Dating from the 1670s, the nine-arched 'Skinny Bridge' has had several incarnations, first in timber and later in concrete. It has a hand-operated central section that can be raised to let boats through. The bridge is especially pretty at night, when it glows with 1200 tiny lights. It has appeared in several films, including the 1971 James Bond thriller Diamonds Are Forever. Stand in the middle and feel it sway under the passing traffic.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Amstelsluizen

0.1 MILES

These impressive sluices on the Amstel river, near Koninklijk Theater Carré, date from 1674 and are still in use to today. They allow the canals to be…

2. H'Art Museum

0.12 MILES

Formerly a branch of St Petersburg’s State Hermitage Museum, H'Art Museum cut ties with Russia and now operates as an independent museum.

3. Gijsbert Dommer Huis

0.14 MILES

This handsome greystone house is known dramatically as the 'House with the Blood Stains'. Six-time mayor and diplomat Coenraad van Beuningen lost his…

4. Museum Willet-Holthuysen

0.2 MILES

This exquisite canal house was built in 1687 for Amsterdam mayor Jacob Hop, then remodelled in 1739. It's named after Louisa Willet-Holthuysen, who…

5. Blauwbrug

0.2 MILES

Built in 1884, this highly decorated stone bridge replaced an old, blue (hence the name) wooden crossing that had connected these shores of the Amstel…

6. Joods Historisch Museum

0.26 MILES

In this beautifully restored complex of four Ashkenazic synagogues from the 17th and 18th centuries, displays show the history of Jews in the Netherlands,…

7. Amstelkerk

0.26 MILES

Looking more like a country house than a church, the pinewood Amstelkerk was erected in 1668 as a noodkerk (makeshift church) under the direction of the…

8. Tassenmuseum Hendrikje

0.27 MILES

This grand 17th-century canal-house museum has a covetable collection of arm candy. More than 5000 bags can be found here, including a medieval pouch,…