Amsterdam fans out south from the Amsterdam Central Station. The Damrak is the main street and continues past Dam Square, turning into the street Rokin. The oldest area of the town is known as de Wallen (the quays in Dutch). It lies to the east of Damrak and contains the city’s famous red light district.

To the south of de Wallen is the old Jewish quarter of Waterlooplein. The 17th century ring of concentric canals circles the heart of the city. Beyond the canal belt (Grachtengordel in Dutch) are the former working class areas of Jordaan and de Pijp. The Museumplein with the city’s major museums, the Vondelpark, a 19th century park named after the Dutch writer Joost van den Vondel, and the Plantage neighbourhood, with the zoo, are also located outside the Grachtengordel.

Several parts of the city and the surrounding urban area are polders, or low lying land that has been surrounded by dikes and had the water pumped out. This can be recognized by the suffix -meer which means lake, as in Aalsmeer, Bijlmermeer, Haarlemmermeer, and Watergraafsmeer.