Oudemanhuispoort

Between quintessentially Dutch houses along the canal snakes a passageway once frequented by Vincent Van Gogh. Today, it’s home to thousands of second-hand books and sheet music piled unceremoniously onto teetering tables, carts and storefronts. There’s no rhyme or reason to the arrangements there, so you’d best expect to spend a few hours hunting for the perfect book. The 17th-century passageway is part of the University of Amsterdam building, but has played multiple roles through the past from a cholera hospital to a storehouse for Vermeer and Rembrandt paintings that form the basis of the Rijksmuseim today. If you enjoy maps and vintage prints, you’ll find more than a few gems here to take back home.