The canal belt is best walked the way the water falls — north to south, leaving the noise behind you. Start at Rembrandtplein, glance at the bronze Night Watch loitering on the square, and then get out: everything good on this walk is downhill from here and much quieter.
A block south, stand where Reguliersgracht crosses Herengracht and look down the run of seven arched bridges. The famous line-up only resolves from a boat, low on the water — but after dark, lit from the bridge you're on, it earns the evening anyway. Follow the canal down to the Amstelveld, where the plane trees and the wooden Amstelkerk, a temporary church from 1668 that simply stayed, make the calmest square in the belt.
Cross Utrechtsestraat and pick up the Spiegelkwartier — Nieuwe Spiegelstraat and the Spiegelgracht, dense with antique dealers and small galleries. The street ends by walking you clean through the passage under the Rijksmuseum. The Vijzelgracht metro is a short backtrack, and the lamps are doing their work by now.
