Amsterdam 10
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Plan Your Trip 1 ©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd Amsterdam “All you’ve got to do is decide to go and the hardest part is over. So go!” TONY WHEELER, COFOUNDER – LONELY PLANET THIS EDITION WRITTEN AND RESEARCHED BY Catherine Le Nevez Karla Zimmerman Contents PlanPlan Your Your Trip Trip page 1 4 Welcome to If You Like… .................. 20 Canals ........................... 34 Amsterdam .....................4 Month by Month .......... 23 Museums & Galleries .. 39 Amsterdam’s Top 10 ....... 6 With Kids ...................... 26 Eating .........................42 What’s New ...................13 By Bike .......................... 29 Drinking & Need to Know ...............14 .................... Like a Local ...................31 Nightlife 48 First Time ......................16 .......... For Free ........................ 33 Entertainment 56 Top Itineraries ..............18 Shoppping ................. 58 Explore Amsterdam 62 Neighbourhoods Western Canal Ring .....112 De Pijp .......................... 187 at a Glance ������������������ 64 Southern Canal Ring ... 127 Oosterpark & South Amsterdam ... 199 Medieval Centre Jordaan & the West ......147 & Red Light District .......66 Vondelpark Day Trips Nieuwmarkt, Plantage & & the Old South ........... 165 from Amsterdam ����� 208 the Eastern Islands .......92 Sleeping �������������������� 224 Understand Amsterdam 237 Amsterdam Today ......238 Dutch Painting ............. 251 Dutch Design ...............265 History ..........................242 Architecture in Amsterdam ..............257 Survival Guide 269 Transport .....................270 Language ..................... 281 Directory A–Z ..............275 Index .............................289 Amsterdam Maps 298 MARTIN CHILD / GETTY IMAGES © IMAGES GETTY / CHILD MARTIN © IMAGES GETTY / SNIJDERS MERTEN (left) Bloemenmarkt JORG GREUEL / GETTY IMAGES © IMAGES GETTY / GREUEL JORG p129 Wooden and fresh tulips are sold at this flower market. (above) Vondelpark p173 An urban escape. (right) Zuiderkerk p95 Get a great view from Groenburgwal canal. Jordaan & the West p147 Medieval Centre & Red Light District Western p66 Canal Nieuwmarkt, Plantage, Ring & the Eastern Islands p112 p92 Southern Canal Ring p127 Vondelpark & the Old South p165 De Pijp p187 Oosterpark & South Amsterdam p199 ©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd 6 Amsterdam’s Top 10 7 Van Gogh Museum (p170) Brown Cafés (p49) Housing the world’s largest collec- For the quintessential bite of Am- 1 tion by artist Vincent van Gogh, the 2 sterdam, pull up a stool in one of museum is as much a tour through the the city’s famed brown cafés (traditional driven painter’s troubled mind as it is Dutch pubs). The true specimen has been a tour through his body of work. More in business a while and gets its name from than 200 canvases are on display, from centuries’ worth of smoke stains on the his dark, potato-filled early career in the walls. Brown cafés have candle-topped ta- Netherlands through to his later years bles, sandy wooden floors and sometimes in sunny France, where he produced his a house cat that sidles up for a scratch. best-known work with its characteristic Most importantly, brown cafés induce a giddy colour. Paintings by contemporaries cosy vibe that prompts friends to linger Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec, Monet and and chat for hours over drinks – the same Bernard round out the retrospective. enchantment the cafés have cast for 300 1 Vondelpark & the Old South years. BELOW: HOPPE (P81) 6 Drinking & Nightlife ATLANTIDE S.N.C./AGE / ROBERT HARDING © HARDING ROBERT / S.N.C./AGE ATLANTIDE LONELY PLANET / GETTY IMAGES © IMAGES GETTY / PLANET LONELY JOE DANIEL PRICE / GETTY IMAGES © YADID LEVY / ROBERT HARDING © AMSTERDAM’S TOP 10 PLAN YOUR TRIP 8 9 YADID LEVY / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO © PHOTO STOCK ALAMY / LEVY YADID PLAN YOUR TRIP AMSTERDAM’S TOP 10 Rijksmuseum (p167) Jordaan (p147) Vondelpark (p173) The Netherlands’ If Amsterdam’s neigh- On a sunny day it 3 top treasure house 4 bourhoods held a 5 seems the whole city does not disappoint. The ‘best personality’ contest, converges on this sprawl- crowds huddle around the Jordaan (once the ing equivalent of New Rembrandt’s humongous workers quarter) would York City’s Central Park. Night Watch and Vermeer’s win. Its intimacy is con- Couples kiss on the grass, Kitchen Maid in the Gallery tagious, with modest old friends cradle beers at the of Honour, but that just homes, offbeat galleries outdoor cafes, while others means the remaining 1.5km and vintage shops pep- trade songs on beat-up of rooms are free for brows- pering a grid of tiny lanes. guitars. Street perform- ing antique ship models, This is the place for jovial ers work the crowds and savage-looking swords, bar singalongs and beery kids rush the playgrounds. crystal goblets and magic brown cafés, the neigh- It’s all very democratic, lanterns. You could spend bourhood where you could and sublime for people days gaping at the beauti- spend a week wandering watching. The English-style ful and curious collections the narrow streets and still layout offers an abundance tucked into the nooks and not discover all the hidden of ponds, lawns, thickets crannies. What’s more, free courtyards and tucked- and winding footpaths that sculpture-studded gardens away eateries. By now you encourage visitors to get surround the monumental know the Dutch propensity out and explore the free- building. for gezelligheid (convivial- wheeling scene. 