Explore Amsterdam Highlights: Private Half-Day Walking Tour

The Venice of the North Amsterdam is a land of canals and bridges - respectively, over 100km and 1,500 of them.  Amsterdam’s canal system was first built in the 17th century to a careful plan: the Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht were laid out in concentric semicircles, with the Singelgracht forming the outermost defensive canal. The canals, strung with radial bridges, offered a form of transport and water management for the city’s rapidly expanding residential neighbourhoods. In 2010, the canal belt was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are no fewer than 1,550 monumental canalside buildings in the city - so a cruise offers plenty of sightseeing. Princes, Lords and Emperors Prinsengracht, the longest of the canals, is full of legacies of the Golden Age - the opulent period in which Amsterdam was the world’s wealthiest city. Noordekerk (Northern Church), Noordemarket (Northern Market), Westerkerk (Western Church) and also the Anne Frank House can all be seen from here. Keizersgracht’s Homomonument commemorates the victims of homophobic persecution. Herengracht’s fashionable Golden Bend is teeming with grand mansions. The canal and street of Zwanenburgwal, in Amsterdam’s centre, is one of the city’s most gorgeous, and adjoins the lovely market of Waterlooplein: Rembrandt lived here, as did the philosopher Spinoza. Another stunning spot is Brouwersgracht, which boasts lavish apartments converted from warehouses which used to store imported spices and silks from Asia. Built-in 1995 in Amsterdam’s northeast, on the manmade Java Island, Brantasgracht, Lamonggracht, Majanggracht and Seranggracht are the city’s newest canals. 19 young architects designed modern reinterpretations of classic canalside houses. Each design is unique, and the canals also feature decorative metal bridges. Java Island is a bit out of the way, but well worth a visit: the Venice of the North is alive and well.

Oldest in townAmsterdam’s Oude Kerk was consecrated over 700 years ago. Before the Reformation of 1578, it was a Roman Catholic church; afterwards, it became an important centre of Calvinism, and remains so today. The church is set in a square called Oudekerksplein, situated at the edge of the city’s red light district. The square is overlooked by prostitutes’ windows, and is adorned by a 2007 bronze statue named Belle, inscribed with the message ‘Respect sex workers all over the world:’ an arresting conjunction of the city’s oldest building and its oldest profession. Heavenly musicOude Kerk’s sober Protestant interior makes for a contrast to the city’s Roman Catholic churches. It hosts a magnificent Baroque organ, and its medieval wooden vault ceiling is the largest in Europe, providing extremely good acoustics.Owing to its previous use as a cemetery, the church floor remarkably consists entirely of gravestones: Johannes Vermeer, perhaps the foremost artist of the Golden Age, is buried here among many other Dutch notables. Rembrandt was a frequent visitor, and the church holds the tomb of his wife Saskia van Uylenburgh.

Damming the AmstelDam Square got its name the same way Amsterdam did: it began life as a dam of the Amstel river nearly 750 years ago. As the city grew so did the dam, until it became large enough for a town square, and it has been at Amsterdam’s heart ever since. Paved with the Dutch capital’s distinctive cobblestones, the square today is a great place to breathe among some of the city’s most notable attractions: Madame Tussaud’s, the 15th century Gothic Nieuwe Kerk, the Royal Palace and the swish department store De Bijenkorf are all here. Hub of the NetherlandsLooming over Dam Square is the National Monument, built in 1956. This impressive white pillar commemorates the victims of World War II. As an important centre not only of the capital but of the Netherlands as a whole, National Memorial Day is held here every year on 4 May. At other times of year the square plays host to a variety of events: you may encounter a funfair, market stalls or even an ice-rink. There is also a horsedrawn carriage tour that leaves from the square.Sit down here with a coffee or beer to watch the world go by after a busy day of shopping or sightseeing: always busy with trams, bikes and people, you’re unlikely to miss Dam Square on a trip to Amsterdam.

