Westerpark and Westergas

Westerpark and the Westergas complex are where to see how Amsterdammers actually spend their free time, and they make a refreshing contrast with the tourist centre a fifteen-minute walk or short bike ride away. The Westergasfabriek was built in the late nineteenth century to make the coal gas that lit the city's streets, and it closed in 1967. For decades its industrial buildings stood polluted and largely unused, until a long clean-up and a bold redesign transformed the site into a cultural park around the turn of the millennium. Today the seventeen buildings, their brick exteriors and chimneys preserved much as they were, house restaurants, cafés, bars, an arthouse cinema, studios, offices and large event spaces, including the round former gasholder, which hosts concerts, fashion shows and festivals. Around them, a modern landscape park designed by Kathryn Gustafson's practice blends lawns, a long reflecting pool, wetland gardens, reed beds and playgrounds into the older Westerpark, a nineteenth-century city park on the west side. The whole area is free to enter. On weekends, families picnic on the grass, children splash in the paddling areas in summer, runners loop the paths and friends gather on the terraces. Markets, food festivals, open-air cinema and music events fill the calendar, especially in the warmer months, and the agenda on the official site shows what is on. In winter, the restaurants and cinema keep the place alive, and the industrial silhouettes look dramatic in low light.

Why go: Westergas offers a local, relaxed Amsterdam that many visitors never see. There are no queues or tickets, just a green space where you can sit with a coffee and watch the city at play. It is also one of the best examples in Europe of turning a polluted industrial site into a public park, and anyone interested in urban design will enjoy wandering the transitions from formal lawn to wild wetland. Food and drink are a big part of the appeal: the converted buildings hold a range of restaurants and bars, from casual cafés with big terraces to more ambitious dining, and many have large terraces. Check the agenda before you go, because a market, festival or event can turn a quiet visit into a lively afternoon.

Getting there and around: walk west from the Jordaan along the Haarlemmerstraat and the Haarlemmerdijk, two of the best shopping streets in the city, then cross the Haarlemmerplein and continue under the railway, about fifteen minutes on foot from the Noordermarkt. Trams and buses stop along the Haarlemmerweg, and cycling there is easy. The park is open at all hours, while the restaurants, cinema and venues keep their own opening times. Paths are flat and stroller-friendly, and there are playgrounds for younger children. In summer, events can mean crowds and closed-off areas, so check the agenda if you want a quiet visit.

Nearby: just north of the park, the Spaarndammerbuurt is home to Het Schip, a masterpiece of the Amsterdam School of architecture from the early twentieth century, with a museum about the movement. The Westelijke Eilanden, the old harbour islands with their warehouses and drawbridges, are a short walk east and among the most photogenic corners of the city. Combine Westergas with the Jordaan in the morning, the Haarlemmerdijk for lunch and an afternoon in the park, and you have a day of local Amsterdam with no tickets at all.