzing food hall, art-house cinema, arts and crafts shops, and a hotel.
Oud-Zuid
This mostly residential neighborhood is home to Amsterdam's "Gold Coast," the posh neighborhood around stately Apollolaan. There are several destination restaurants and high-end boutiques here.
Plantage
With its wide boulevards, parks, and elegant 19th-century architecture, the Plantage, only a short walk from Waterlooplein (follow the tram tracks), feels gracious and spacious. The neighborhood's roots stretch back to the 17th century, when the area was divided into 15 parks and it was a recreational zone for the wealthy. Top draws here are the Artis Zoo and its eclectic aquarium, built in 1882 with Neoclassical and Romanesque features. Opposite the zoo is the marvelous Verzetsmuseum (Resistance Museum). There are poignant reminders here of the fact that from the late 19th century up to the World War II, this was a neighborhood for wealthier Jewish families: in little Wertheimpark is the Auschwitz Memorial with its engraved message, "Nooit Meer" (Never Again), and down the road is the Hollandsche Schouwburg, a theater that the German occupiers used to gather Jews before they were sent to their deaths. Between 1941 and 1944, 107,000 Jews were deported from the Netherlands; 5,200 survived, according to the NIOD (Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies). North of the Plantage, around Waterlooplein, is the former Jewish Quarter, with the still-functional Portuguese Synagogue and the four former synagogues that are now the Jewish Historical Museum.
Red Light District
Forming a rough triangle from Centraal Station bordered by Warmoesstraat, Damstraat, and Zeedijk, this famous district incorporates the two oldest canals in the city and its oldest building (the Oude Kerk). It has been an area for prostitution since the 15th century, but it's changing fast; the city has closed about a third of the coffeeshops and windows for prostitution. With more art and fashion for sale in the windows, Amsterdam is trying, perhaps, to convey a message more about buying the dress than the woman, though you can still see scantily clothed women posed in the red neon–framed windows, looking for customers. If you decide to take a stroll around de Wallen ("the walls," as the Red Light District is also called), early evening is optimal, before the louder, drunker hordes arrive. Remember, too, that this is the oldest part of town, and if you look beyond the garish advertising and the prostitutes, you'll see 14th-century architecture, winding alleyways, and pretty canals. Amsterdam's Chinatown borders the area.
Western Islands
A short walk west of Centraal Station are three hidden islands—known in Dutch as De Westelijke Eilanden—that were built on landfill back in the 17th century, as a sort of warehouse district. The waterfront neighborhood, with many boats and houseboats, is a lovely area for strolling. From the smallest island, Prinseneiland, follow the Galgenstraat (Gallows Street), which once had views of the bodies (or bits of bodies—sometimes the heads were placed elsewhere) that had been placed on the town's gallows across the water. Bickerseiland is a jumble of modern housing, boats, and a petting zoo. Across the white wooden drawbridge is the third island, Realeneiland, known for its row of picturesque 17th-century captains' houses on Zandhoek. Just across from the main canal that borders the Western Islands is the lovely Westerpark, as well as cafés, clubs, galleries, and art-house cinema Het Ketelhuis.
