What's New

Amsterdam is in the throes of equipping itself for a projected population growth that will add some 60,000 people to the city (current population is 740,000) by 2020. The old docks of the IJ waterfront west, east, and north of Centraal Station now serve as a giant redevelopment zone for residential and commercial properties. This is a new kind of Amsterdam -- modern, bright, shiny, often impersonal, and on a gargantuan scale that's not typical of the Dutch. It remains to be seen how this burgeoning development will jive with the city's erstwhile homey, grungy, seedy reputation. In the meantime, touring these areas will give you a good idea of where Amsterdam's headed -- for good or ill.

Getting Around

Some of the ongoing construction binge centers around underground stations and tunnels; a new subway line, the Noord-Zuid (North-South) Metro line, will be complete in 2011. The line will bisect the city from Amsterdam-Noord and slice south through the center city all the way to Station Zuid/WTC (South/World Trade Center). For the first time, Amsterdam will have a Metro net for the center city (the current four lines are mainly of use to commuters). As a result of this development, however, some tram lines are being diverted onto alternate routes around the obstacle course of the new construction.

Centraal Station, a Dutch neo-Renaissance monument that dates from 1889, will be for some years to come a confusing construction site. A new Metro station, to be the hub of the new Noord-Zuid line, is being built at the front. At the same time, crews are working on a new main entrance and generally improved passenger facilities. Additionally, the waterfront zone at the rear is being completely revamped.

In more encouraging news for current tourists, ferry service from the new Waterplein-West dock behind Centraal Station has been extended. Now, four ferry lines, a jetfoil service to the coast and an antique touring ferry all depart from here or nearby.

A new fast-tram line, no. 26, has also entered service. It arrows eastward from Centraal Station to the artificial islands of the new IJburg residential projects just off IJsselmeer. The line, handy for getting to the new waterfront Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ concert hall and its Bimhuis jazz annex, passes by the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam for cruise-ship passengers, the Lloyds Hotel, and other new waterfront facilities.

By the end of 2008 (though rollout begins in 2007), all Netherlands public transportation will use the new OV-chipkaart. This chip-enabled smart card ("OV" is Dutch shorthand for the words that mean "public transportation") is loaded with a pre-selected amount of euros, which get automatically deducted each time you ride. During the current transition period, both the new card and the old tickets will be accepted.

Dining

Local foodies got a shock in 2006 when French-born ace chef Jean-Christophe Royer sold his canal-side, Michelin star restaurant Christophe, Leliegracht 46 (tel. 020/625-0807), where he had been making magic for 20 years, and moved on to new challenges outside Holland. Signs are that the new proprietors (who are retaining the name Christophe) will retain Royer's loyal clientele, but I haven't yet had a chance to visit and say for sure. In the meantime, if you dine here, drop me a line to tell me how it goes.

In other culinary news, British chef Jamie Oliver has brought his unique Fifteen restaurant concept from London to Amsterdam (he plans further openings in New York, Sydney, and other cities). Try his fun-cooking concept at Fifteen Amsterdam, Pakhuis Amsterdam, Jollemanhof 9 (tel. 0900/FIFTEEN or if you prefer, 0900/343-8336), in the old Brazilië building, off Oostelijke Handelskade, in the harbor redevelopment zone east of Centraal Station.

An old favorite has made a welcome return to the IJ waterfront. Pier 10, which in its early days was about the only restaurant in town with a harbor view, was disassembled while construction work ensued on its pier behind Centraal Station. There's still plenty of construction going on, but Pier 10, De Ruyterkade, Steiger 10 (tel. 020/427-2310), has been reassembled and its clans of admirers have been gathering too.

What To See & Do

The city's -- and the nation's -- premier treasure house, the 1885 Rijksmuseum, Jan Luijkenstraat 1B (tel. 020/670-7047), is nearing the end of its 5-year mission to renovate and rebuild for a new era. Important paintings by 17th-century Dutch Masters, among them Rembrandt's emblematic The Night Watch, are in an exhibit called De Meesterwerken (The Masterpieces) in the museum's Philips Wing, which has remained open. An information bureau in the museum gardens affords insight into how the radically spruced-up institution will look when it reopens in 2008.

Since the modern-art Stedelijk Museum CS, Oosterdokskade 5 (tel. 020/573-2911) is undergoing extensive R&R, the institution has temporarily set up shop in the old TPG Post building just east of Centraal Station (that temporary "CS" postfix denotes the change). Though returning to its usual premises (at Paulus Potterstraat 13, just off Museumplein), was originally going to happen in 2006, that date has been kicked back to 2008 and might well slip further.

Both Amsterdam and Russia's St. Petersburg are often described (wrongly, according to some) as the "Venice of the North." Their joint image drew closer in 2004 with the opening of Hermitage Amsterdam, Nieuwe Herengracht 14 (tel. 020/530-8751), a satellite of St. Petersburg's world-famous State Hermitage. Over the next few years, the Dutch operation will fully move into the neo-classical Amstelhof building beside the Amstel River. Until then, rotating exhibits from the Russian mother museum are mounted in the complex's 19th-century Neerlandia Building.

Shopping

The American Book Center has moved to Spui 12 (tel. 020/625-5537).

After Dark

A key element in the brave new world of 21st-century Amsterdam is the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, Piet Heinkade 1 (tel. 020/788-2000). An ocean of glass and steel constructed on uncompromisingly modern lines, this concert hall for modern, jazz, and experimental music opened in 2005 on the IJ waterfront east of Centraal Station. The jazz club Bimhuis, Piet Heinkade 3 (tel. 020/788-2188), occupies a kind of bolted-on annex at the building's rear.

Side Trips

The Hague's Galerij Prins Willem V museum is closed until 2008 because of construction work, but some of its Rembrandts and works by other Dutch Old Masters have been reinstalled in other galleries around town.