Must-dos in Amsterdam
What’s the best way to see Amsterdam’s canals? By heading straight for a lively, fun neighborhood known as the Canal Ring. This area is anchored by three of the city’s major canals: the Prinsengracht, Keizersgracht, and Herengracht. The canals run parallel to each other in a horseshoe shape and are only one city block apart. You can spend many happy hours walking, or biking, alongside the canals, as well as on the streets and plazas that intersect with them.
Visit the canals in this order:
#1. Prinsengracht. This is the most scenic of all the canals: full of life, charm, and happiness. The Anne Frank House is located on the Prinsengracht, the Nine Streets shopping and dining area is adjacent to it, and the lovely Jordaan neighborhood surrounds part of it. In Jordaan, you will see children heading for school on the backs, or on the handlebars of their parents’ bicycles. Cycling is a way of life here and, astonishingly to us New Yorkers, almost no one wears a helmet. We even witnessed young children standing up on the backs of their parents’ bikes, holding on to the adults’ shoulders as they whizzed by. Do not try this at home, but perhaps this lack of worry about injury added to the carefree sense of life we felt everywhere we went in Amsterdam.
As business hours approach, the street bordering the canal fills with workers cycling on their way to the office. Men in casual business attire; women in skirts, heels, and dresses. Without exception, they cycle with speed and purpose. Be very careful to stay out of the street and to walk on the sidewalk. (Sometimes easier said than done, because the sidewalks along the canals are quite narrow and sometimes parked bikes will block your path.)
By 11 am, small canal tour boats begin to fill the canal. By evening, the canal is full of open-air cruise boats, ranging from historical, informative ones, to more informal, party boats where wine and liquor flow freely. In addition to these commercial tour boats, you will see plenty of privately owned boats carrying friends or families enjoying the canal, often having an al fresco dinner of bread, cheese, and sausages. In the summer, it does not get dark until 10:30 and the boat traffic on the canal is non-stop from late afternoon until dark.
Tip: Many hotels offer either free bicycles, or bicycle rentals. We loved biking the entire length of the Prinsengracht, as well as in the upper Jordaan neighborhood located on the canal’s north-western edge. This neighborhood is bordered by the Egelantiersgracht Canal on the south and the Brouwersgracht Canal on the north. You will find lovely, quiet, residential streets and charming outdoor cafes in the area.
#2. Keizersgracht. Walk, or bike, this all the way south and east to the Amstel River. Turn right for one block and cross over the “Skinny Bridge” for a lovely view of the Amstel and its river traffic.
Of interest: Building of the Skinny Bridge was financed by one person so that two sisters who lived on opposite sides of the river could visit each other more easily.
#3. Herengracht. The word “Herengracht” means “Great Men.” In the early days of Amsterdam, the closer you lived to what was then the center of the city (now called “Old City”), the wealthier you were. Herengracht is the canal closest to Old City. Many tour books send you to see the “Golden Bend” on the Herengracht because this is where the stateliest houses were built during Netherlands’ Golden Age in the 1600s. The Golden Bend lies on the Herengracht (and also the Keizersgracht) east of Nieuwe Spiegelstraat and west of the Amstel River.
Certainly check out these homes if you are into architecture and its history, but if you are looking for beauty, note that you will mostly be seeing stately stone houses (many of which are now owned by corporations) in, what we think, is the least charming section of the canals. If it’s local atmosphere you are looking for, you will be disappointed, but if you are interested in a visit to the past, here you can visit two former mansions that are now museums – Museum Van Loon and Willet-Holthuysen Museum.
Of interest: The wider the house, the wealthier the owner since taxes were levied according to how much canal-front space a house took up. Also, the higher the stairs, the wealthier the owner. On the Golden Bend, many homes are built on two plots of land, so they are wide and their stairs are quite high. Definitely the big-bucks section of town.
We recommend:
* Amsterdam Museum. Visiting here at the beginning of your trip will give you a sense of how (and why) the city developed and will help you better appreciate what you will see as you explore.
* Museum of Canals. Once you explore the canals, and possibly fall in love with them the way we did, you may want to know more about them. It is fascinating to realize that much of Amsterdam was artificially created by draining swampland, putting in the main canals in concentric arcs, and filing in the spaces in between the canals to make the narrow roads and sidewalks that exist today. This ability to extend the boundaries of the Old Town (in the 1600s!) was such a feat of engineering that the canals are now a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Of interest: You will see quite a few lopsided buildings in Amsterdam. Because of the swampland the houses were built on, they sank and sagged. Their foundations have been reinforced with concrete, so they are now structurally stable but will continue to forever lean.
We loved
* Anne Frank House. Walking through the rooms where the charming and spirited Anne Frank hid from the Nazis is very moving. The audio guide that leads you on a self-guided tour of the house is very well done. You will be able to pause and start it at your own pace.
Note: You must buy tickets online in advance.
* Rembrandt House. This is where the painter lived, painted, and also sold the works of other artists during his wealthy years. Sadly, he died impoverished and all of his belongings were sold to help pay his debts. But the interior of the house has been refurbished to resemble the house as it was in Rembrandt’s day.
* The Nine Streets. This area is comprised of three streets, each of which is divided into three blocks by the three city’s main canals. 3 streets x 3 blocks = 9 Streets, ergo the name of the area. Every block is full of interesting shops, restaurants, cafes, and people.
