Where to Stay in Amsterdam

The horseshoe of 17th-century canals - Herengracht, Keizersgracht, Prinsengracht - that people picture when they picture Amsterdam. You step out of the door onto a bridge, and the Anne Frank House, the Nine Streets shopping lanes and Dam Square are all walkable. If you have two or three days and want zero logistics, this is the answer.

Good to know: You pay for the view: expect around 160 to 320 EUR for a normal double, and 250 to 400 EUR in summer for anything with a canal outlook. The buildings are old, which means steep narrow staircases and often no lift - a real problem with heavy suitcases.

Immediately west of the Canal Belt and, for most people, the better trade. Narrow streets, courtyard gardens, brown cafes and weekend markets, with the Anne Frank House on its edge. It is a living neighbourhood rather than a hotel district, so it goes quiet at night while still being a ten-minute walk from the centre.

Good to know: Rooms start lower - small doubles from roughly 85 EUR, more typically 150 to 250 EUR - but the hotels are small and book out first. Nothing here is a big chain, so if you want a lift, a gym and a 24-hour desk, look at Oud-Zuid instead.

A dense grid of terraces, natural-wine bars and the Albert Cuyp street market, south of the centre and full of people who actually live in Amsterdam. The Heineken Experience and the Museum Quarter are both walkable, and trams reach the centre in about ten minutes.

Good to know: Better value than the centre - budget around 170 EUR a night including tax, with small rooms from roughly 110 EUR. The trade-off is that you are outside the canal ring, so the walk home after dinner is through ordinary streets rather than postcard ones.

The wealthy southern district around the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum and Vondelpark. Wide streets, grand houses and the closest thing Amsterdam has to a hushed residential suburb. This is the pick if you are travelling with kids or you want a proper full-size hotel room.

Good to know: Expect roughly 170 to 260 EUR a night. It is genuinely quiet, which some people find dull - the evening atmosphere is a glass of wine in a hotel bar, not a canal-side crawl. Budget 15 minutes by tram to the centre.

East of the centre around Oosterpark and Javaplein: leafy streets, good coffee, playgrounds and restaurants aimed at residents rather than visitors. Three-star hotels start around 79 EUR a night, and you are still 15 minutes from Centraal by tram or metro.

Good to know: You will use public transport every day, so factor 3.40 EUR each way per person. There is very little to do here late at night, which is the point for some travellers and a dealbreaker for others.

Across the IJ river, a former industrial strip turned creative district - film museum, festival venues, big skies and Noorderpark. The passenger ferries behind Centraal Station are free and run day and night, which makes the distance feel smaller than it looks on a map.

Good to know: The cheapest rooms in the city, from around 58 EUR. But the ferry is the only pleasant link, so a hotel far from a ferry pier means a long bus ride. Check the walking time to the pier before you book, not the distance to the centre.