The Rome of the NorthOverlooking Dam Square is the magnificent Koninklijk Paleis. First built as a city hall during the 17th century Dutch Golden Age, the building’s ornate Baroque exterior and luxurious marble halls tell of the prosperity of the time.Amsterdam at this point was thought of as the ‘Rome of the North’ - today it’s more commonly described as a Northern Venice - and the architect Jacob van Campen was inspired by Roman administrative buildings in its construction for the city’s councillors. From statehouse to palaceIn 1806 the building began to serve a rather less civic function, as Napoleon Bonaparte’s brother Louis seized it for his palace upon becoming King Louis I of Holland. It changed hands between various French and Dutch regents over the following years, before finally becoming the property of the Kingdom of the Netherlands again in 1936.Today, the royal family still use the palace for official and ceremonial functions around 10 times annually, and it is open to visitors most of the year. Audio tours explain the uses of its opulent rooms, which feature impressive chandeliers and marble sculpture. Particularly lovely is the Great Hall (Groote Burger-Zaal), which features three vast marble floor maps by famed cartographer Joan Blaeu, displaying the northern and southern hemispheres and one of the earliest maps of the heliocentric solar system.

Hidden historyAmsterdam’s Anne Frankhuis is a museum inside the very house in which Anne Frank and her family hid for two years during World War II. Particularly if you have read Anne’s famous diary, it makes for a sobering visit.The exhibits at 263 Prinsengracht are simple, informative and well-presented. The Secret Annex in which the Franks lived, whose entrance was hidden behind a movable bookcase, is a remarkable sight. The wall of photographs Anne used to brighten up her room are particularly moving.Anne’s original manuscripts are also on view; extracts from her writing accompany different areas of the house, which has been reconstructed to appear as it was in her time there. A sombre legacyThe house is one of Amsterdam’s most popular tourist attractions, so is always busy: the queue can be very long indeed if you haven’t reserved tickets in advance, and the inside can get rather crowded.Amazingly, the building was almost demolished in 1955 before a campaign led by Otto Frank - Anne’s father, and the only member of the family to survive the Holocaust - called for it to be saved. Today it is the focus of careful conservation by a dedicated team, who aim to preserve for future generations the important tale it tells of the Dutch Jews’ persecution.

A former hotbed of leftist politics, this picturesque district has a vibrant and varied local community in its courtyards, cafés and restaurants.

Floating flowersA surprising apparition in Singel, Bloemenmarkt has floated on Amsterdam’s innermost canal since 1862. Historically, barges used to sail here up the Amstel from their smallholdings; today daily fresh flowers arrive by van, and fifteen florists and garden shops display their colourful wares in an array of covered stalls that are perched on piles.The market is open seven days a week. In season traditional Dutch tulips are readily available, as well as bulbs (which you can take home as they’re cleared for import), seeds, larger pot plants and a range of rather tacky souvenirs. The colours on display are wonderful, and the plants good quality. Most hotels in Amsterdam can provide vases if you want to brighten up your room with some local blooms. TulpenmanieThe Dutch have had rather a soft spot for flowers ever since the ‘tulip mania’ of the Golden Age. After their introduction in the 16th century, tulips quickly became a coveted and luxurious status symbol, and very profitable for merchants; demand and speculation grew to feverish levels, and during the 1630s some single tulip bulbs sold for ten times the annual wage of a skilled craftsman. Luckily, the prices you’ll pay today are a little less steep.

Skinny bridgeAccording to legend, the wooden bridge originally built here in 1691 was constructed so that two wealthy sisters, who lived on opposite sides of the Amstel, could visit each other with ease. It seems they weren’t quite wealthy enough to build a bridge wide enough for general use, hence its narrow profile - the drawbridge was a tight squeeze even for two pedestrians to pass one another.Since that time the ‘skinny bridge’ has seen several versions: it was rebuilt slightly wider in 1871, and again fifty years later, and demolished yet again in 1934. The one we see today was last renovated in 1969. Lights over the AmstelNowadays the white-painted wooden bascule bridge is opened many times a day to let river traffic pass through (most sightseeing boats are low enough to pass under without it being opened). Until 1994, when automatic operation was introduced, this was all done by hand.It is an especially popular spot with tourists and photographers in the evening, when it is romantically illuminated by an array of bulbs, accentuating its elegant arched structure. There are 1,500 bridges in Amsterdam, and Magere Brug is certainly one of the highlights.