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🇳🇱 City · Netherlands
Amsterdam: City of a Thousand Canals
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Amsterdam revolves around its 17th-century ring of canals, a UNESCO World Heritage site lined with narrow gabled houses and houseboats. The medieval centre leads to the red-light district and Dam Square. To the south, Museumplein gathers the major museums, while the Jordaan charms visitors with bohemian lanes, galleries and brown cafés. The livelier De Pijp holds the Albert Cuyp market and a multicultural food scene. To the east, the redeveloped former docks and Amsterdam-Noord, reached by free ferry, concentrate contemporary creativity. The city is best explored by bike: more than 800,000 bicycles circulate here. Expect a tolerant, flat and easygoing atmosphere, dotted with waterside terraces.
James Bond crosses the Magere Brug (Skinny Bridge) over the Amstel in “Diamonds Are Forever” (1971).
Canal houses are so narrow because tax was levied on facade width: the slimmer the house, the less you paid.
Behind an unmarked wooden door on the Spui hides the Begijnhof, a medieval garden courtyard from 1346.
The best time runs from April to May, when tulips bloom, and from September to October, which is quieter. Summer is busy with tourists, winter is grey but enlivened by the festival of lights. The dense, punctual GVB tram network complements the bicycle, king of local travel. Tip: rent a bike but stick to the cycle lanes and never park in front of a houseboat exit. As for networks, 4G and 5G mobile coverage is excellent across the city and free wifi is widely available in cafés, museums and transport.