This is one of my favourite places to visit in Amsterdam. It is a very long shopping street leading off Dam Square. It's great - not for it's wonderful architecture or beautiful buildings - but because it's a shoppers paradise! For me, it has everything, with big names such as Swarovski, Geox, Lush, Pandora, Skechers, and Superdry, to name but a few. Then there's other high street brands including The Body Shop, Mango, Claire's, and Sneakers. It also has dozens of places to get refreshments - numerous coffee shops, cafes, ice cream parlours, outlets selling cakes, donuts, pancakes, frozen yogurts, sandwiches, the lot - this street has it all. Later on in the afternoons it can get very crowded, so unless you like extremely busy places, I would recommend a visit earlier in the day. I find that around 12 pm is best. A great bonus is that Kalverstraat is pedestrianised, so at least you can escape from the cars for a while. If you are not a shopaholic and just want to walk along it, the street has abundances of vibrancy, atmosphere and vitality. There is also a street entertainer in the form of an organ player.
It is also worth going a bit off piste and making a detour down some of the many side streets and alleyways as you will find some lovely little cafe/bars or "brown bars" there. read more