The centre Here you will find the Royal Palace, Dam Square, the central train station and enough shops, cafés and restaurants to keep any visitor happy.

The Jordaan A mainly residential area built in the 17th century adjacent to the centre and now a beautiful amalgam of small canals and even smaller streets. Very picturesque and abundantly supplied with art galleries, cafés and restaurants.

The Museum Quarter In addition to the Rijks and Van Gogh museums, this area houses the Concertgebouw and is home to PC Hoofstraat, Amsterdam’s most famous shopping street.

De Pijp (the Pipe) is probably most famous for the Albert Cuypstraat open-air market, which stretches for almost a kilometre.

This is also the place to find Amsterdam’s ethnic restaurants.

GETTING AROUND

Depending on the weather, at least two of the key areas are easily reached on foot from the city centre, where most of the major hotels are located. Within the Jordaan area, however, there is little or no public transport, so foot or bicycle are the only means of exploring.

The Opstapper is a minibus which departs from the central station and travels along the Prinsengracht at the eastern boundary of the Jordaan.

The Museum Quarter and the Pipe are both well served by public transport. From the centre, the 2, 3, 5 and 12 trams all stop in the Museum Quarter. The 3 tram continues on to the Pipe. However, for the Albert Cuypstraat market, the 16 and 24 trams have stops closer by.

Amsterdam is currently constructing an underground line through the centre of the city, which may lead to disruptions and delays.

The Amsterdam transport authority (GVB) offers a confusing variety of tickets. If you plan on travelling by public transport more than once, you best bet is the strippenkaart, a multi-ride ticket available in amounts of 2, 3, 8, 15 and 45. Tickets are available at the customer service counter of most supermarkets, news agents and tobacco stands, in addition to the train station and the GVB offices in Leidseplein.

Any ticket you buy will give you at least one hour of transport. This means you can go somewhere, wander around for a bit, then hop back on a bus or tram for the ride back. When you enter public transport, you must time-stamp your ticket.

There are currently at least two tourist-type tickets: the 'I AMsterdam’ and the All Amsterdam Transport Pass. Both include admission or discounted admission to museums, as well as discounts at selected tourist destinations, in addition to some free transport via a canal boat.

SHOPPING

Amsterdam has moved on considerably from fish and beer in the last 800 years, and is home to a number of intriguing speciality shops, including purveyors of toothbrushes (De Witte Tanden Winkel, Runstraat 5) and funk (Back Beat Records, Egelantierstraat 19).

But if you’re looking for presents to take back home and want something typically Dutch, the four obvious choices are Delftware, tulip bulbs, jenever (Dutch gin) and chocolate. Bulbs are easy to source—just head to the Flower Market (Bloemenmarkt in Dutch), located in the city centre (along the Singel Canal just past Koningsplein).

Jenever (also spelled genever) is probably the second easiest product to find because, in Amsterdam, there are now only two local brands left. The most conveniently located stockist is Wynand Fockink (Pijlsteeg 31, which you’ll find in an alleyway off the Dam alongside the Hotel Krasnapolsky), where you can taste the gin before you buy it. The other stockist, though not as convenient, is perhaps the last actually producing jenever in the city: A.v. Wees and their brand De Ooievaar (the Stork). You can buy bottles direct from the distillery which is located in the Jordaan on a picturesque old street (Driehoekstraat 10).

Delftware is a bit trickier. Needless to say, you probably won’t find a better selection than that in the city of Delft itself, which is only one hour by train from Amsterdam and well worth a visit. Inside Amsterdam, try Galleria d’Arte Rinascimento (Prinsengracht 170).

Amsterdam’s speciality chocolate shops are a gourmet’s delight. Here are three of the best: Puccini Bomboni (Staalstraat 17 and Singel 184), Unlimited Delicious (Haarlemmerstraat 122) and 't Goede Soet (Keizersgracht 95). You can buy individual chocolates or boxes of various sizes at any of the three.

Its trademark product is, of course, the herring, but in recent years, the city’s traditional outdoor herring stands have been gradually disappearing. However, fresh herring is available from most fish shops, as well from the city’s various open-air markets.

THINGS TO DO

Think Amsterdam and what springs to mind? Canals, museums, herring, bicycles—and probably marijuana and prostitution. So-called soft drugs can be bought in shops labelled 'coffee shop’. Confusingly, an establishment calling itself a koffieshuis or even koffieshop is unlikely to sell drugs.

In order to buy marijuana, you must be 18 or older. Drugs can be consumed on premise or taken away for consumption in your hotel. It is not advisable to consume them in another café or restaurant not licensed for sale of drugs. Under Dutch law, possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana or hashish is considered acceptable.

The Red Light District of Amsterdam is probably the city’s most popular tourist attraction. In fact, the streets where the prostitutes display themselves in store windows are sometimes so packed with onlookers that they become impassable. Prostitution is a perfectly legal activity in the Netherlands.

Amsterdam is also well supplied with more conventional amusements.

EXCURSIONS

Amsterdam’s central location works very well for short trips to other places if the idea of getting out of the city appeals. Zaanse Schans is a small town with the largest collection of old windmills in the Netherlands. East of Amsterdam is Muiden, home to a romantic 14th-century castle. Further east, at Naarden-Vesting, you can wander through the 15th-century streets of a star-shaped island that once served as a fort guarding the coast. All three of these destinations are less than 30 minutes away by train.

Summer visitors to Amsterdam might like to take the bus ride from Haarlem to the beach at Zandvoort. Here, you can sprawl on the wide, sandy beach while tractors ply up and down the shore pulling portable fish stands.

Thirty minutes in the opposite direction brings you to Utrecht, the provincial capital, which has a beautiful and well-preserved ancient city centre.

TOURIST TRAPS

There is an excellent chance that virtually any taxi you hire will take advantage of your ignorance of the city and overcharge you. This is not a problem specific to Amsterdam clearly but use caution.

CONVENTION CENTRES

Amsterdam’s one convention centre is called the RAI Center and is located in the south of the city at Europaplein 22.
The five-star Okura Hotel (see below) is located close to the RAI Center. It is one of the best hotels in the city and contains, on the top floor, an excellent restaurant, the Ciel Bleu.