From the Renaissance Hotel to West-Indish Huis
A self-guided detour
Trade the five-minute route for a longer stroll through Amsterdam's seventeenth-century canal belt.
~30-35 minutes at a relaxed pace
2.2 km flat, well-lit
5 stops
- Starting point: Renaissance Hotel & Koepelkerk
The domed hall began life in 1671 as the Ronde Lutherse Kerk, one of Amsterdam's few round churches, built for the city's Lutheran congregation. City rules only allowed the public Reformed Church to build bell towers, so the Lutherans topped their dome with a small lantern and, fittingly, a weathervane in the shape of a swan. Deconsecrated in the 1930s, it has since been restored as the ballroom of the Renaissance Hotel, its copper dome and gallery still intact above the room.
- Westerkerk & Anne Frank House
The Westerkerk, built 1620–1631, carries the tallest tower in Amsterdam, the Westertoren, topped with the imperial crown of Maximilian of Austria, and holds Rembrandt's unmarked grave. Its carillon, one of the oldest still in working order in the Netherlands, chimes every half hour, the same bells Anne Frank describes hearing from her hiding place next door; the house where she and her family hid is now the museum on the same square. Interior tickets for the Anne Frank House sell out well in advance, so most groups will take this in from the square outside.
- Noorderkerk & Noordermarkt
The Noorderkerk, completed in 1623, anchors the Noordermarkt at the heart of the Jordaan, once a working-class district, now known for its galleries, small shops and (on Saturday mornings) a well-loved farmers' market on the square. Its unusual octagonal, Greek-cross floor plan put the pulpit at the literal centre of the congregation, while the wealthy got the Westerkerk, the Jordaan's workers got this. A plaque on the facade also marks the February 1941 strike, when Amsterdammers walked out in protest at the Nazi deportation of the city's Jews.
- Papeneiland
One of Amsterdam's oldest brown cafés, trading since 1642 on the corner where the Brouwersgracht meets the Prinsengracht, its Delft-tiled interior and canalside terrace are as much a draw as the apple pie it's known for. Local legend holds that a tunnel once ran from its cellar to the hidden Posthoorn church across the water at Prinsengracht 7, used to smuggle Catholics to worship when the faith was banned in public after the Reformation. The apple pie made international headlines when Bill Clinton stopped in for a slice in 2011.
- West-Indisch Huis
Built in 1617 as a meat market and militia hall, then taken over in 1623 as the seat of the Dutch West India Company, this is where Peter Stuyvesant was appointed director of New Amsterdam, later renamed New York; his statue still stands in the courtyard. In 1628, the plundered contents of a captured Spanish silver fleet, seized by Admiral Piet Heyn off the coast of Cuba, were stored here before being divided among the company's shareholders. A fitting place to arrive for dinner, four centuries of trade and travel later.
Good to know
- The direct route between the two venues takes about 5 minutes, this full detour, including the walk down to Anne Frank House and back up, adds roughly 30–35 minutes.
- Anne Frank House requires a pre-booked, timed ticket and regularly sells out weeks ahead, plan on viewing it and the Westerkerk from the square, not going inside.
- The route is flat, paved, and well-lit in the evening, with one longer stretch (Noorderkerk to Westerkerk) along the Prinsengracht.