The Jordaan and the western canals
From Haarlemmerdijk and Noordermarkt past Anne Frank House and Westerkerk to the Golden Bend: markets, houseboats, small museums and canal houses. A flat 4 km walk over many canal bridges, with market and cafe breaks.
Route
The walk begins on Haarlemmerdijk, the long shopping street at the northern edge of the Jordaan. Find a spot on the pavement and turn so that you face southeast, with the street running ahead of you towards the city centre; the whole route unfolds in that direction. Everything today is flat and close together, so there is no need to hurry. Take a moment to settle in here, then press Play for the first stop.
Walk southeast along Haarlemmerdijk for a few minutes, then turn right onto Korte Prinsengracht. It brings you straight down to the water of Brouwersgracht, where you turn right again. The stop is on your left, with the canal beside you. It is a short, easy leg, about 340 metres and four minutes. This is the first of the canals you will follow today, and the quiet after the busy shopping street is noticeable the moment you reach it.
Follow Brouwersgracht northwest, keeping the canal beside you, and cross it at the Oranjebrug. On the far side the route turns into the Jordaan proper: a short stretch of Willemsstraat, then left into Eerste Goudsbloemdwarsstraat, a narrow lane that runs south for a few minutes. The leg is about 440 metres, six minutes in all. You arrive where the lane ends and the square opens out on your left, with the large church filling its middle; that is the Noordermarkt.
Leave the square at its southern side along Noorderkerkstraat and thread through two short Jordaan lanes, Lindenstraat and then Eerste Boomdwarsstraat, until you reach the wider Westerstraat. Turn right onto it; the museum is on your right. It is roughly 300 metres and four minutes of walking. These are narrow residential streets, so keep an eye out for bicycles as you cross from one to the next.
Head west on Westerstraat only briefly, then turn left into Eerste Anjeliersdwarsstraat, a straight lane that carries you south for a couple of minutes. At the water of Egelantiersgracht turn left, and then right onto Prinsengracht. The museum is on your right, facing the canal. The leg is about 320 metres and four minutes. From here the route follows Prinsengracht for a while, so the canal becomes your guide for the next few stops.
Continue southwest along Prinsengracht, cross the canal at Leliesluis, and carry on along the opposite bank. It is barely two minutes, about 150 metres. The destination is on your left, and the tall tower of the Westerkerk, the next stop, rises just beyond it, so you cannot miss the spot. Expect more people here than anywhere else on the walk; find a place to stand out of the flow before you press Play.
This is the shortest leg of the day: keep going southwest along Prinsengracht for less than 100 metres and the church is on your left. Its tower has been in view since the last stop, so simply walk towards it, with the canal still beside you. There is room to stop on the quay by the water and look up at the tower before you listen; it is the tallest thing around, and the walk will keep it in sight for a while yet.
Walk south along Prinsengracht a short way, cross the canal and double back briefly on the far bank, then turn left into Bloemstraat and right into Eerste Bloemdwarsstraat. Follow that lane north for a few minutes; the museum is on your right. The leg is about 370 metres and five minutes, and it takes you back into the small lanes of the Jordaan, away from the water. It is a small place, easy to walk past, so slow down as the lane runs on.
Walk south along Tweede Leliedwarsstraat for a few minutes until it meets the wide, busy Rozengracht, then turn right and follow it for a short distance. About 350 metres and five minutes. There is no single building to find here: this stop is the neighbourhood itself, and the quiet lane you have just walked and the broad street you now stand on are both part of it. Pause anywhere along Rozengracht and press Play.
Walk back northeast along Rozengracht to the canal, turn right along Prinsengracht, cross over at Reestraat, and continue along the far bank. The leg is about 530 metres, seven minutes, with the water beside you for most of it. Your stop is on your left, on the canal itself; there is no particular building to look for, so find a place on the quay with a clear view along the water.
Keep heading south along Prinsengracht, cross at Berenstraat and come back onto the canal on the other side. It is about 150 metres, two minutes, so you will be there almost as soon as you set off. The museum is on your left, but look to the water rather than the houses: it is a moored barge, not a building, and that is how you recognise it. Press Play from the quay beside it.
Walk back north along Prinsengracht for a moment, then turn right into Berenstraat and follow it for a few minutes, about 280 metres in all. Berenstraat is one of the nine small streets that give this district its name, and the stop is on your right partway along. By the time you cross the second canal you are in the middle of it; stop wherever the street feels most like itself.
Head west on Wolvenstraat to the water, then turn left onto Keizersgracht and follow the canal for about 300 metres. The leg is roughly 370 metres and five minutes, flat and straight, with the water beside you the whole way. The museum is on your left, one of the canal houses facing the water, so watch the house fronts as you go rather than the canal, and slow down as you near the end of the stretch.
Walk south along Keizersgracht, turn left onto Leidsegracht, and at the next canal turn right onto Herengracht. Follow it as it begins to curve, crossing to the opposite bank where the path takes you. The leg is about 470 metres, six minutes. The arrival cue is the canal itself: the houses grow larger and grander as the water bends, and the stop is on your left along this stretch. Find a spot on the quay with the bend in view and press Play for the final stop.