Amsterdam Walking Tour: From the Begijnhof Through the Jordaan

This is a walk through the quieter, more personal side of Amsterdam, the places where ordinary people lived, prayed, hid, traded and shopped. It starts in a silent medieval courtyard in the middle of the old city, threads through the little shopping lanes of the Nine Streets, pauses at the Westerkerk and the Anne Frank House, and then wanders north through the Jordaan, the old workers' quarter, to its markets and its loveliest canals. It finishes on Haarlemmerstraat, a busy local street of food shops and cafes. The whole route is just under three kilometers and dead flat, an easy morning or afternoon among Amsterdam's self-guided walking tours, with something to stop for on every corner.

Before you set off

Allow about two hours at a relaxed pace, and longer if you go inside anywhere or stop to eat, which you will want to do by the end. The streets are flat but paved with brick and cobbles, and canal-side sidewalks can be narrow, so comfortable shoes help. Keep your eyes open for bicycles, which are everywhere and come up behind you silently; stay off the red bike lanes and look both ways before crossing any of them. Two stops have their own rules. The Begijnhof is a private residential courtyard with set visiting hours and a request for silence, and the Anne Frank House sells tickets online only, in time slots that often go weeks ahead, so check both before you go. The markets on the Noordermarkt run on particular days, mainly Monday mornings and Saturdays, so a Saturday walk ends among the stalls. Weather here changes fast, so a light rain jacket earns its place in any season. Shade comes from the elm trees along the canals and not much else, and cafes are never more than a few steps away.

Begijnhof

You are standing in the Begijnhof, and it is hard to believe the busy Spui is just on the other side of that gate. A green lawn sits in the middle, surrounded by a ring of tall, narrow houses, a plain church and a hush that the residents work hard to protect. For centuries this was home to the beguines, Catholic women who lived together in a religious community without taking the vows of nuns, free to leave and owning their own homes. That ownership saved them. When Amsterdam turned Protestant in 1578 and Catholic worship was banned in public, the beguines were allowed to stay, though they lost their church. It was later handed to English and Scottish Protestants, and it is still known as the English Church. The women responded by building a secret chapel inside two ordinary houses facing it, and that hidden church is still in use. Look for the house with the black wooden front: it dates from the early sixteenth century and is one of only two wooden houses left in the center, from a time before fires made the city switch to brick. The last beguine died in 1971, but single women still live here, so keep your voice down. To continue, leave by the gate onto the Spui, head west across the Singel and follow the narrow lane straight on over the Herengracht, about five minutes.

Nine Streets

You are now in the Nine Streets, three rows of three short lanes that cross the grand canals between the Singel and the Prinsengracht. Stand on a bridge over the Keizersgracht and look along the water in both directions before you look at the shops. This is one of the best canal views in the city, curving rows of gabled houses with not a car in sight, and it costs nothing. Then turn to the lanes themselves. They were humble streets for centuries, home to tradesmen and workshops, and the name Nine Streets is quite recent, a label the local shopkeepers adopted to bring people in. It worked. Today this is where Amsterdam shops when it wants something with character: vintage clothing, small fashion labels, old books, eyeglasses, cheese, chocolate, design objects, and cafes so small they have room for three tables and a dog. Everything is independent, and the streets are so short that you can wander all nine in half an hour. If you want a coffee before the more serious part of the walk, this is the place. When you are ready, follow the Keizersgracht north, crossing the busy Raadhuisstraat, and the tall tower of the Westerkerk appears on your left within about seven minutes.

Westerkerk

Stand in front of the Westerkerk and look up at its tower, the tallest church tower in Amsterdam, topped with a blue and gold crown. Listen too, because the tower has a carillon, and its bells ring out across the neighborhood. The church was finished in 1631, and some of the most important people in this city's story are tied to it. Rembrandt was buried here in 1669, a bankrupt old man in a rented grave whose exact position has been lost, so no one knows quite where in the church he lies. A memorial inside remembers him, and his son Titus is buried here too. The bells have a gentler connection. In the hiding place just up the canal, Anne Frank could hear the tower clock chime every quarter of an hour, and she wrote in her diary that she found the sound reassuring. The city has made sure that link is not forgotten: a small statue of Anne stands beside the church, a slight girl with her hands clasped, looking almost lost on the big square. In the warmer months you can sometimes climb the tower with a guide for a view over the Jordaan, so check before you go if that tempts you. The Anne Frank House is less than a minute north: walk up the Prinsengracht with the canal on your left.