A walk through medieval Amsterdam, from Centraal Station to the Dam

What this walk shows you

Amsterdam began as a strip of houses along a dammed river, and this route follows that strip. You start where the harbour used to be, walk down the old sea dike into the district around the Oude Kerk, cross to the gate that marked the eastern edge of the town, and finish on the square where the dam itself was built.

The street plan you walk is medieval, and so are the Oude Kerk, the Schreierstoren and the Waag. Most of what stands along it came later, and each stop says when.

Before you set out

The route is flat and stays on ordinary streets. The stretch around the Oude Kerk runs through the red-light district, which is busiest in the evening; it is quieter and easier to look at in the morning. People live and work there, and photographing the windows is not allowed.