1. What to do
**The canals.** The canal belt, with the Singel, Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht, was laid out in the seventeenth century and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Walk along the canals, look at the narrow gables and the houseboats, and take a canal cruise to see the city from the water. Cruises leave from several points in the centre. The Nine Streets, small shopping streets between the canals, are good for independent shops and cafés. The Begijnhof, a quiet courtyard of old houses near the Spui, should be entered quietly: people live there.
**Museumplein.** On and around Museumplein stand three big museums together: the Rijksmuseum, the national museum of Dutch art and history, with Rembrandt's Night Watch and Vermeer's Milkmaid among its works; the Van Gogh Museum, with the world's largest Van Gogh collection, including the Sunflowers and the Bedroom; and the Stedelijk Museum for modern and contemporary art. Next to the museums stands the Concertgebouw. Vondelpark lies within walking distance of Museumplein: the big city park, with ponds, walking paths and open-air performances in summer.
**Jordaan and the Anne Frank House.** The Jordaan, west of the canal belt, is a district of narrow streets, courtyards, small galleries and cafés. On the Prinsengracht stands the Anne Frank House, the house where Anne Frank hid with her family and wrote her diary. The Westerkerk, with its tower, stands nearby on the same canal. In the Jordaan, the Noordermarkt on Saturdays sells organic food and second-hand goods.
**De Pijp and the Albert Cuyp Market.** South of the centre lies De Pijp, a busy, mixed district around the Albert Cuyp Market, the city's best-known street market. At the market you find fresh produce, stroopwafels, fish, clothing and food from many different kitchens. The streets around it are full of cafés and places to eat, from Surinamese roti to Dutch herring.
**Dam and the old centre.** Dam Square is the city's central square, with the Royal Palace and the Nieuwe Kerk. From Dam Square you walk to Nieuwmarkt and De Wallen, the oldest part of the city, with narrow alleys, the Oude Kerk and the Waag on Nieuwmarkt. The Bloemenmarkt, the floating flower market on the Singel, sells tulip bulbs and flowers from boats.
**Amsterdam-Noord.** From the back of Centraal Station, take the free ferry across the IJ. At Buiksloterweg (F3) you get off for the EYE Filmmuseum, the national film museum in a striking white building on the IJ, and the A'DAM Tower next to it, with a viewing platform at the top. The ferry to NDSM (F4) brings you to the former shipyard, now a site with studios, street art, the STRAAT Museum for street art and places on the water. Noord is a district in its own right, not an extension of the centre: choose beforehand which ferry you take, because Buiksloterweg and NDSM lie far apart.