The Canal Ring (Grachtengordel) is the formal centre of historic Amsterdam — the UNESCO World Heritage site that gives the city its defining image. Three concentric semicircular canals — Herengracht (Lords' Canal), Keizersgracht (Emperor's Canal), and Prinsengracht (Prince's Canal) — were dug between 1613 and 1663 during Amsterdam's Golden Age, when the city was the wealthiest in the world. The houses lining them were built for the merchant elite who financed the Dutch East India Company.
The architecture is remarkable for its consistency and variation simultaneously: the canal houses all follow a narrow-frontage, deep-plan pattern dictated by the property tax (which was assessed by facade width), but each has its own gable type — step, neck, bell, or spout — and its own colour of brick. Many lean slightly forward at the top, a feature designed to allow goods to be hoisted to the upper warehouse floors without hitting the facade below. Walking along Herengracht or Keizersgracht and looking up at the rooflines is one of the best ways to understand how the city was built and why it looks the way it does.
The Golden Bend (Gouden Bocht) on Herengracht, between Leidsestraat and Vijzelstraat, is where the wealthiest merchants built their largest houses in the later 17th century. The houses here are wider and grander than the norm — some are double-fronted, which was extremely unusual and expensive. Several are now museums or offices; a few remain private residences. Museum Willet-Holthuysen, a few doors down from the Golden Bend, and Museum Van Loon on Keizersgracht are both furnished merchant houses open to the public — the closest you'll get to seeing how the families who built these canals actually lived.
The canal ring is best seen from the water. Canal bike rentals are available and slow; boat tours are faster and give you the architectural sequence from the right angle. The specific moment to see the canals is at dusk in late spring or early autumn, when the trees on the banks are leafed out and the house lights are beginning to show in the water.