1 Vondelpark & the Old ity); the Jordaan is a font 1 Vondelpark & the Old South of it. South 1 Jordaan & the West 10 Outdoor Markets (p59) King’s Day (p23) Amsterdam is market-mad, and its For decades it was Queen’s Day, but 6 streets hold spreads from silks and 7 there’s a new monarch in the house. coins to organic cheeses and bike locks. So now it’s King’s Day (Koningsdag), cel- The Albert Cuypmarkt is king of the lot. ebrated on King Willem-Alexander’s birth- PLAN YOUR TRIP Here Surinamese and Indonesian immi- day of April 27 (unless it falls on a Sunday, grants mix with locals at stalls hawking in which case it’s celebrated the day rice cookers, spices and Dutch snacks, before). Whatever the name, whatever the such as sweet stroopwafels (syrup-filled date, it’s really just an excuse for a gigantic waffles). Flowers fill the Bloemenmarkt, drinking fest and for everyone to wear while porcelain teapots and other bric-a- ridiculous orange outfits, the country’s brac tempt at Waterlooplein Flea Market. national colour. There’s also a free market The Oudemanhuis Book Market has been citywide (where anyone can sell anything) AMSTERDAM’S TOP 10 selling tomes for a few centuries. Then and rollicking free concerts. there’s the antiques market, farmers mar- z Month by Month ket, art market… BELOW: BLOEMENMARKT (P129) 7 Shopping MASSIMO BORCHI / CORBIS © CORBIS / BORCHI MASSIMO 11 COLLPICTO / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO © PHOTO STOCK ALAMY / COLLPICTO PLAN YOUR TRIP AMSTERDAM’S TOP 10 ALEKSANDAR VRZALSKI / GETTY IMAGES © IMAGES GETTY / VRZALSKI ALEKSANDAR Canal Trips (p34) Amsterdam has more 8 canals than Venice and getting on the water is one of the best ways to feel the pulse of the city. You could catch the vibe by sitting canal-side and watching boats glide by: myriad cafés seem purpose- built for this sport. Or you could stroll alongside the canals and check out some of the city’s 2500 houseboats. Better yet, hop on a tour boat and cruise the curved passages. From this angle, you’ll understand why Unesco named the city’s waterways a World Heritage Site. 2 Canals 12 Anne Frank Huis (p114) © IMAGES GETTY / DENNISVDW Seeing Anne Frank’s melancholy bed- 9 room and her actual diary, sitting alone in its glass case, is a powerful experience that draws a million visitors annually. Step PLAN YOUR TRIP behind the bookcase that swings open to reveal the ‘Secret Annexe’ and go up the steep stairs into the living quarters. It was in this dark and airless space that the Franks observed complete silence during the day, outgrew their clothes, pasted photos of Hol- lywood stars on the walls and read Dickens, before being mysteriously betrayed. AMSTERDAM’S TOP 10 1 Western Canal Ring PAULO AMORIM / GETTY IMAGES © IMAGES GETTY / AMORIM PAULO Cycling (p29) There are more bicycles in Amsterdam than cars. Everyone rides: young, old, 10 club-goers in high heels, cops on duty, bankers in suits with ties flapping in the breeze. Pedal power is what moves the masses to work, to shop and to socialise at the cafés. Renting a bike not only puts you shoulder to shoulder with locals, it gives you easy access to the city’s outer neighbourhoods and their cool architecture and museums, as well as the windmill-dotted countryside and its time-warped villages. 2 By Bike ©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd AOur beat-up Story old car, a few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure. In 1972 that’s all Tony and Maureen Wheeler needed for the trip of a lifetime – across Europe and Asia overland to Australia. It took several months, and at the end – broke but inspired – they sat at their kitchen table writing and stapling together their first travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. Within a week they’d sold 1500 copies. Lonely Planet was born. Today, Lonely Planet has offices in Franklin, London, Melbourne, Oakland, Beijing and Delhi, with more than 600 staff and writers. We share Tony’s belief that ‘a great guidebook should do three things: inform, educate and amuse’. Our Writers Catherine Le Nevez Nieuwmarkt, Plantage & the Eastern Islands; Southern Canal Ring; Vondelpark & the Old South; De Pijp; Day Trips from Amsterdam Catherine’s wanderlust kicked in when she first roadtripped across Europe, including Amsterdam, aged four, and she’s been returning to this spirited, gezellig city ever since, completing her Doctorate of Creative Arts in Writing, Masters in Professional Writing, and post-grad qualifications in Editing and Publishing along the way. A freelance writer for many years, Catherine has written scores of Lonely Planet guides and articles over the last decade or so, covering Amsterdam, the Nether- lands and destinations all over Europe and beyond.