AMSTERDAM TRAVEL GUIDE NETHERLANDS

AMSTERDAM TRAVEL GUIDE Netherlands

Amsterdam Travel Guide - Provides listings for inexpensive Amsterdam Hotels, including cheap and luxury hotels as well as listing various central attractions visitors may want to add to their vacation itinerary. Amsterdam is a vibrant, fast paced city. From its canals to world-famous museums and historical sights, it’s one of the most romantic and beautiful cities in Europe. Amsterdam is known for being a city of tolerance and diversity. It has all the advantages of a big city but is relatively small, quiet, and thanks to its canals, has a little road traffic.

Central Amsterdam is small with most distances walkable. It is structured as a half wheel. In the middle is the old centre bounded by the Singel canal. It contains the Red-Light district, a maze of small streets and quiet canals, and the Royal Palace at the Dam, with the shopping streets Nieuwendijk and Kalverstraat going north and south.

Surrounding the old centre are the three concentric ring canals Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht. The streets that connect the ring canals have exceptionally good shops.

West of the Amsterdam ring canals is the Jordaan, an area to walk, with quiet canals, tiny streets, and unusual shops. It also contains a lot of restaurants and interesting bars.

The main shopping areas are the Leidsestraat between the Leidseplein and Spui, and the Kalverstraat and Nieuwendijk, leading from the Munt Tower via the Dam to near the Central Station. There is a daily clothes and second-hand market around the City Hall and Opera.

Prostitution and the sale and use of cannabis is permitted in Amsterdam and largely accepted in the red light district. Coffee shops are allowed to sell small amounts of cannabis and are strictly regulated and taxed.