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These two charming courtyards, just a few paces from each other, offer the weary visitor a calm retreat from the crowds (see De Star and Zon’s Hofjes).

Behind Adriaan Dortsman’s grand façade, the Van Loon family residence has a calm, welcoming feel. Lose yourself in the intimate, elegantly furnished rooms, or in the charming rose garden with its 18th-century coach house disguised as a Neo-Classical temple (see Museum Van Loon).

Only a few minutes away from the bustle of central Amsterdam, Zandhoek (on Realeneiland in the Western Islands) feels remote and slowpaced. Cobbles, white drawbridges, 17th-century buildings and splendid old barges moored along the harbour front make a picturesque sight (see Western Islands).

Bordering Waalseilandsgracht, an attractive side-canal dotted with houseboats, Binnenkant is lined with fine old merchants’ houses. A couple of well-placed benches at the junction with Kalkmarkt allow you to sit and contemplate a charming stretch of the Oudeschans, site of the city’s first shipyards, and the fortified Montelbaanstoren towering above it.

A few steps down from busy Jodenbreestraat brings you to the crooked Café de Sluyswachtwith its spacious terrace, where tables and chairs are set out at the merest hint of fine weather. A surprisingly tranquil spot, from here you enjoy a different perspective of the Oudeschans.

This peaceful corner of the Oude Zijde at the convergence of three canals was a popular spot for medieval convents: appropriately, one of the side streets is called Gebed Zonder End (Prayer Without End). If you need to rest, there are benches on Oudezijds Voorburgwal, just beyond the Huis op de Drie Grachten.

A wild and verdant place dotted with tropical palmhouses and welcome benches, the small botanical garden on the east side of the city dates back to 1682, when an apothecary’s herb garden was established here (see Hortus Botanicus).

A café at the back of this museum in an elegant 1638 house by Philips Vingboons has tables and chairs that spill out into a glorious, mature garden – the perfect place to recharge your batteries (see Theatermuseum).

The Westerkerk carillon might be the only sound to break the silence as you stroll along this pretty side-canal in the Jordaan bordered by artisans’ dwellings. At Nos 107–14, St Andrieshofje, built in 1616, is one of the city’s oldest and best preserved almshouses. A charming blue-and-white tiled passage leads from the street into the courtyard.

This sleepy little park nestles at the junction of two canals, Nieuwe Keizersgracht and Plantage Muidergracht.