The Old South boundaries have continually changed throughout the centuries with adaptations being made as recently as 2010. The Vondelpark and Museum Quarter currently are incorporated within the district. The Vondelpark itself is a rather majestic mile long landscaped city park that cuts from north to south through the district. Attracting over 10 million visitors every year on foot, bicycle, rollerblades, skateboard and horseback it is rare to see the park truly empty during the day or night throughout the year. Both city residents and visitors come here to enjoy a leisurely stroll around the many water features and ornamental gardens or to enjoy a picnic or barbeque. The park has three cafes and an open air theatre for performances in the summer months. Most popular is the unexpected wildlife to be found here including a family of storks, heron, geese and many hundreds of wild green parrots.
The popular and rather upmarket shopping streets P.C Hooftstraat and Beethovenstraat are the perfect place to grab some exclusive designer threads. For more affordable clothing as well as practical household goods and food head to the nearby amazing Albert Cuyp Market which attracts an incredible 20,000 visitors every day.
The district is also home to the city’s famous cultural hub, the Museum Quarter. Here you can spend a day exploring the rather majestic Rijksmuseum and its many national and international treasures and artworks, the ever-popular Van Gogh Museum and the newly reopened modern art museum, the Stedelijk.
Music lovers will be spoilt at the breath taking Concertgebouw. This 19th century concert hall is considered to be one of the world’s finest with unbeatable acoustics. Originally opened in 1888 the hall’s popularity has grown annually to the point that today it has become the second most-visited concert hall in the world. Around 900 concerts are played here every year to a public of over 800,000 visitors.
