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This guide divides Amsterdam into eight colour-coded sightseeing areas, as shown on the map below. Find out more about each area on the following pages. Away from the city, Beyond Amsterdam covers Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland, Utrecht and Gelderland.
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Crammed with hotels, shops, bars and restaurants, this is Amsterdam’s busiest tourist district. At its centre, Dam Square bustles with visitors heading to the sights as street performers clamour to grab their attention. Enclaves like the serene Begijnhof provide a refuge from the “New Side’s” relentless commercialism.
Best for Sightseeing
Home to Amsterdam Museum, Nieuwe Kerk, Begijnhof, Museum Ons’ Lieve Heer Op Solder
Experience Genever at a traditional proeflokaal
Discover Getting to Know Amsterdam
t Munttoren and a canal-side restaurant at dusk
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The “Old Side” is an oddball: an intensely urban quarter where piety and porn sit side by side. While the glow of the red light district almost bathes the 14th-century Oude Kerk, the smell of incense does battle with the all-too familiar scent of marijuana wafting down the streets.
Best for Heritage
Home to Oude Kerk, Museum Het Rembrandthuis, Joods Historisch Museum
Experience The Zeedijk – the main drag of Chinatown
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t A boat-lined canal leading to Zuiderkerk
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Curving between the IJ and the Amstel like concentric ripples in a pond, the Singel, Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht canals define Amsterdam’s central canal ring. Compared with the cramped Nieuwe Zijde, there’s a more spacious feel to this part of the city. Leidseplein – the area’s hub – is packed with open-air cafés, but the square really comes into its own after dark, when music bars and dance clubs attract throngs of visitors and a sprinkling of locals. In summer, the party scene spills out onto the water-side streets, giving the area a fizzing atmosphere.
Best for Canal trips and scenic strolls
Home to Anne Frank House
Experience A ride along the area’s picturesque canals aboard a pedal-driven “canal bike”
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t Art-Deco interior of Café Americain
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For lovers of high culture, the Museumplein is what Amsterdam is all about. Three world-class museums and one of the world’s great concert halls stand around a calm green space.Visitors flock here to the square to pose by the Iamsterdam sign, admire Old Masters in the Rijksmuseum and modernists in the Stedelijk Museum, but the Van Gogh Museum is the quarter’s true star. Away from the Museumplein, you’ll find elegant streets defined by wealth and taste.
Best for World-class art and classical music
Home to Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Stedelijk Museum
Experience The wealth of art on display in Musemplein, before having a picnic in Vondelpark
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t Cyclists pause in the Rijksmuseum’s bike tunnel
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The Singelgracht and the Amstel canals define this district, while Vijzelstraat and Vijzelgracht cut a straight line through its heart. At the north end of Vijzelstraat is a sight much loved by visitors - the Bloemenmarkt, with its floating flower vendors. South of the Singel – in the De Pijp area – the landscape changes. Striking modern architecture replaces the graceful Golden Age canal house façades. This is Amsterdam’s most multicultural neighbourhood and Albert Cuypmarkt sits at its core, where the air is clouded with enticing scents and vendors call to passersby.
Best for Off-beat museums and multicultural street food
Home to Museum Willet-Holthuysen
Experience The delicious variety of street food on offer along Albert Cuypmarkt for a taste of the multicultural heritage of the Netherlands
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t Flowers hanging in the Bloemenmarkt
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Gentrification has taken over much of the once-raffish Jordaan. Old-style taverns are now almost outnumbered by chic boutiques and galleries. As a result, bohemian-minded artists, artisans, performers and other creative types now favour the streets around Westerpark. Despite the chiming of Westerkerk’s bells, the atmosphere here is more hedonistic than holy, with dozens of bars, cafés, galleries and eateries satisfying every desire of a hip clientele.
Best for Quirky shops and galleries
Home to Historic hofjes and bruin cafés (“brown cafés”)
Experience An art exhibition, funky dance perfomance or food festival at the vibrant Westergasfabriek cultural complex
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t A red-shuttered building on Prinseneiland, the Western Islands
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East of the Amstel, this immaculately planned peninsula of tree-lined avenues and gracious 19th-century buildings contrasts with the cramped streets of Oude Zijde, which is only a block or two away. At its centre are the green spaces of Artis – the city’s zoo – and Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam, which kids will love exploring. On the gentrified Entrepotdok waterfront, centuries-old warehouses have been turned into upscale apartments. Where the waters of the Nieuwevaart and the Oosterdok meet, a flotilla of historic ships lies at anchor.
Best for A family day out
Home to Het Scheepvaartmuseum, Tropenmuseum
Experience A concert at the innovative Muziekgebouw aan ’t IJ concert hall
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t The verdamt Oosterpark, with its tranquil lake
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This edgy neighbourhood is a five-minute ferry ride across the IJ from the city centre. Noord is a rejuvenated dockland with a youthful, post-industrial vibe. Former factories and warehouses have been transformed into performance venues, ateliers and galleries, and eateries and boutique hotels. Street art enlivens once-derelict buildings, flea markets take over formerly sleepy streets and locals lounge on deckchairs on a man-made beach. The 100-m-high A’DAM Toren, with its trendy clubs and revolving restaurant, is the district’s emblematic landmark of transformation.
Best for Edgy culture and nightlife
Home to A’DAM Toren
Experience New horizons on the highest swing in Europe at A’DAM Toren
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t The graphic exterior of EYE