Introduction
Zuidas literally means "southern axis". It is the business district of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and is the home of the headquarters of many of its major financial institutions.
History
The Zuidas is still under construction, and its history is quite short. The only part to be truly completed is the renovation of the Amsterdam World Trade Center, and the completion of the square in front of it. That said, a two large banks have their headquarters here, namely ING and ABN. As such, even though the long-term term plan calls for major changes to the area, it already is a business district - just not as impressive as it is planned to be eventually.
Location
The Zuidas is located in the south of Amsterdam, next to Amstelveen. It is built around one of the busiest highways of the country. Between the lanes of this highway, one of the busiest railways is located, as well as a metro line.
What can I find there?
Well, if you are strictly a tourist, not much. There are a few overpriced restaurants and bars. If you want to pick up a single trader, you could try your luck here, but otherwise, this is not an are you'd normally go as a tourist.
On the other hand, you might be in Amsterdam on business, and still want to enjoy yourself in the evening or weekend. If so, I suggest you check out the next section.
However, it is also possible you are here strictly for business. If so, the following buildings might be interesting:
- ING House, the ING headquarter
- The headquarters of ABN Amro
- The headquarters of AKZO Nobel, a company that makes paint
- The RAI building
- The Amsterdam World Trade Center
- The Ito-tower
- The Viñoly-tower
How to get there or get out of there
The Zuidas can be reached really easily, both by car and by public transportation. By car, you can reach it using the highway A10, which is one of the busiest highways of the Netherlands. You need to take the S108 or S019 interchange.
By train, the obvious thing to do is to disembark at station Amsterdam Zuid, which is within crawling distance of both the Amsterdam World Trade Center and the ABN headquarters. Amsterdam Zuid station is one of the busiest in the country; especially Shiphol and Utrecht can be reached easily. At Schiphol, you can take international trains (most of these terminate at Amsterdam Central Station and not Amsterdam Zuid).
The train station also has two
metro connections. The 51 takes you the city center, terminating at Central Station. This is probably the best way of going from Amsterdam Central Station to Amsterdam Zuid. In the other direction, it takes you to Amstelveen. The 50 in the direction Isolatorweg calls at Amstelveensweg, where the ING headquarters is located. This is a one-stop trip. The direction Gein takes you to the Amsterdam ArenA, the stadium of Amsterdam. There is concert hall and a cinema there as well.
Tram 5 has a stop at Strawinskylaan, next to the World Trade Center. You need to cross an urban
square to reach the station. Tram 5 takes you either to Amstelveen or to Amsterdam Central Station. The route to the Central Station is rather beautiful (although the fact the tram is usually crammed spoils this), and it passes through Oud Zuid and the Pijp, where many nice restaurants can be found. It also calls at Leidseplein. Continuing the trip, you can find
bars,
shops,
pot and
prostitutes, and eventually the Central Station.
Conclusion
The Zuidas is the business district of Amsterdam. It is not nearly finished, although there are already a few major headquarters located there. As it is build around a
highway and a
railway, it can be reached quite easily. It is not near the famous
center of Amsterdam, but you can easily reach the center using the
metro or
tram.
Sources
- http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuidas
- http://www.zuidas.nl/