The Jordaan

The Jordaan is where Amsterdam feels most like a village, and wandering it without a plan is one of the best things to do in the city. It was laid out in the early seventeenth century, at the same time as the grand Canal Ring next door, but for a very different population: the artisans, labourers and immigrants who kept the Golden Age city running. Its streets and canals follow the angles of old drainage ditches rather than the merchants' tidy arcs, the houses are smaller, and for three centuries it was a crowded, working-class district with its own dialect, music and fierce local pride. Rembrandt spent his last years here, in poverty, on the Rozengracht. Today the Jordaan is one of the most desirable addresses in the city, but its character survives in the details: quiet canals like the Bloemgracht and Egelantiersgracht lined with gabled houses and plants spilling from the doorsteps; hofjes, the almshouse courtyards built by wealthy benefactors for widows and the elderly, hidden behind unmarked doors (a few welcome quiet visitors at set times); brown cafés with dark wood, sand on the floor and generations of regulars; and a parade of independent galleries, antique dealers, cheese shops and cafés. The two big draws are the markets around the Noordermarkt: a Monday-morning flea and textile market, and on Saturdays the organic farmers' market, followed for many locals by a slice of apple cake at a café on the square famous for it. The Jordaan is free to explore at any time, and it is at its best on a weekday morning or a slow Saturday.

How to explore it: start at the Westerkerk, next to the Anne Frank House, and cross the Prinsengracht into the Jordaan's southern half, where the Rozengracht and Bloemgracht lead west past artists' studios and canal-side houses with ornate gables. Zigzag north through the side streets — the Tweede Egelantiersdwarsstraat is lined with small restaurants and boutiques — toward the Westerstraat, where a general market runs on Mondays, and the Noordermarkt with its church and market stalls. Further north, the Brouwersgracht, which many Amsterdammers consider the prettiest canal in the city, marks the Jordaan's edge with converted warehouses and houseboats. A loop like this takes two hours at a slow pace, longer with coffee stops, and there is no wrong turn.

Hofjes etiquette: the almshouse courtyards are still private homes, mostly for older or single residents, and only some are open to visitors, generally during daytime hours. If a door is open and a sign does not say otherwise, step inside quietly, keep voices low, do not photograph residents, and leave as you found it. Respecting this is what keeps the courtyards open at all. Similarly, the Jordaan's canals are residential, and noisy groups late at night are not welcome; the neighbourhood is at its best by daylight and in the early evening.

Eating and drinking: the Jordaan is one of the best places in Amsterdam for a traditional brown café, with a beer or a jenever, the Dutch gin, and bitterballen, the crisp, gravy-filled croquettes that are the national bar snack. Lunch can be a sandwich from a deli or cheese shop, an Indonesian meal, or pancakes; dinner choices range from cosy neighbourhood bistros to some of the city's most interesting modern restaurants. Families will enjoy the markets, the canals and the playgrounds tucked between the streets; couples should save a canal-side terrace for late afternoon. Pair the Jordaan with the Anne Frank House at its southern tip and the Nine Streets just across the Prinsengracht.