At about a ten-minute walk west of Central Station lies what many people consider to be Amsterdam’s most peaceful neighborhood.

The Western Islands consist of three man-made islands, constructed between 1611 and 1615 — during Amsterdam’s Golden Age.

Close to the port, the area was part of the Third Enlargement of Amsterdam, and was home primarily to warehouses that stored anything from grains and tobacco to tar and cat skins, and from herring to wine, as well as ansjovis and salt.

Some 100 of Amsterdam’s nearly 900 such warehouses are found on these three islands.

Nowadays most of the warehouse are in use as expensive apartments.

Oddly enough, though picturesque to a fault, the Western Islands do not attract lots of tourists. Those that do wander into the neighborhood are delighted by the peace and quiet, the gardens and other greenery, as well as the drawbridges and the large variety of houseboats.