The grand, leafy district south-west of the centre where the big museums, the Concertgebouw and Vondelpark all sit within a few minutes of each other.
Oud-Zuid is the polished side of Amsterdam - wide streets, large nineteenth- and early twentieth-century houses, and the cluster of museums most visitors come to the city for. The Museumplein ties it together, with the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum and the Stedelijk around an open lawn, the Concertgebouw at one end and Vondelpark a short walk away. It is busy and not cheap, but the concentration of things to see is hard to match.
Centred on the Museumplein; the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, Stedelijk and Concertgebouw ring the lawn, with Vondelpark to the west.
Oud-Zuid went up mainly between the 1870s and the 1920s as the well-off counterpart to the cheaper expansions like the Pijp. The streets are wider and the apartment blocks and townhouses larger and more ornate, much of it brick with stone detailing, and parts of the Apollobuurt and Stadionbuurt to the south carry Amsterdam School and Plan Zuid touches.
The set pieces are public buildings. The Rijksmuseum, designed by Pierre Cuypers and opened in 1885, is a brick-and-stone cathedral to Dutch art with a cycle path running straight through its middle. The Concertgebouw of 1888 stands across the Museumplein, and the Stedelijk's modern white extension, opened in 2012 and nicknamed the bathtub, plays off its older neighbours.
This is where the headline art is. The Rijksmuseum for Rembrandt, Vermeer and the Night Watch, the Van Gogh Museum for the largest collection of his work anywhere, the Stedelijk for modern and contemporary. Book all of them ahead; the walk-up queues are long and the Van Gogh Museum is timed-entry only.
Beyond the museums, the Concertgebouw is worth a concert for the hall alone, Vondelpark is the city's most-used green space right on the edge, and the P.C. Hooftstraat is the luxury shopping street if that is your thing. It is an easy area to fold a museum morning into a long park afternoon.
Oud-Zuid is among the safest and calmest parts of the city, a well-off district with no real trouble. The only routine caution is pickpockets working the dense crowds on the Museumplein and in the museum queues. Mind your bag there and the area gives you nothing to worry about.
The area around the Museumplein in Oud-Zuid, where the Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh Museum and the Stedelijk Museum sit around an open square, with the Concertgebouw at one end and Vondelpark nearby. It is the main concentration of art museums in the city.
Both are in Oud-Zuid, part of Stadsdeel Zuid, on the Museumplein just south-west of the canal ring. They are a short walk from De Pijp and Oud-West and well served by trams.
Yes. The Van Gogh Museum is timed-entry and regularly sells out, and the Rijksmuseum and Stedelijk get very busy. Book online before you go to avoid long queues, and consider a Museumkaart or city card if you are seeing several.