Dappermarkt, Amsterdam

Dappermarkt is the open-air market filling Dapperstraat, and it is among Amsterdam’s busiest places to shop. Its story as a market street reaches back to 1910, when Amsterdam’s municipality gave Dapperstraat that official role. The market is named for Olfert Dapper, and its stalls serve the city’s diverse communities, including people of Surinamese, Antillean, Turkish, and Moroccan background.

That mix gives the market and the surrounding neighbourhood a distinctly multicultural character. Visitors come from across the Netherlands, not only from Amsterdam. National Geographic featured Dappermarkt in its November/December 2007 edition and placed it among the world’s ten leading shopping streets. Take in the changing rows of produce, household goods, clothing, and handmade items as you move along the street; the appeal is the variety gathered into a lively, everyday market.