3 Best Sights in Jordaan, Amsterdam

Regularly voted Amsterdam's most beautiful street, this wonderful canal at the northern border of the Jordaan is lined with residences and former warehouses for the brewers, fish processors, and tanneries who operated here in the 17th century when Amsterdam was the "warehouse of the world." On top of the old canal, mansions dotting the Brouwersgracht are symbols referring to the breweries that used this waterway to transport their goods to thirsty drinkers hundreds of years ago. Although most of the buildings have been converted into luxury apartments, an old-world charm still reigns. Of particular note are buildings at Nos. 204–212, with their trapezium gables. At No. 162, there are two dried fish above the door; this decoration on a metal screen was the forerunner of the gable stone to denote occupation. The canal provides long views down the grand canals that are perfect for photo ops.

The floral canal names in the Jordaan district are at odds with the fragrances that would have emanated from them in their early days. This canal, named for the "eglantine rose," is one of Amsterdam's loveliest. Many of its houses and surrounding streets were first occupied by Golden Age painters and artisans, including the legendary Blaeu family of mapmakers. Hidden here is the St. Andrieshofje, famous for its Delftware entryway. And certainly not hidden (because it's usually jammed with people) is the famed Café 't Smalle (on the corner of the Prinsengracht). This brown café, covered with eglantine roses and complete with a floating terrace, was where Pieter Hoppe began his jenever distillery in 1780, an event of such global significance that Café 't Smalle is re-created in Japan's Holland Village in Nagasaki.

There are over 2,500 houseboats in Amsterdam, including one especially for cats—the Poezenboot (Cat Boat) sanctuary opposite Singel 38. At the Houseboat Museum, a converted 1914-built freighter, the Hendrika Maria, provides a glimpse into this unique lifestyle.