Great parties and culture amid the canals
A city with a sense of historical continuity, apparent in the grand canal-houses, and the imposing churches and street scenes, Amsterdam seems to have barely changed since its depiction in paintings created 400 years ago. An illustrious past is on show from Golden Age art in the Rijksmuseum to Dutch East India Company warehouses around the docks. But Amsterdam also definitely has an eye for the contemporary. Dutch design is arguably the best in the world: think of product designer Tord Boontje, design collective Droog Design and fashion twosome Viktor & Rolf.
Extended description The Old Centre is bounded by a girdle of canals, and split into an Old Side and a New Side. That time here is relative is indicated by the fact that the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church; Dam, +31 20 626 8168, www.nieuwekerk.nl) dates from 1408. In this area members of the oldest profession are on display cheek-by-jowl with the Oude Kerk (Old Church, dating from 1250; Oudekerksplein 23, +31 20 625 8284, www.oudekerk.nl) in the Red Light District.
Between the old and new lies Dam Square, where the River Amstel was first dammed in 1270, and the old City Hall, which was later squatted by various visiting and imposed monarchs, and so became the Koninklijk Paleis (Royal Palace,
+31 620 4060, www.koninklijkhuis.nl).
Further south, on Singel, the Bloemenmarkt is the city’s famous floating flower market.
To the east, the Jodenbuurt area draws visitors to the buzzy Waterlooplein flea market and the Rembrandthuis Museum (Jodenbreestraat 4, +31 520 0400, www.rembrandthuis.nl).
The four major canals and their radial streets are what some might call the ‘real’ Amsterdam with their magical architectureabundant scenic coffee-sipping destinations , unique shopping and aimless walking. Prinsengracht, the outermost canal in the ring, has the Anne Frankhuis (No.267, +31 20 556 7100, www.annefrank.nl), and the Westerkerk, whose tower offers fine views over the city (No.281, +31 20 624 7766, www.westerkerk.nl).
Undergoing renovation until 2008, are a scaled-down Rijksmuseum, currently housed in the Philips Wing (Jan Luijkenstraat 1, +31 20 674 7000, www.rijksmuseum.nl) and the Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art (temporarily at Oosterdokskade 5, +31 20 674 7000, www.stedelijk.nl). The self-explanatory Van Gogh Museum (Paulus Potterstraat 7, +31 20 570 5200, www.vangoghmuseum.nl) is still fully functioning.
Two residential areas with a great café culture and bar scene are the Pijp, a gentrified quarter Southwest of Museumplein and the Jordaan, West of the canals,. Hugging the water eastward from Centraal Station is the up-and-coming Eastern Docklands, Amsterdam’s latest essential cultural quarter.
Local history
During the first six decades of the 17th century Amsterdam was the richest city in the world and the money that poured into the muddy port on the Amstel was used to build the image-defining girdle of canals. European sea battles ensued with mostly Dutch losses. It was German-occupied between 1940-5.
Local politics
Despite the murder of film-maker and columnist Theo Van Gogh, blamed on some Islamaphobia content in his work, and the wave of xenophobia and attacks on Moslems which followed, The defiant Amsterdamers maintain that they have been welcoming immigrants for centuries and will do for centuries to come – it’s what has made their city so gloriously multicultural.
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