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Established by King Louis Napoleon in 1808 along the lines of the Paris Louvre, the Rijksmuseum collection has grown in the intervening years to nearly seven million works of art. It has moved twice since its beginnings in the Royal Palace on the Dam. Since 1885 it has been housed in P J H Cuypers’ ornate Neo-Gothic building.

The uncompromisingly modern building by De Stijl architect Gerrit Rietveld was specially designed to display the nation’s collection of this disturbed yet brilliant artist’s work.

Devoted to modern art from the mid-19th century to the present day, this invigorating museum is undergoing a total renovation. Until it reopens in 2008, works will be on display at the old TPG Post building (Ooster- dokskade 3, ).

One of the world’s great concert halls, the Concertgebouw was built in 1888, designed by A L Van Gendt in Neo-Dutch Renaissance style with a colonnaded Neo-Classical façade. In the 1980s, the building was discovered to be in danger of collapse. In time for the centenary of both the concert hall and its world-famous orchestra, new foundations were laid, and the building was restored and enlarged. Amazingly, all this took place without its having to close.

Founded in 1864 by a group of philanthropic citizens, this congenial park was later named after the 17th-century poet Joost van den Vondel. Landscaped on informal English lines in 1865 – and enlarged in 1877 – by father and son J D and L P Zocher, with wide green vistas, a profusion of trees and lakes, a rose garden and a bandstand, it became a mecca for hippies in the late 1960s and 1970s. It is still a lively place on summer Sundays, when people flock to hear concerts and plays in the open-air theatre, glimpse the occasional juggler or fire-eater, jog, rollerblade or play football. There are many different species of plants, trees and wildlife. A distinctive landmark, looking a little like a neat boater turned upside-down, is the round Blauwe Theehuis (teahouse), built by H A J Baanders in 1936 in the New Functionalist style.

Founded in 1840 and now occupying three grand villas, Coster is one of a handful of diamond workshops offering guided tours. About 30 minutes in length, they give you the opportunity to observe stone graders, cutters and polishers at work. In 1852, theKoh-i-Noor (mountain of light) diamond was re-polished here for the British Crown Jewels, and a replica of the crown that contains it – incorporating a copy of the fabulous blue-white stone – is displayed in the entrance hall. If your budget will allow it, there are also diamonds and jewellery for sale over the counter.

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.

“Museum” is a slight misnomer for this institution, as the Nederlands Filmmuseum no longer has an exhibition. What it does have is an archive of more than 30,000 films, ranging from classic to art-house, a selection of which is screened here throughout the year. The entire collection is housed in a glorious 19th-century pavilion at the edge of the Vondelpark. The building, designed by the architects P J Hamer and his son W Hamer, opened in 1881 as a fashionable teahouse. It has since undergone two major renovations, in 1947 and 1991.

Magnificent and quite unexpected, concealed behind an unexceptional façade, A L van Gendt’s Hollandsche Manege is a vast Neo-Classical indoor riding school, built in 1881. (It was commissioned to replace the original Dutch Riding School building, which was situated on Leidsegracht.) Based on the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, it sports elegant plasterwork, sculpted horses’ heads, and a stunning open ironwork roof rising high above the sand arena. The school was threatened with demolition in the 1980s, but public outcry saved it. If there is a lesson in progress, you can stay and watch. There is also a café.

This elegant shopping street is to Amsterdam what Bond Street is to London. All the names in international fashion are here – Tommy Hilfiger, Hugo Boss, DKNY, Gucci, Mulberry, Emporio Armani – although wellheeled locals tend to favour friendlier Cornelis Schuystraat nearby.