A walking tour of Amsterdam

updated 3:58 p.m. ET Aug. 17, 2006

The Golden Age Canals

Start: Herenmarkt (off Brouwersgracht).

Finish: Amstel River.

Time: 3 hours to all day, depending on how long you linger in museums and stores along the way.

Best Times: Begin in the morning.

The three 17th-century canals you explore on this tour -- Herengracht (Gentlemen's Canal), Keizersgracht (Emperor's Canal), and Prinsengracht (Princes' Canal) -- are the very heart of Golden Age Amsterdam, emblems of the city's wealth and pride in its heyday. Each one deserves at least a morning or afternoon to itself. Time being limited, we're going to combine them in one monumental effort; if you're not so pushed, by all means slice the tour up into two or three segments for a more leisurely experience.

You stroll along miles of tree-lined canals and pass innumerable old canal houses with gables in various styles (bell, step, neck, and variations), classical facades, warehouses converted to apartments, houseboats, bridges, museums, cafes, restaurants, boutiques, offbeat stores, and battered bikes secured to lampposts. I'm only going to mention the most special sights and point out some insider tips along the way. This should leave you with plenty of space for making your own discoveries.

The jump-off point, within easy walking distance of Centraal Station (tram: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 13, 16, 17, 24, or 25), is at Herenmarkt, just off Brouwersgracht:

1. West Indisch Huis (West India House)

The 17th-century headquarters of the Dutch West India Company that handled trade (including the slave trade) between Holland, the Americas, and Africa later became the offices of a social-welfare organization, and a Lutheran orphanage, and now houses a U.S.-associated educational institute.

Walk along tranquil, residential:

2. Brouwersgracht (Brewers' Canal)

Humpback bridges, moored houseboats, and 17th- and 18th-century brewery pakhuizen (warehouses) that have been turned into chic and expensive apartments combine to make this one of Amsterdam's most photogenic corners. Worth special attention are nos. 204 and 206, "Het Kleine Groene Hert" (the Little Green Deer) and "Het Groote Groene Hert" (the Big Green Deer). Each has a gable crowned with a green-painted sculpture of a deer. Take note for possible future reference of two 17th-century brown cafes in this area: Tabac at Brouwersgracht 101 and Papeneiland at Prinsengracht 2-4.

On Prinsengracht, which in the 17th century was home to storekeepers and craftsmen, your first stop is:

3. Noordermarkt

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Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., this old market square hosts a Farmers' Market for "bio" (organic) products. A popular flea market takes over Mondays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Clothes that were fashionable a decade and more ago are, for some reason, highly esteemed, and dealers recycle everything from Golden Age antiques to yesterday's junk. Pause for a moment to admire the elaborate gables of the houses at nos. 15-22, each one decorated with an agricultural image -- a cow, a sheep, a chicken -- from the time when a livestock market was held here. No. 16 has a Louis XIV neck gable and a beautiful gable stone from 1726 depicting Fortuna and advertising the textiles store that once occupied the building.

The Noorderkerk (North Church), the last masterpiece by architect Hendrick de Keyser, the guiding hand behind many of Amsterdam's historic churches, dominates the square. It's something of a rarity in this nominally Calvinist city, since it has a large and active congregation. On the facade, a plaque recalls the February 1941 strike in protest at Nazi deportation of the city's Jewish population. A three-figure sculpture-group outside recalls the dead and wounded from the 1934 Jordaanoproer, street riots to protest poverty, which were suppressed by the army. Maybe you'll hear the church's carillon playing as you go by.

Continue along Prinsengracht to the bridge at Prinsenstraat, and cross over. A few steps back along the canal on this side is:

4. Zon's Hofje

At Prinsengracht 159-171, a hidden almshouse surrounding a courtyard garden at the end of a long passageway. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the outer door is open and you can walk discreetly (people live here) through the passageway to the courtyard, which belonged to the city's Mennonites. They worshiped at a clandestine church, De Zon (The Sun), and held meetings in the courtyard, which they called De Kleine Zon (The Little Sun). In 1720, the church's name was changed to De Arke Noach (Noah's Ark) and in 1755 it was demolished. Above the lintel of nos. 163-165, a carved plaque from the vanished church shows animals piling two-by-two into Noah's Ark, watched over by a brightly shining sun.