Tip: Keep walking east on the most south-eastern block of the Nine Streets (Wijde Heistg) until you reach a street called Spuistraat. At Spuistraat 330,, you will find Dutch Delicacy. It is a lovely cheese shop that offers free samples of every cheese it sells. In the back is a nice café area where you can sit and order plates of cheeses and meat. If you prefer the sandwiches they sell up front, they will also heat those up and bring them to you in the café. A great place to stock up on cheese and Dutch chocolate to bring home as gifts.
We would skip
* The Hop-on Hop-off red bus tour. Buses are too big to enter the most interesting parts of the city. This “tour” was nothing more than a shuttle dropping you close to some attractions and quite a hike away from others. Their audio guide was not at all informative. It gave almost no history and consisted mostly of “This stop is…” and then music playing to fill the void between the next announcement of “This stop is...” If you want a tour, do it by boat.
Tip: Amsterdam is a very small city and all of its attractions are an easy bike-ride apart. We found getting around by bicycle, or walking, much faster and easier than taking an Uber. The streets in the atmospheric part of Amsterdam are very narrow. If a car stops, or is making a delivery, traffic comes to a complete halt for a long time.
Boat tour
We took the Leemstar. Definitely not the tour for history buffs. In fact, we wish our guide (who is also the owner) had shared (and known) more about Amsterdam’s history and architecture. But if you want to know more about what it’s like to live in Amsterdam – especially on a houseboat, or as a boat tour operator, this is the tour for you. The boat owner does most of the tours himself and tells you all about the politics involved with getting a license as a tour boat operator, as well as what people needed to go through to be allowed to anchor their houseboats in the canals. He will point out the houseboats that are now Airbnbs, as well as his daughter’s school, and his home.
Of interest: When the Canal Ring was designed, and houses built alongside it, it was stipulated that home owners could only build on half of their narrow plots. For that reason, a garden lies behind each home and the 17th-century rules still apply.
We stayed at: Andaz. Owned by Hyatt, this is a stylish hotel directly on the Prinsengracht, the most charming of the city’s three main canals. The hotel is just half a block south of the Nine Streets, the area with the most atmospheric shopping, cafes, and restaurants, and an easy walk to the Anne Frank House, the flower market, and the Amsterdam Museum.
Our Room #: 115. It looked out on the canal. It was great being on a low floor and seeing the canal and bicycle traffic close up.
Drawback: The sink is in the room and not in the bathroom. Entrance to the shower is also in the room and not in the bathroom. We did not mind this, but some people might. Plumbing also seemed to be an issue. Several times, our toilet starting running for no reason. When the engineer came to fix it, he said this happens a lot.
Hotel offered:
* One of the best locations in Amsterdam.
* Knowledgeable, friendly, and efficient front-desk staff. Our bags were whisked literally from under our feet and brought up to our room before we even finished checking in.
* Free:
+ Coffee 24 hours a day from a Nespresso machine in the lobby and also in the library.
+ Cookies in the lobby 24 hours a day.
+ Bottled water and orange juice you help yourself to in the refrigerated drawers to the right of the coffee machine in the lobby.
+ Croissants and green apples in the morning in the library.
+ Snacks and drinks in the room mini bar. (Everything except the alcohol was free and replenished daily.)
+ Bicycles on a first-come, first-service basis. You can rent bicycle from them if the free ones are all gone. The free ones look charming, but they handle like clunkers. They are hard to pedal and have baskets that continue facing forward even when you turn the handle bars. This was pretty disorienting at first. The second time we went to get bikes, the free ones were all checked out and we needed to pay for rentals. These bicycles were much better in quality and handling, and had gears, which the free ones did not.
The view from outside Mr. Porter’s steakhouse in the W hotel.
Best meal: Mr. Porter. A steakhouse on the 6th floor of the W Hotel with amazing views of the city, an outdoor terrace, and fantastic food. Our concierge sent us here and when we arrived and realized it was inside the W, we considered leaving because we were hoping for a more authentic Dutch experience. Also, we have been underwhelmed at other W restaurants in places like South Beach and Manhattan. But it was late, and we stayed, and are so glad we did. The view was fantastic. Our steaks were delicious and perfectly grilled. The stacked tomato salad was so flavorful that we ordered a second order of flatbread to lap up every bit of the delicious dressing. It was like nothing I’ve ever tasted, with hints of mint and citrus and I couldn’t even tell you what else. Also recommended: The taboon grilled vegetables with tahini.
Fun fact: Taboon is the name of the type of oven they use to grill much of the food.
Best supermarket: the wonderful Albert Heijn supermarket chain. These stores have great breads, cheeses, sliced meats, and fruit, as well as fun selections of spices and condiments to bring home. There are many locations. If you are staying at the Andaz, the closest is just a short, lovely walk away on Oude-Looiersstraat.
Best sources of information:
* Fodor’s 25 Best Amsterdam book. Great maps, photos and concise writeups on the city’s main sights. We carried it with us everywhere we went.
* Run by the marketing organization for the city’s metropolitan area, I Amsterdam is an excellent source for information on the city’s history and the development of the Canal Ring, as well as for events that may be happening during the time you are visiting.
Text and photos by Irene Daria.