Amsterdam

A collection built on seventeenth century painting, where one large Rembrandt fills a room by itself. A cycle passage runs clean through the building, so visitors and riders share the same arch.

Two hundred works by one painter hang in order of date alongside his letters. Tickets go by time slot, and most people buying on the day find only evening slots left.

The hiding place behind the bookcase remains untouched, and no furniture was put back in the rooms. Steep and tight stairs mean large bags stay at the desk.

A workers' district that now holds small galleries and cafes. The canals here are narrow, so from a bridge the windows on both sides feel close.

Forty seven hectares west of the centre where nobody stops you lying on the grass. On summer weekends the open air stage puts on shows and takes no ticket.

Women of a lay religious order have lived around this courtyard since 1346, and it hides quietly off a busy street. One timber house in the row is the oldest in the city.

The boats sit low with flat roofs and wide glass because the bridges leave little headroom. Evening departures wait until the bridge lights come on, so pick from the timetable.

An old shipyard on the north bank now works as studios and a wall painting ground. The ferry from behind Centraal is free and takes bicycles on board.

An open air market running since 1905, stretched along nearly a kilometre in one line. Carts selling freshly baked sweets stand between the cheese and fish stalls.

The science centre is shaped like a ship, and its stepped roof is open without a ticket. The harbour and the old roofs line up together, and the water play works in summer only.

Opened as the city hall in 1655, it now serves the royal house for state receptions. The Citizens' Hall has world maps inlaid in marble across its floor. Public visits close on days of state events, so the calendar is worth checking first.

A modern art museum strong on Malevich, Mondrian and the CoBrA painters. The white wing added in 2012 looks so much like a bath that everyone calls it the Bathtub. It shares Museumplein with the Rijksmuseum, so many people visit both on one day.

Rembrandt lived, painted and sold work here from 1639 to 1658. The rooms were refurnished from the inventory drawn up at his bankruptcy. Up in the studio, staff demonstrate pulling an etching from a copper plate the old way.

Consecrated in 1306, no building in Amsterdam is older. The whole ceiling is a timber vault and some 2,500 gravestones pave the floor. Its walls back onto the red light district, so red windows face you the moment you step out.

Consecrated in 1631, its 87 m tower rises above every other church in Amsterdam. The spire carries the blue imperial crown of Maximilian I. Rembrandt was buried here, but where exactly his grave lies is still unknown.

Since 1862 its stalls have floated on barges along the Singel canal. Most now sell bulbs and tulip souvenirs rather than cut flowers. A 2019 survey found its bulbs barely ever bloomed, so bulbs meant for planting are better bought at a garden centre.

A viewing deck on top of a former oil company tower on the north bank. A swing that sways out over the roof edge is sold as a separate ticket. Crossing on the free ferry behind Centraal takes a few minutes.

It began in 1638 as a medicinal garden for physicians and apothecaries. A single coffee plant here is credited as the parent of coffee plantations across Central and South America. The 1912 palm house and the 1875 orangery are still in use.

Opened in 1838, it is the oldest zoo in the country. A planetarium, an aquarium and Micropia, a museum of microbes, all sit inside the grounds. It lies right beside the canal district, with a tram stop at the gate.

A naval storehouse built in 1656 now holds the museum, its courtyard roofed over in glass. Tied up at the quay outside floats the East India ship Amsterdam, rebuilt at real scale, with deck and cabins open to board.

In the 1660s a Catholic chapel was fitted into the upper three storeys of a canal house built in 1630. Public worship was banned, so seen from the canal it passed as an ordinary home. A 17th-century kitchen and a confessional survive below.

Opened in 1675 and still used for services. Electric lighting was never installed; two chandeliers hold a thousand candles, and fine sand on the floor soaks up dust and footsteps. The complex also houses a library founded in 1616.

A white timber drawbridge across the Amstel. Its middle lifts whenever a boat passes, leaving bikes and walkers waiting on both banks. After dark bulbs light up along its rails, and many watch from the opposite bank.

A white, angular film museum that opened on the north bank in 2012. Four cinemas screen films, and its galleries host changing film exhibitions. Ferries from behind Centraal, free of charge, land right at its door.

At 26.6 m it is the tallest wooden windmill in the country, moved to this spot in 1814. The mill itself is closed to visitors. Next door a brewery pours beer in a public bathhouse from 1911, and drinkers sit facing the sails.

Nine short lanes crossing the three main canals. Vintage clothes, small workshops and cafes run along every one. There are almost no big brand stores, which makes it good for wandering, and the canal bridges make easy photo spots.

A concert hall opened in 1888 whose main auditorium ranks among the best for acoustics anywhere. The royal orchestra named after the hall is based here. Conductors and soloists make their entrance down a staircase behind the stage while the whole hall watches.

Two old fishing villages 30 minutes away by bus. Fish shops line the Volendam dyke, while Marken is an island village of green timber houses reachable by a causeway since 1957. A boat links the two, so one leg can go by water and the other by bus.