Radial canals connect the main canals, and most residential businesses lie along them. Buildings touch side by side but not against those to the rear, which front on an adjacent canal. Expect to wait in line if you want to see the Jewish girl's hideaway where she wrote her diary in 1942-44. Walking tours allow an even better view of special areas in which you're interested. It's also the starting point for street cars throughout the city.
Streetcars slow perceptibly in the downtown area because of hordes of pedestrians and bicycles.
Dam Square, on the main street just south of the Centraal, lies near the original harbor before the crafty Dutch dammed the Zuider Zee, created the huge fresh water Ijsselmeer, and added fertile farm land below sea level. The area is safe, but visitors can easily avoid it and still view Amsterdam's exciting culture, striking architecture and buoyant people. Wherever you wander over the frequent bridges that appear everywhere in the Dutch capital, however, you never lose sight of The Netherlands' earlyday bane and present-day blessing. E.W. Scripps Publications , All Rights Reserved. Site users are subject to our User Agreement .