Both visitors and residents often need help navigating Amsterdam’s winding streets. But fumbling with a smartphone or fold-up map is far from ideal in the wind and rain, especially when your hands are taken up with bags and an umbrella.
German company Rainmap has developed an innovative, seemingly simple solution: an umbrella with a city map printed on the inside.
As you stroll in the rain, you can easily chart your whereabouts (just look up!) while keeping your other hand free.
The Hamburg-based team behind Rainmap first came up with the idea while watching a group of tourists struggle with their cameras, umbrellas, maps and bags during a downpour.
Since then, Rainmaps have been created for Berlin, Bremen, Dresden, Düsseldorf, Essen, Freiburg, Hamburg, Cologne, Leipzig, Munich, Nuremberg and Stuttgart.
Amsterdam is the first non-German city to be printed on a Rainmap. But due to overwhelmingly positive feedback, the team hopes to expand to more cities in the near future.
Rainmap umbrellas look cheerful and are built to stay flexible in wind and heavy rain.
Coloured sky blue on the outside, on the inside the city map is designed to be easy for the eye to follow.