Running tour · Amsterdam

Plantage to the Docks

2.0 mi run

Open in Stride Stories

The stories on this route

1. Waterlooplein

   Look at the flea-market stalls, and beyond them the big Stopera building by the Amstel. Until 1882, this square was water: two canals, the Houtgracht and the Leprozengracht, filled in to make it. The philosopher Spinoza's family lived on the Houtgracht. Rembrandt was among their neighbours.

2. Portuguese Synagogue

   Look at the date over the entrance: 1672. That's the year this synagogue was meant to be finished. Then came the Dutch 'disaster year', and a heavy storm, and the work was delayed. It opened in 1675, with celebrations lasting eight days. When it was built, it was the largest synagogue in the world.

3. Hortus Botanicus

   Look at the garden gate, from the early 1700s. Behind it is one of the oldest botanical gardens in the world, founded in 1638 as a herb garden for doctors and apothecaries. In 1713, Nicolaes Witsen gave it two little coffee plants.

4. Hollandsche Schouwburg

   Look at the theatre front. It opened in 1892 as the Artis Schouwburg, and became famous for premieres of plays by Herman Heijermans.

5. Artis Zoo

   Look through the railings. This is Artis, the oldest zoo in the Netherlands. Its full name is Natura Artis Magistra, Latin for 'Nature is the teacher of art'.

6. De Gooyer Windmill

   Look up at the towering windmill: eight-sided, wooden, on a stone base, right beside the canal. This is De Gooyer, a national monument.

7. Maritime Museum

   Look at the big square storehouse, and find the stone panels on its north side. They say it was built in 1656, and brought into use in nine months.

Stories researched October 2026 · every fact checked against a source