This private Amsterdam walking tour is the fastest way to get your bearings in the city of canals, on foot and by water, in just 4 hours. Your guide meets you at the pier and walks with you directly into the historic center.
The route passes through the Begijnhof, the oldest of Amsterdam's hidden courtyards. A document dated 31 July 1346 records the plot being given to a community of Beguines, laywomen who lived together and devoted themselves to prayer and charity without taking formal religious vows. Amsterdam's oldest surviving wooden house still stands inside this courtyard, tucked away from the street.
From there you walk to the Bloemenmarkt, the floating flower market on the Singel Canal. Growers first brought flowers into the city by barge in 1862, and while the boats are now permanently moored in place, the market still technically sits on the water rather than on land, the only market of its kind anywhere.
Your guide continues past the Magere Brug, the Skinny Bridge, sharing the stories behind its name, then through the Jewish Quarter, where you learn about the neighborhood's history during the German occupation of the Second World War and see the exterior of the house where Anne Frank and her family hid. The walk finishes in the Red Light District, one of the oldest parts of the city, where narrow cobbled lanes and 14th century architecture surround the Gothic Oude Kerk, Amsterdam's oldest church.
After the walking portion, you board a canal cruise, still one of the best ways to see Amsterdam's gabled merchant houses and historic bridges. The route runs through the city's 17th century canal ring, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010 for its planned, largely intact Golden Age street pattern. At the end of the tour your guide walks back with you to the pier, or you are welcome to stay in the city and explore further on your own.
Review Location- Amsterdam 
