Neighborhoods Worth a Visit

The Dam

In English, the city's monumental main square is generally referred to as "Dam Square." Amsterdammers call it just de Dam (the Dam) -- some even find it amusing to direct hapless foreigners to "the Dam Square": by taking "this damn street and then crossing over at that damn canal." You'll look in vain for any sign of a dam on the Dam, but this is the likely site of the original dam built around 1200 on the Amstel River, which allowed Amsterdam to begin the growth trajectory that took it from backwater village to world-class watering hole.

Dedicated in 1956 to honor the World War II dead, the Nationaal Monument, a 22m (72-ft.) obelisk on the square's east side, is embedded with three sculptures: War, symbolized by four male figures; Peace, represented by a woman and child; and Resistance, signified by two men with howling dogs, all flanked by two stone lions symbolizing the Netherlands. In the base are 12 urns, containing soil from the 11 Dutch provinces (before the 12th, Flevoland, was established), and the former Dutch East Indies (Indonesia). A memorial ceremony happens here every May 4, when the queen places a wreath on the spot. For the rest of the year, it's a hangout for teens.

The Jordaan

Few traditional sights clutter the old Jordaan district that lies just west of the Canal Belt's northern reaches -- though 800 of its buildings are protected monuments. But the area does provide an authentic taste of Old Amsterdam. The neighborhood of tightly packed houses and narrow streets and canals was built in the 17th century for craftsmen, tradesmen, and artists. Its name may have come from the French jardin (garden), from Protestant French Huguenot refugees who settled here in the late 17th century. Indeed, many streets and canals are named for flowers, trees, and plants. Some of today's streets used to be canals until they were filled in during the 19th century (there's been talk of reversing that and bringing some of the lost canals back).

The neighborhood's modest nature persists even though renewal and gentrification has brought in an influx of offbeat boutiques, quirky stores, cutting-edge art galleries, and trendy restaurants.

The Red Light District

The warren of streets and old canals of the Rosse Buurt (Red Light District), around Oudezijds Achterburgwal and Oudezijds Voorburgwal -- also known as De Wallen (the Walls) or De Walletjes (the Little Walls) -- is on most people's sightseeing agenda for its open attitude to the world's oldest profession. This is one of the few traditional Amsterdam "industries" still practiced in its original setting, and the first guide to the district's peculiar attractions dates from the 17th century.

However, a visit to this area is not for everyone. If you're liable to be offended by the sex trade exposed in all its garish colors, don't go. If you do choose to go, exercise caution; the area is a center of crime, vice, and drugs. As always in Amsterdam, there's no need to exaggerate the risks. Plenty of tourists visit the Rosse Buurt and suffer nothing more serious than a come-on from one of the prostitutes. Stick to busy streets and be leery of pickpockets at all times. There can be a sinister air to the weird-looking men who gather on the canal bridges; there's a sadder aura around the "heroin whores" who wander the dark streets. Finally, do not take photographs of the women in the windows, many of whom don't want Mom and Dad to know how they earn a living. Large, observant men are on the lookout, and they won't hesitate to throw your camera (and maybe your person) into the canal.

Still, it's extraordinary to view the prostitutes in leather and lace sitting in storefronts listening to their iPods as they knit or adjust their makeup, waiting patiently for customers. The district seems to reflect Dutch pragmatism; if you can't stop prostitution, you can at least confine it to a particular area and impose health, tax, and other regulations on it.

The fact is that underneath its tacky glitter, the Red Light District contains some of Amsterdam's prettiest canals and loveliest old architecture, plus some excellent bars and restaurants, secondhand bookstores, and other specialty stores (not all of which aim at erogenous zones). To get there, take tram no. 4, 9, 14, 16, 24, or 25 to the Dam, then pass behind the Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky.

Whipped Into Shape -- Back in the 17th century, the City Fathers were disposed to be strict with "fallen women" -- when they weren't availing themselves of their services. Some were sent to the Spinhuis, a females-only corrections house on Spinhuissteeg, off Oudezijds Achterburgwal, just beyond the Red Light District's southern edge. Here they were returned to the straight and narrow path by a strict regimen of spinning cloth. A relief above the entrance shows women being whipped, accompanied by an inscription in lip-smacking prose: Schrik niet ik wreek geen quaat maar dwing tot goet. Straf is mijn hand maar lieflyk myn gemoet (Cry not, I avenge no wrong but compel to the good. Stern is my hand but kind is my aim). The building now houses the University of Amsterdam's Faculty of Politics and Social and Cultural Studies.

The Jewish Quarter

For more than 350 years, Amsterdam was a center of Jewish life -- you might still hear locals calling the city "Mokum," from the Hebrew word makom, meaning "sacred place" -- and its Jewish community was a major contributor to the city's vitality and prosperity. The Jodenbuurt (Jewish Quarter) was centered on Waterlooplein and neighboring streets such as Jodenbreestraat (Broad Street of the Jews). In this area, they built their synagogues and held their market. Of the five synagogues built in the "Jerusalem of the West" during the 17th and 18th centuries, only the Portuguese Synagogue continued to serve as a house of worship after the devastating depletion of the Jewish population during World War II.

The Waterfront

Visitors suffering from a kind of linguistic seizure could be forgiven for wishing Amsterdam's waterfront had been given a different name. What to make of Het IJ? The first word is the neuter form of the word "the," and pronounced more or less as it looks. But IJ? (Yes, that is two upper-case letters.) Idge? Eyedge? Say Aye, as in "Aye aye, skipper," and you'll be close enough. The narrow shipping channel takes its name from a river that used to flow into the Zuider Zee hereabout until, centuries ago, its course was washed away by an expanding sea. Then, last century, the Zuider Zee transformed into a freshwater lake called the IJsselmeer (after the IJssel River that still flows into it farther east).

Amsterdam's biggest redevelopment project is underway in the IJ channel's Eastern Harbor, once a major part of Amsterdam Port. City government touts the project as "a new life on the water." Java-Eiland, KNSM-Eiland, and other artificial islands and peninsulas have been cleared of most of their warehouses and other harbor installations. Modern housing and infrastructure take their place. A visit here is a good way to see how Amsterdam sees its future, away from its Golden Age heart.

A fast tram service (line 26) connects Centraal Station with the old Eastern Harbor's redeveloped districts along Het IJ. Among its stops are ones for the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ and Bimhuis concert halls, the Passenger Terminal Amsterdam cruise-liner dock, and the Eastern Islands' new residential, shopping, and entertainment zones. The service goes out as far as the new IJburg suburb, on an artificial island in the IJsselmeer's southern reaches.

Some of the focus has switched to the Western Harbor, west of Centraal Station.