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which the ArenA Boulevard, lined with new shops and cafés, leads to the main entrance. Much as you would expect, the museum is a historical homage to Holland’s most successful football club, Ajax, charting its origins at the turn of the twentieth century – lots of photos of men in big shorts in muddy fields – through its various stadia and the evolution of the famous red-and-white strip. There are special shrines to two of the club’s most illustrious players – Cruyff and van Basten – as well as a rather sentimental short film depicting the rise to stardom of its leading players. The centrepiece, true to the club’s obvious self-image as one of the big hitters of European football (there’s relatively little on the domestic league), is a display devoted to Ajax’s European campaigns, with tickets, programmes, shirts and footage of the key moments from each final, from their first victory – in 1971 against Panathinaikos – to their most recent. As for the stadium, hour-long walk-in tours are conducted throughout the day in Dutch and English between 11am and 4.30pm, which will impress even the most fair-weather fan, especially if you happen to time it right and get there during training (the Ajax training ground is adjacent to the stadium). Tours take in the main concourses, the press room – where you can snap yourself in front of the sponsors’ logos – and the view from up in the security box; you’re also allowed onto a strip of the hallowed turf. In fact, the pitch is perhaps the most remarkable thing about the Amsterdam ArenA: the stadium is built in such a way that the grass receives hardly any sunlight and no wind, which means it doesn’t drain or grow very well and has to be relaid at least two or three times a year. See "Ajax Amsterdam" for information on seeing a game at the ArenA.

The outer districts |

Amsterdam Noord

Amsterdam Noord (North), on the far side of the River IJ, has flourished since the construction of the IJ tunnel linked it with the city centre in the 1960s. A modern suburban sprawl, the district is short on obvious charm, but a more cultured aspect is evolving in the redevelopment of the NDSM Shipyard. Reachable by ferry from behind Centraal Station, the former shipyard’s cavernous structures now provide studio and exhibition space for artists, and there are plans to develop the area into an arts and events centre. Further out into the countryside the area to head for is the Waterland, an expanse of peat meadows, lakes and marshland to the northeast of the built-up area. Until the turn of the twentieth century, this parcel of land was a marshy fen; it was made more tractable by the digging of drainage canals, prompting wealthy Amsterdammers to build their summer residences here. These myriad waterways are home to a wide range of waterfowl, as are the many lakes, the largest of which – abutting the Markermeer, formerly part of the Zuider Zee – is the Kinselmeer. The best way to explore the Waterland is by bike, and the VVV (plus larger bookshops) sells a detailed map – the Plattegrond van Amsterdam-Noord (€2.95) – marked with the area’s cycle paths. One good trip of about 40km begins at the IJpleinveer ferry dock on the north side of the IJ, from where you follow Meeuwenlaan to the large roundabout at the start of Nieuwendammerdijk. This long meeting Schellingwoudedijk and then Durger Dammerdijke, at the southern tip of the long dyke that stretches up the coast. You can return to the dock the same way or travel back a little inland.

The outer districts | Amsterdam Noord |

Ferries across the IJ

There are five GVB public transport ferries across the IJ and three of them depart from De Ruyterkade, behind Centraal Station. None of the three takes cars, but all carry foot passengers, bicycles and motorbikes for free. Of the three, the Buiksloterwegveer (Mon–Sat 6.30am–10.54pm, till 9pm from Buiksloterweg, Sun 11.06am–6.54pm) shuttles back and forth every twelve minutes or so, running to the foot of Buiksloterweg. The smaller IJpleinveer (Mon–Sat 6.27am–11.57pm, Sun 9.12am–11.57pm) connects with the IJplein