Neighbourhoods
Waterlooplein — flea market, opera and the Jewish quarter's memory
The city's oldest flea market six days a week, the Stopera on the Amstel, Rembrandt's house around the corner — and four centuries of Jewish Amsterdam in the stones.
- flea market
- history
- Jewish heritage
- Amstel
- central
Photo: Hans Ouwens / Google
Waterlooplein layers more history per square metre than almost anywhere in the city. The daily flea market (Monday–Saturday) is its beating surface — vintage leather, records, bike parts, gloriously unsorted; underneath lies the heart of the old Jewish quarter, whose story the surrounding Portuguese Synagogue, Jewish Museum and Holocaust memorials carry. The Stopera complex puts city hall and national opera on one Amstel bend, the Mozes en Aäronkerk closes the square, and Rembrandt's house-museum stands a street away on the Jodenbreestraat. Rummage first, then let the surroundings slow you down — this square asks for both moods.
Getting there
Directions from the nearest transit hubs to Waterlooplein — flea market, opera and the Jewish quarter's memory.
Amsterdam's main station — intercity, sprinter, metro 51/52/53/54, most tram lines and city ferries all depart here.
Waterlooplein metro station (lines 51/53/54) opens onto the square; tram 14 stops alongside.