Along the Amstel: a walk from the Mint Tower to Carré
6 stops, about 1.4 km, around 35 minutes with the stories
A self-guided walk down the Amstel, the river that gave Amsterdam its name. It starts at the Munttoren, passes the statue on the Rembrandtplein, and then follows the Amstel past the Blauwbrug, the long front of the Amstelhof and the Magere Brug to Theater Carré.
What this walk shows you
The walk begins at the old edge of the city. The Munttoren was part of a medieval gate, and the road south left Amsterdam through it. A few minutes on, in the middle of what was once the butter market, stands the oldest statue in any public space in the city, put up to Rembrandt in 1852.
From there you reach the river and turn along it. The Amstel is what the city is named after: Amsterdam is the dam on the Amstel, and the dam itself was further downstream, where Dam Square is now. Four very different things stand on this stretch of it. A bridge of 1883 built to impress. A home for old women that is more than a hundred metres long. A wooden drawbridge that still opens for boats. And a theatre that began as a circus.
Before you set out
The first two stops are in busy squares; after the Blauwbrug the walk is on the quiet side of the river. The Magere Brug is for walkers and cyclists only, and it is raised many times a day, so you may have to wait for a boat. The walk is at its best towards evening, when the Magere Brug is lit.
The route
- 1 Munttoren The Munttoren is a tower on the Muntplein that began as part of the Regulierspoort, a medieval gate in Amsterdam’s city wall.
320 m to the next stop
- 2 Rembrandt Monument The Rembrandt Monument is a cast-iron statue of the painter by Louis Royer, unveiled in 1852 on what was then the butter market.
380 m to the next stop
- 3 Blauwbrug The Blauwbrug, the Blue Bridge, is a richly decorated bridge of 1883 over the Amstel, between the Amstelstraat and the Waterlooplein.
190 m to the next stop
- 4 Amstelhof The Amstelhof is a very long brick building on the Amstel, built in the early 1680s as a home for old women and used to house the elderly until 2007.
260 m to the next stop
- 5 Magere Brug The Magere Brug, or Skinny Bridge, is a white wooden drawbridge across the river Amstel.
230 m to the next stop
- 6 Theater Carré Theater Carré is a theatre on the Amstel that opened in December 1887 as a permanent circus building for the circus director Oscar Carré.
Take Lookstory with you. At each stop it tells the story aloud, and points you to the next one.
Open Lookstory