Escort Amsterdam West: past the Singelgracht, fully local

Westerpark is the natural starting point. Its former gasworks, the Westergas, now holds a cinema, bars, event halls and restaurants set around lawns and ponds. South of it, De Hallen is a former tram depot in Oud-West with a food hall, a cinema and a covered passage of shops, and the Ten Katemarkt trading just outside. North of the park, the Spaarndammerbuurt holds Het Schip, the brick housing block shaped like a ship that now houses the museum of the Amsterdam School. Further west you find the Rembrandtpark, the Erasmuspark and, beyond the ring road, the Sloterplas, a lake big enough for sailing in the middle of a residential district.

Oud-West and Westerpark sit right beside the Jordaan and the centre, where companions of ours live, so they rank among the quickest outcall addresses outside the canal ring, often only a short tram or taxi ride away. An hour's notice usually covers it. Sloterdijk sits further out, on the far side of the A10, but it has its own train and metro station, so travel there is predictable rather than slow; allow a little extra time late at night. For apartments in De Baarsjes or Bos en Lommer, include the street, house number and floor, because many buildings share a single front door.

The Jordaan and Amsterdam Centrum are minutes away across the Singelgracht. From Sloterdijk, trains reach Schiphol in around ten minutes, useful if you are flying early. Across the IJ lies Amsterdam Noord. See our rates and send us your address.