Amsterdam - Ride to work

Last Updated: December 12, 1999

I had an incredible ride to work in terms of the tourist sights I passed. Here's my ride.

I start 1 block from the Anne Frank house with the Westerkerk in the background.
I ride down the Prinsengracht. I glance up the first side street for any traffic, catching a glimpse of Oude Kerk.
Further down the Prinsengracht I pass Noorderkerk on the other side of the canal.
I turn on Harlaamer Strat, and pass ?.
I arrive at Singel Gracht, getting a view of Luthersekerk to my right.
I swing around and end up on Prins Hendrikkade. My ride along here takes me past Centraal Station on the left, with a view of Oude Kerk on my right.
Further along, I pass in front of St Nicolaaskerk, Schreierstorn, and Montebaanstoren, with a view of Zuiderkerk in the background of the last one.
The Science Museum is on my left (okay, so not everything on my ride is a pretty sight), and the Maritime Museum, with a prime view of the sailing ship The Amsterdam.
In front of the Maritime Museum I catch a distant view of the De Grooyer windmill just before I turn onto Kattenburgergracht.
Along Kattenburgergracht (which appears to change its name twice in a short distance) I can see through the trees across Niewe Vaart the Kromhout Shipyard Museum.
I then arrive at the De Grooyer windmill, turning in front of it.
My ride then deteriorates, taking me through some non-descript neighborhoods, past Muiderpoort stations, turning onto a street full of shops. But at the end, I ride along a canal, across from Flevopark.
This branch of U Amsterdam is in the Amsterdam Science Park.
On the right is the building I was in; my office is one of the ones right above the door.

Alternative Route

The route above wasn't the shortest way to work. However, it did bypass some of the nastiest traffic in the city (i.e., I didn't pass through Dam Square and some other places). But on Saturday and Sunday mornings, I'd go in to work for a few hours and often use work as a starting point for my longer bike rides. And on these mornings, there was no traffic, so I took the following route:

I would head the other direction on the Prinsengracht, in the direction of the Anne Frank House and Westerkerk. I'd turn on the first street, Leliegracht before reaching them, though.
My route on Leliegracht would take me past the Greenpeace building and a statue of Multituli. I'd come out at the back of the palace.
Depending on my mood, I'd either ride between Niewe Kerk and the Royal Palace (which is in the opposite direction of traffic), or I'd go around the other side of the Palace. Either would put me in Dam Square.
Riding through Dam Square, I'd pass the War Memorial and head out on Damstraat. Damstraat becomes Oude Hoogstraat which becomes Nieuwe Hoogstraat, taking me past Zuiderkerk.
I'd turn on X, which took me past the Rembrandt House and the Mozes en Aaron Kerk.
Going through the round-about, I'd get on Muiderstraat, which becomes Plantage middenlaan, taking me past the Zoo and the statues of the dinosaurs.
I'd then pass by Muiderpoort, behind the Tropenmuseum and pick up the above route at Muiderpoort Station.

Water Route

I occasionally took a third route to/from work. This route was a water route: I rode by canals and rivers the entire way from home to or from work. The directions are easy: Take the Prinsengracht to the Amstel river. Turn south (upstream) on the Amstel to the Rijxxx. Turn left on the Rijxxx (turning right here would dump you in the Amstel). Ride along this canal until you reach work.

A few comments, though. First, although you could take this route exactly as described, I usually took Kerkstraat rather than following the Prinsengracth the whole way. I took Kerkstraat because the stree had less car traffic and more room than the canal streets. It also takes you straight to the M. Bridge.

Second, since I followed canals/rivers the entire way, I wondered if it'd be possible to take a boat to work. However, I noticed that I saw no boats on the Rijxxx. So I checked carefully on one of my rides and sure enough, where the Rijxxx meats the Amstel there is a low (3 feet above the water) bridge, effectively preventing access to any boats. I assume that boats are prohibited from that canal.

In short, this ride was a nice alternative. It misses almost all tourist spots, passing by only the Anne Frank House and Westerkerk in the beginning, and crossing the Skinny Bridge over the Amstel. It also took me past Casa 400, the hotel in which the rental office for my building was located. So I would take this route to stop in there to pay my rent the first couple of months until I had a bank account set up here.