World City Guide

Tours of the City

Walking Tours
The Amsterdam Tourist Office – VVV (tel: (020) 551 2525 or (0900) 400 4040; fax: (020) 625 2869; e-mail: info@amsterdamtourist.nl; website: www.visitamsterdam.nl) publishes a number of brochures detailing informative and interesting walking tours of the city. The series A Walk Through& includes Maritime Amsterdam, Jewish Amsterdam and The Jordaan. Another, Amsterdam in the Footsteps of Vincent Van Gogh, covers places associated with the artist.

Bus Tours
The De Opstapper mini-bus is run by GVB (tel: (0900) 9292; website: www.gvb.nl). The hop-on hop-off bus circles away from the Centraal Station and curves around Prinsengracht towards Waterlooplein and then back. It leaves every 10 minutes and, as there are no dedicated stops, passengers just tell the driver where they want to get off. Standard public transport strippenkaarten for one zone, at ¬1.60, are valid, as are day cards (see Getting Around), otherwise, tickets are available for purchase from the driver, also at ¬1.60.

Water Tours
Probably the best way to see Amsterdam is from one of the many canal tour boats available. There are a number of companies operating these tours. The hour-long itinerary varies little but the price and delivery of information does. Visitors should choose from The Best of Holland, Damrak 34 (tel: (020) 624 6340; website: www.asiacompass.nl), Lindbergh, Damrak 26 (tel: (020) 622 2766; website: www.lindbergh.nl), Lovers, opposite Prins Hendrikkade 25-27 (tel: (020) 530 1090; website: www.lovers.nl), and Rondvaarten, opposite Kooy BV Rokin 125 (tel: (020) 623 3810). The tours run throughout the year, at regular intervals during the day. Passengers can choose either to go once in a loop or use the boats as a hop-on hop-off way of getting around the main attractions. The price per adult starts at ¬8.50, for the basic once-round loop. Other boat tours that combine the cruises with visits to various museums or take in the canals by night are also available.

Bicycle Tours
Yellow Bike, Nieuwezijds Kolk 29 (tel: (020) 620 6940; fax (020) 620 7140; website: www.yellowbike.nl), operates tours between April and November, with prices starting at ¬18.50 for a three-hour tour of the city, including the Vondelpark and the Jordaan. Tours are conducted and English but German, French, Spanish or Italian speaking guides also can be arranged on request. All tours depart from Nieuwezijds Kolk 29, which is a five-minute walk from the Centraal Station.