traveldk.com

Though it lacks the lived-in feel of the Museum Van Loon, this 17th-century canal house has its own special atmosphere. An air of stiff formality tinged with melancholy pervades its stately rooms: the Ballroom; the Blue Room, reserved for the men of the house, with painted ceiling by Jacob de Wit; the glittering Dining Room; and the delicate Garden Room, with views over the formal garden. The collections of its last owners, Sandrina Holthuysen and her husband, Abraham Willet, are displayed throughout – paintings, glass, ceramics, silver. The top floors are used for temporary exhibitions. It was the widowed Sandrina who left the house and its contents to the city. She died a lonely death in 1885.

The city’s largest square was first landscaped in 1872, but it was ruined in 1953 when a hair-raising stretch of road – which locals nicknamed “the shortest motorway in Europe” – was built across it. Completely redesigned between 1990 and 1996, it is now a great swathe of green, still more functional than beautiful, but giving an uninterrupted view from the Rijksmuseum to the Concertgebouw. It has children’s play areas and a pond that is frozen over to form an ice-rink in winter. Various events are staged here – from circuses to political demonstrations – and it is the setting forHel van Vuur (Hell of Fire), a monument to all gypsies persecuted by the Nazis, as well as the Ravensbrück Memorial. The district is one of the wealthiest in Amsterdam, with broad streets lined by grand houses.

Amsterdam’s spectacular new concert hall for the 21st century has a unique position on a peninsular on the IJ, which gives it magnificent views. As well as a 735-seat main auditorium there is a smaller 125-seat hall, foyer decks overlooking the IJ and a café restaurant, the Star Ferry, with a waterfront terrace. Its programme will concentrate mainly on contemporary works.

Made popular by Philips Vingboons, this gable has a raised centrepiece;Oude Turfmarkt 145is an example.

For anyone who loves ships, the maritime museum is a must. Where sails, ropes, guns and munitions were once stored is now an Aladdin’s Cave of nautical treasures. Don’t miss the Royal Barge on the ground floor and the East Indiaman Amsterdam, moored outside. The museum is closed for renovation from 2005 to 2007.

Nestling in the centre of the canal ring are these three parallel rows of cross-streets bordered by Singel and Prinsengracht to east and west, and Raadhuisstraat and Leidsegracht to north and south. Known collectively as the Nine Streets, these charming, largely car-free roads were once a centre for the leather trade. Today they are packed with amusing, imaginative and sometimes eccentric shops like De Witte Tandenwinkel, devoted to toothbrushes. In Gasthuismolensteeg, don’t miss the Brilmuseum at No. 7, an enchanting museum and shop devoted to spectacles old and new (open noon–5pm Wed–Sat).

The most arresting feature of this interactive science and technology centre – the largest in the Netherlands – is the building itself. Designed by Renzo Piano, its harbour location (in the Eastern Islands) gave the impetus for a green copper structure resembling a vast ship. The great views from the top deck will certainly appeal, even if the hands-on games, experiments and demonstrations, designed to entertain and educate both children and adults, do not.

The second parish church in Amsterdam was built after the congregation outgrew the Oude Kerk. Burnt down several times, its oldest part is the choir, dating from around 1400 (see Nieuwe Kerk, Nieuwe Kerk).

Wealthy merchant banker Willem Eggert donated his orchard as a site for this Gothic church, as well as a large sum of money for its construction. It was consecrated to Our Lady and St Catherine, but has only ever been called the Nieuwe Kerk – to distinguish it from the Oude Kerk. When the town hall became the royal palace in the early 19th century, it was given the new, elevated title of national church of the Netherlands, and has been the setting for the coronation of every Dutch monarch since then.