Threaded between the great canals of central Amsterdam, the Nine Streets form one of the most charming shopping districts in the city, a compact grid of narrow lanes packed with independent boutiques, vintage shops, galleries and cafes. The area takes its name from the nine little streets that link the Prinsengracht, Keizersgracht, Herengracht and Singel canals. The streets lie within the famous ring of seventeenth-century canals, the Grachtengordel, a World Heritage area built during the Dut.....

High above the waters of the IJ, across from the historic centre of Amsterdam, the A'DAM Lookout offers the most spectacular panorama in the city from the top of a striking tower in the once-industrial north. Its observation deck takes in the canals, the harbour and the spreading city, and for the truly daring it adds a swing that flings riders out over the edge. The tower itself was built in the 1960s as the headquarters of an oil company and stood as a symbol of the industrial waterfront. A.....

The Albert Cuyp Market is the largest and best-known street market in the Netherlands, a long, bustling ribbon of stalls running down the Albert Cuyp Street in the lively De Pijp quarter of Amsterdam. Six days a week it fills with traders selling everything from fresh fish and cheese to flowers, fabrics, clothing and the irresistible smell of freshly made stroopwafels. The market was established in 1905, when the growing working-class district of De Pijp needed a place to shop, and it quickly.....

Aloha Amsterdam brings a slice of tropical island fun to the banks of the IJ, a large indoor entertainment centre decked out in a Hawaiian theme where visitors can bowl, play laser tag, putt their way around a glow-in-the-dark mini golf course or sing karaoke, all under one roof. A bar and restaurant complete the package for a relaxed day or evening out. The venue occupies a vast space beneath the bridge near the central station, on a site once home to an earlier entertainment complex, which .....

Amaze Amsterdam is an immersive audiovisual experience that leads visitors through a maze of rooms filled with lasers, projections, spatial sound and special effects, conjuring the energy of a music festival without the crowds of a club night. Spread across thousands of square metres of a former industrial warehouse, it offers a sensory journey to be explored at one own pace. The attraction was created by ID&T, the company behind some of the most famous electronic dance events in the world, w.....

Beer has been brewed and enjoyed in Amsterdam for centuries, and a range of beer experiences across the city now invites visitors to taste, learn about and celebrate the Dutch love of a good drink. From brewery tours and tastings to themed tasting rooms, these outings turn an ordinary pint into an introduction to the rich brewing culture of the Netherlands. The Dutch brewing tradition is long and deep, and while the country is known abroad for a handful of giant lager brands, its real story l.....

Wheels of golden Gouda stacked from floor to ceiling greet visitors to the Amsterdam Cheese Company, a shop on the busy Kalverstraat devoted to the most famous of Dutch products. Part store, part tasting room, it lets visitors sample dozens of varieties before choosing which to take home, turning a simple purchase into an enjoyable introduction to Dutch cheese. Cheese lies at the very heart of Dutch food culture, and the Netherlands has been a great cheesemaking and trading nation for centuri.....

For five days each October, Amsterdam becomes the world capital of electronic music, as the Amsterdam Dance Event fills clubs, concert halls and conference centres across the city with hundreds of thousands of fans, DJs and industry figures. Part festival, part business conference, it is the largest gathering of its kind on the planet. The event was founded in 1995 and has grown enormously over the following decades, mirroring the rise of Dutch DJs and producers to the forefront of global dan.....

The Amsterdam Museum tells the story of the city itself, tracing how a small settlement on a dam in a marshy river grew into one of the great trading and cultural capitals of Europe. Through paintings, objects and interactive displays, it charts the rise of Amsterdam from medieval fishing village to the bustling, diverse metropolis of today. The museum follows the long arc of the city history, from its origins around a dam built across the river Amstel, which gave the place its name, through .....

No flower is more closely associated with the Netherlands than the tulip, and the Amsterdam Tulip Museum tells its surprising and dramatic story in a small, characterful space on the Prinsengracht canal. From its origins in the mountains of central Asia to the speculative frenzy of the Dutch Golden Age, the humble bulb has a history far stranger than its familiar beauty suggests. The tulip is not native to the Netherlands at all but came from the wild lands of central Asia and the Ottoman Emp.....