IMAGE: GETTYLook beyond the canal belt to the Dutch capital’s lesser-known
neighbourhoods, where regeneration and sustainability are resulting
in exciting new hotels. Words: Gavin HainesAMSTERDAM
Amsterdam still holds strong as one of Europe’s most exciting city-break
destinations, but with great popularity comes great responsibility. Managing
overtourism is no easy feat, but one of the city’s winning strategies has been to
encourage tourists to think beyond the thronging canal belt. Instead, visitors are
seeking adventures in lesser-visited districts, many of which are now connected
by the Metro. Neighbourhoods like Noord are seeing start-ups, restaurants and
hotels rising from the ashes of industry, while Westergas, a power plant-turned-
cultural district, continues to ignite interest in leafy Westerpark. Sustainability is
a theme in Houthaven, where an old timber harbour is being transformed into the
city’s first carbon-neutral neighbourhood, complete with a fancy new riverside
hotel. Elsewhere, Amsterdam’s bridge houses are being upcycled into quirky
apartments — it’s all a testament to the city’s ability to respectfully reinvent itself.SLEEP48 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel