Escort Jordaan, a quieter kind of Amsterdam

With companions living locally, arrival within the hour is the norm. The streets are narrow and parking barely exists, so the last few metres are generally walked from the nearest bridge or canal corner. On Saturdays the Noordermarkt fills with market stalls, and on warm evenings the terraces spill across the pavements. Neither slows things much, but a precise address always helps.

The Jordaan rewards small plans. A brown café with candles on the tables, a wine bar on a side street, dinner in a room of ten tables, then a walk along the Brouwersgracht, often called the loveliest canal in the city. Karolina is poised and witty, with a fondness for architecture that finds plenty to admire here. Patricia, romantic and attentive, knows the pleasure of an old bookshop and a film noir. Sonya wears understated evening elegance as if it were cut for her, calm and warm in equal measure. Bianka, sultry and attentive, turns a glass of good wine into an occasion.

Some guests simply want a quiet companion in a quiet room. The Jordaan was made for exactly that.

Jordaan addresses reward precision. Several streets share a name with the canal beside them, so the Bloemgracht and the Bloemstraat run in parallel, as do the Egelantiersgracht and the Egelantiersstraat. Give the full street name and house number, mention the floor for an apartment, and say if the entrance is through a courtyard or up a separate staircase, which is common in the older houses. A hotel near the Westerkerk or along the Prinsengracht is equally well served by the companions here.

The Jordaan is small enough to cross in ten minutes and dense enough to fill a day. The Westerkerk, where Rembrandt was buried in an unmarked grave, gives the quarter its tallest landmark, and the Anne Frank House stands a few doors along the Prinsengracht. To the north, the Noorderkerk presides over the market square, with its Saturday stalls of cheese, bread and flowers. Between the two churches, courtyards such as the Sint-Andrieshofje open quietly to the patient visitor, each one a small green room behind a door.

Galleries occupy many former workshops, and several antique dealers and print shops keep hours that suit a slow afternoon. The district rewards looking up: gable stones above the doors still name the trades of the original owners.

Most guests arrive on foot or by tram. From Centraal Station the northern Jordaan is about fifteen minutes away along the Haarlemmerstraat, and the trams that stop at the Westermarkt and along the Marnixstraat cover the rest. A taxi from Schiphol takes roughly twenty-five minutes outside rush hour, arriving by way of the western ring road rather than through the old centre.

For your companion the distances are shorter still. Several women of the collection live here, so the usual interval between confirmation and the knock at the door is measured in minutes rather than hours. What slows an arrival is almost always an unclear address, which is why the note above about parallel street names matters.

The Jordaan borders Amsterdam Centrum, and companions from either district reach the other quickly. Its western position also makes the road to Schiphol comparatively direct. For timings and formats, the reservations page sets out each step.