Jordaan and Leidseplein

The Leidseplein is the tourist center of the city and, like Rembrandtplein, is surrounded by cheap eateries and bars, their terraces packed with visitors and shoppers set for the Leidsestraat. Cafés like Reijnders (Leidseplein 6), Eijlders (Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 47), and the Art Deco American Hotel (keep an eye out for the statue of the woodcutter in the trees nearby) are more authentic, less tacky respites.

If you walk down the alleyway to the right of the white Stadsschouwberg theater (Leidseplein 26), past the Melkweg and Sugar Factory (nighttime music/theater/happening venues) and over the Leidsegracht, you have reached the southern perimeter of the Jordaan. Built to house canal-belt construction workers in the 17th century, the city's smellier industries such as tanning and brewing were also banished here. Living conditions were overcrowded and squalid (its 1895 population was 80,000; now it's a mere 14,000) and the inhabitants gained a reputation for rebelliousness and community spirit. In the 1950s, this reached mythical proportions—aided by the nationally popular local singer Johnny Jordaan and others who depicted an idealized vision of a poor but tight-knit and socially aware community in songs like Geef mij maar Amsterdam (essentially, you can keep Paris, Amsterdam is finer in every way) that are still belted out in the cafés Twee Zwaantjes and Café Nol. You can pay homage to him on the Elandsgracht by Johnny Jordaanplein opposite the Houseboat Museum, where there's a group of statues. This was one of several canals filled in for sanitary reasons in the 19th century. At the other end of the street is De Looier Indoor Antiques Market (Elandsgracht 109). North of the Rozengracht, the Jordaan becomes even more scenic. Although rough-and-tough times continued into the 1970s, it's now one of the trendiest parts of town. But in many ways, the Jordaan will always remain the Jordaan, even though its narrow alleys and leafy canals are now a wanderer's paradise lined with quirky boutiques, idiosyncratic architectural details, excellent restaurants, and galleries, particularly in the southern end.