City Layout

Amsterdammers will tell you it's easy to find your way around their city. However, when each resident offers you a different pet theory of how best to maintain your sense of direction, you begin to sense that the city's layout can be confusing. Some of the natives' theories actually do work. If you try to "think in circles," "follow the canals," or "watch the way the trams go," you might be able to spend fewer minutes consulting a map or trying to figure out where you are and which way to walk to find the Rijksmuseum, a restaurant, or your hotel.

When you step out of Centraal Station's main entrance, you're facing south toward the Center. From here, the city is laid out around you along four concentric semicircles of canals: Singel, Herengracht, Keizersgracht, and Prinsengracht. Along these canals, 16th- and 17th-century merchants lived in elegant homes, most of which are still standing. The largest and most stately canal houses are along Herengracht. Connecting these canals are many smaller canals and streets radiating out from the Center, and effectively dividing the city into an archipelago of tiny islands linked by bridges. The area inside the Singelgracht canal, a fifth concentric waterway forming an outer rim to the canal zone, is called the Old City -- and it's so compact that a fit person should be able to walk across it in around 30 minutes.

A heavily touristed street, Damrak, leads from Centraal Station to the main central square called the Dam. In the 17th century, Damrak was a canal, its quays filled with small cargo boats and lined with mapmaker stores and ships' chandlers, coopers, and ropemakers. Narrow side streets like Haringpakkerssteeg and Zoutsteeg recall the herring packers of yore (haring means "herring") and where ships used to unload salt (zout means "salt"). In the late 19th century, Damrak got lined with fancy stores and filled with elegant shoppers. Today, it's a brash thoroughfare with souvenir stores and noisy cafes. Houses on the bank stand in water, Venice-style.

To the left of the Dam, where the original Amstel River dam was, and where the Royal Palace is now, is also the famous Red Light District, where government-licensed prostitutes sit behind windows, waiting for customers. A block to the right of Damrak is Nieuwendijk (it becomes Kalverstraat when it crosses the Dam), a pedestrians-only shopping street. Follow Kalverstraat to the end, and you're at Muntplein beside the old Mint Tower. Cross over Muntplein and continue in the same direction to reach Rembrandtplein, one of the city's main nightlife areas.

The other main nightlife district is Leidseplein, on the outer concentric canal, Singelgracht (not to be confused with Singel, the inner concentric canal). Leidseplein is at the end of Leidsestraat, a car-free (but tram-full) shopping street leading from Singel to Singelgracht.

The wide green Museumplein, site of the city's three most famous museums -- Rijksmuseum, van Gogh, and Stedelijk -- is a 5-minute walk along Singelgracht from Leidseplein (note that much of the Rijksmuseum is closed until 2008 for refurbishment, and the Stedelijk is temporarily housed in the old TPG Post building near Centraal Station).

One other area worth mentioning is the Jordaan (pronounced yor-daan), an old neighborhood filled with inexpensive restaurants, offbeat stores, and small galleries. The Jordaan lies between Brouwersgracht, Prinsengracht, Looiersgracht, and Lijnbaansgracht. To get there, turn right off Damrak at any point between Centraal Station and the Dam, then cross Prinsengracht.

The Principal Squares

There are six major squares in central Amsterdam that will be the hubs of your visit:

The Dam is the city's heart and the site of the original dam across the Amstel River that gave the city its name. Encircling the square are the Royal Palace, the Nieuwe Kerk, and several department stores, hotels, and restaurants. On the square is the National Monument of World War II.

Leidseplein (Leiden Square) and the streets around it form Amsterdam's equivalent of Times Square, which glitters with restaurants, nightclubs, music venues, a casino, and movie theaters. It's a fun scene even if hustle and bustle reigns over style.

Rembrandtplein is another entertainment scene, and bustles with eateries.

Museumplein is the main cultural center, with the Rijksmuseum, Concertgebouw, van Gogh Museum, and Stedelijk Museum in close proximity.

Waterlooplein, another cultural focal point, is home to the Muziektheater and a superb flea market.

Muntplein is a busy transportation hub, easily recognizable for its circa-1620 crown-topped Munttoren (Mint Tower), one of the city's original fortress towers.

Street Maps

This guide's maps depict Amsterdam's basic waterway patterns and the relationships between the major squares and landmarks with their connecting thoroughfares. Once you get the hang of the four major canals' necklace pattern and become familiar with the names of the five principal roads into the Center, all you need do as you walk along is keep track of whether you're walking toward or away from the Dam -- the heart of the city -- or simply circling around it.

Buying a street map will make detailed navigation easier. The most cost-effective map is Amsterdam Tourism & Congress Bureau's Amsterdam City Map, available from VVV Amsterdam offices for 2€ ($2.50). It shows every street and canal, museums and churches, and tram routes and stops, extending as far as the ring road. For even more meticulous coverage of the city (and its suburbs), buy Falk Amsterdam City Map for 7.95€ ($9.95).

Finding an Address -- Wherever possible in this book, addresses include the name of a nearby square, major thoroughfare, adjacent canal, or well-known sight. Street numbers along the canals ascend from west to east (left to right as you look at the map); on streets leading away from Centraal Station and out from the Center, they ascend from north to south (top to bottom).

Now, all you need to know is that, in Dutch, -straat means "street," -gracht means "canal," -plein means "square," -markt means "market," -dijk means "dike," and -laan means "avenue." These suffixes are attached directly to a place name: for example, Princes' Canal becomes Prinsengracht.