Markets: The largest flea market in Holland is on Queen’s Day, the 30th of April. The whole city change into one huge flea market where everyone sell, buy and exchange clothes, furniture, games, cd’s, roller-skates, etc.,etc. Musicien, concerts, food and drinks are everywhere.
Het Waterlooplein, a bit east from Central Station is a large market with clothes, old furniture, antique and curiosity.
Every Monday morning from 9 till 12 a.m. is a market on the Noorder-markt (Jordaan area) Specialized in stuff from the 50’ties and antiques. On Saterday there is food market from eco-farms.
The Albert Cuyp market (dailey except on Sunday) from 9 am till 6 pm. is the longest market in Holland. They sell food, flowers, clothes, make-up and other little things.
On the Singel is the flower market, daily from 9 am till 6 pm. A bit touristic, but worth to visit because of the beautiful fresh flowers they sell.
Overview of Amsterdam: Orientation
The ‘Amsterdam’ that most people know is the city centre, the semicircle with Central Station at its apex. It corresponds to the old city, as it was around 1850. Five major concentric canals ring the old city; the Singel, the Herengracht, the Keizersgracht, the Prinsengracht, and the Singelgracht (not to be confused with the Singel!), which runs alongside the roads Nassaukade, Stadhouderskade, and Mauritskade and marks the location of the former city moat and fortifications. Almost everything outside this line was built after 1870. The semicircle is on the south side of the IJ, which is called a river, but is more exactly an estuary. Going east from central station, the railway passes the artificial islands of the redeveloped Eastern Docklands. North of the IJ is mainly housing, although a major dockland redevelopment has started there too.
The river Amstel flows into the city from the south. Originally, it flowed along the line Rokin-Damrak. The dam in the Amstel, which gives the city its name, was located under the present Bijenkorf department store. The original settlement was on the right bank of the Amstel, on the present Warmoesstraat: it is therefore the oldest street in the city. The city has expanded in all directions, except to the north of the ring motorway. The region there, Waterland, is a protected rural landscape of open fields and small villages.
The radius of the semicircle is about 2 km. All major tourist destinations, and most hotels, are located inside it or just outside it. As a result, much of Amsterdam is never visited by tourists: at least 90% of the population lives outside this area. Most economic activity in Amsterdam — the offices of the service sector, and the port — is located on or outside the ring motorway, which is four to five kilometers from the centre.