Where to stay

Book early to secure accommodations in the history-packed Old Town ("Oude Centrum") and the wider Canal Ring, home to all the iconic sights and oldest city squares, as well as charming historic hotels. The entire district is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. To be first in the long lines to see the Anne Frank Huis, Canal House Museum and range of other canal-side museums, many visitors choose to stay right in the heart of it. The accommodations in the area's Dam Square - Central Station neighborhood have better transportation connections. From the Station Square, follow the Damrak avenue to see the National Monument by the Royal Palace, or follow the historic Zeedijk street out to the 15th-century weigh house in Nieuwmarkt Square. Alternatively, stay in the nearby Jewish Quarter or the leafy Plantage neighborhood of Amsterdam East for easy access to the historic Artis Zoo, the fascinating Jewish Museum and popular Rembrandthuis Museum. Those interested in history as well as art should stay near the Museum Quarter (Museumplein) of Amsterdam Zuid-Oost for multiple visits to the historic Rijksmuseum and modern Van Gogh Museum.

Amsterdam's nightlife has been legendary since the Golden Ages, when early seafarers sought their entertainment near the docks. To get a taste of the nightlife in today's Amsterdam, book a hotel near the Leidseplein, Nieuwmarkt or Rembrandtplein. These three lively squares in the Amsterdam City Centre have a wide variety of nightclubs, cafés and bars to suit everyone. Stay at the iconic American Hotel Amsterdam or Holland Casino near the box office in the Internationaal Theater Amsterdam at the Leidseplein to be able to stroll to the Melkweg and Paradiso, the city's much-loved live music venues. To experience typical Dutch "brown cafés" packed with beer drinking and singing Amsterdammers, find a boutique hotel in the cozy Jordaan neighborhood.

The 9 Streets (De Negen Straatjes) neighborhood with its boutique hotels in the Canal Ring has artistic basement shops and tiny cafés lining its narrow cobblestone streets. On the opposite side of Amsterdam Centrum, Waterlooplein is home to the oldest flea market in the Netherlands. Find a hotel between this square and the nearby Rembrandtplein to also visit the Floating Flower Market on the Singel canal and check out the Kalverstraat, the longest shopping street of Amsterdam, along with the quirky bookstores and collectors' markets of Het Spui. More leafy and upmarket Amsterdam Oud-Zuid has high-end fashion and jewelry shopping along the PC Hooftstraat and in nearby streets. Those staying in the Museum Quarter can easily walk there and also take in the Spiegelkwartier, with its antique shops and galleries showing precious art.

Foodies in the know stay in De Pijp or Amsterdam Oud-West, two gentrified working-class neighborhoods full of little cafés and cozy Dutch and ethnic restaurants. Both neighborhoods have classic Dutch boutique hotels as well as budget accommodations. A popular place to eat in Oud-West is the Food Hallen, a food court in a cultural complex and hotel housed in a revamped tram depot. The international restaurants and Dutch-Suriname food "tokos" (Indonesian shops) of Oud-West's Overtoom, Kinkerstraat and de Clercqstraat streets are also very affordable. Alternatively, book a hotel room or houseboat near Westerpark, the Western Islands, or Amsterdam North to mingle with artists, young families and trendy professionals in hip restaurants and cafés set in renovated harbor-side warehouses.