Museumkwartier: the art quarter done sideways
The Rijksmuseum garden free, the buskers under the passage, and a rose garden to land in. Walked and written by the editor.

1. Museumplein
Cross it once, briskly, and don't linger at the I-amsterdam-sized crowds. The square is the overture, not the walk. Aim for the Rijksmuseum's south face.

2. Rijksmuseum gardens
Free, and almost nobody knows it. A formal garden ringing the museum, dotted with sculpture and salvaged architectural fragments. Walk the gravel paths; you've seen the Night Watch, now see the garden nobody queues for.

3. Rijksmuseum passage
The vaulted cycle-and-foot tunnel straight through the middle of the building. There's almost always a busker, and the acoustics turn a cello into something enormous. Stop in the middle and listen before you walk out the far side.

4. Concertgebouw
Stand in front of the 1888 concert hall — A.L. van Gendt's pillared face, one of the best-sounding rooms in the world behind it. You don't need a ticket; the building from the square is the stop. Free lunchtime concerts run on Wednesdays in term.

5. Cornelis Schuytstraat
Into Oud-Zuid proper — a street of good shops where the neighbourhood actually lives between the museums. Cheese, flowers, a bakery or two. This is the walk's exhale.

6. Vondelpark rose garden
Land here. A formal rose garden tucked into the park's eastern half, walled and quiet and at its best in June. Find a bench among the beds; the museums are behind you and the park opens out ahead.

Museumkwartier: the art quarter done sideways