Warmoesstraat

Warmoesstraat Review

This touristy strip of hostels, bars, and coffee shops began life as one of the original dikes along the Amstel before evolving into the city's richest shopping street. It's here that the famous 17th-century poet Vondel did business from his hosiery shop at No. 101, and where Mozart's dad tried to unload tickets for his son's concerts in the area's upscale bars. It entered a decline in the 17th century when the proprietors decamped for fancier digs on the Canal Ring; sailors (and the businesses that catered to them) started to fill in the gaps. In the 19th century, the street evolved, along with its extension Nes, into the city's primary debauchery zone. Karl Marx was known to set himself up regularly in a hotel here, not only to write in peace but to ask for the occasional loan from his cousin-in-law, Gerard Philips, founder of that capitalist machine Philips.

If you can squeeze past backpackers heading for the coffee shops and other tourist traps, there are hangouts such as the arty Hotel Winston (No. 123); restful oases serving stellar quiche such as De Bakkerswinkel (No. 69); specialty stores, such as Geels and Co. (No. 67), with its infinite selection of coffees and teas, and the spacious W139 (No. 139) gallery, dedicated to the very outer edges of conceptual art.