Begijnhof: the courtyard and the bookshops
A medieval almshouse hidden behind a door, two great bookshops, and the city's oldest house. Walked and written by the editor.

1. Rokin metro (M52)
Come up onto the Rokin and walk a minute south-west to the Spui. This is a short walk; take it slowly and read the building fronts, which is the whole point.

2. Begijnhof
Push the unmarked door off the Spui gate and you're in a hushed courtyard the city forgot to demolish. The notices ask for quiet; honour them. Find Het Houten Huis at number 34, the oldest house in Amsterdam, and the *schuilkerk* — the clandestine Catholic chapel kept discreet for two centuries.

3. Engelse Kerk
The plain Gothic church on the courtyard's south side has been the city's English-speaking Presbyterian congregation since 1607. Step in if a door is open; it's the kind of bare, swept interior the rest of the city spent the Golden Age reacting against.

4. Spui
Back out through the gate onto the Spui, the square the booksellers claimed. On a Friday the *boekenmarkt* fills it with second-hand stalls; the rest of the week it's the *Lieverdje* statue and people reading on the benches. Either is a good reason to stand still.

5. Athenaeum Boekhandel & Nieuwscentrum
The serious bookshop, with the newsstand attached that still carries papers from half of Europe. Browse the Dutch fiction tables even if you can't read a word; the covers tell you what the city is thinking about.

6. The American Book Center
Three floors of English-language books a few doors along, and the natural place to end up with something you didn't plan to buy. From here it's two minutes back to the Rokin and the metro under it.

Begijnhof: the courtyard and the bookshops