Walking Tour of Peaceful Places in Amsterdam's Southern Historic Centrum

Leave the student courtyard areas out onto Kloveniersburgwal. Cross this wide canal over the drawbridge (stop at Café Staalmeesters if you're thirsty and in need of people-watching from a covered terrace) and stay straight on Staalstraat. Peruse Droog, a modern Dutch design shop with furnishings that really make you think. Cross the small white drawbridge over Groenburgwal and turn left on its odd side. Stroll along the canal that was once the subject of a Claude Monet painting and you're draw will drop a little at the same view he had. This is by far the best angle to get a shot of the Zuiderkerk. This is why it makes my list of Amsterdam's most charming small canals.