Take a Virtual Walk Around Amsterdam With Google Maps Street View

If you're planning a trip to Amsterdam or just want to relive your last visit there, why not take a virtual trip courtesy of Google Street View?

For those of you who missed the memo, Google has dispatched the world's biggest fleet of high-tech snoops into the world to snap one heck of a lot of pictures. The vehicles, each mounted by a set of cameras, tour the streets of cities and towns recording millions of images in all four directions simultaneously as they move. Once these images make their way into the vast database that is Google Street View, any of us has the option to cruise the same streets and peep in the same windows and doorways at our leisure.

Happily, Google Street View crews have covered most of Amsterdam, so off we go to look for ourselves free of charge. You can even take a look at the famous Redlight district while you're there...

Want to get a look at Rembrandtsplein, the famous park once home to a buttery and now surrounded by nightclubs, restaurants and strip joints? Go to Google Street View and type in "Rembrandsplein Amsterdam" Whoosh! You're there. Click on the yellow man icon and pick a starting point. From there, you'll be able to maneuver along the streets by double-clicking on a white ellipse that you can position almost anywhere in the view. Once there, you can look in all directions and zoom in to read club names, street numbers, or to check out an outdoor menu here and there.

Want to catch a glimpse of the famous red light district with its in-your-face display windows and cannabis coffee shops? Type in "Red Light District Amsterdam" and Google Street View will get you there. Stroll along the Oudezijds Achterburgwal and the nearby streets to your heart's content. If any sights catch your fancy, stop, turn, and zoom in for a closer look.

You can get more specific if you like. To see the narrowest house in Amsterdam, just the width of the front door, type in "7 Singel Amsterdam" If you turn all around and don't see it right away, rest assured it's only a few steps away. It's a chance to hone your navigation skills on Google Street View.

Learning is easy. Google Maps has an easy to follow video tutorial on the Street View link from its home page. Just drop the yellow fellow somewhere on the map and give it a go!

Then, some day, when you can't decide whether to book a room at the Dikker And Thijs Fenice hotel on Prinsengracht 444, or at the Hotel Arena on S Gravesandestraat 51, you'll be able to take a look at the facades for yourself, then take a virtual cruise around the neighborhoods on the back of your mouse. After that it won't be so hard to decide which feels more like your own perfect home away from home.