More insider guides for planning a trip to Amsterdam
These are unusual times, and the state of affairs can change quickly. Please check the latest travel guidance before making your journey. Note that our writer visited pre-pandemic.
From the traditional bruin cafés still firmly rooted in once-working-class Jordaan to the trendy hipster hotspots of East Amsterdam, the Dutch capital is certainly not short on places to grab a drink or three – as might be expected of the city that birthed one of the world’s brewing superpowers (Heineken). Naturally, beer is the drink of choice for most Amsterdammers, but you don’t have to look to hard to find swish wine bars, bouncing nightclubs, or even little hole-in-the-wall tasting rooms serving jenever – the local variety of gin. Here, our Amsterdam expert, Rodney Bolt, picks out his favourite places for a night on the town.
Central Amsterdam
De Dokter
Some say that at just 18 square metres, ‘The Doctor’ is the smallest pub in Amsterdam. Certainly, it is one of the most venerable, run by six generations of the same family since 1798 – a fact emphasised by the rather melodramatic dust and cobwebs on some lampshades and bric-a-brac. Many decades ago a drinking hole for medical students, De Dokter is these days famed for its range of whiskies and both Dutch and Belgian beers. The whisky is very favourably priced – the ‘whisky of the month’ is usually a top-class single malt, for around €4.50 (£4) a glass.
Contact: 00 31 20 626 4427; cafe-de-dokter.nl
Opening times: Wed-Sat, 4pm-1am
Prices: £
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5 & 33
A touch of class in a tacky patch of town, providing a retreat from flashing neon lights, snack-bar queues, and the hordes around Central Station. Hip young things sit around the long black bar, amidst chrome and leather, or in banquette nooks. Around a corner is a quieter lounge area (designer chairs, art books on the shelves). Pale, gaudy and sparkly cocktails are consumed by the tinkling glassful. Take your drink and wander down the stairs to the back of the bar, where you’ll find a basement gallery showing edgy contemporary Dutch art.
Contact: 00 31 20 820 5333; 5and33.nl
Opening times: Sun-Thurs, 7am-1am; Fri-Sat, 7am-2am
Prices: ££
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Bierfabriek
A cavernous, multi-roomed microbrewery, all scrubbed wood and bare surfaces, which packs out with students, visiting backpackers, and twenty- and thirty-somethings still up for a good time. Beer flows freely, noise levels are high, and a party atmosphere pervades. The brewery makes a toasty porter and a fruity red ale, but I prefer their Puur, a rich, unfiltered yeasty pilsener. They bake their own bread, using brewer’s yeast, and turn out plenty of organic grilled chicken to line those empty stomachs. If you’re with a group of friends, book a taptafel – a table with a private draft pump.
Contact: 00 31 20 528 9910; bierfabriek.com
Opening times: Mon-Thurs, 3pm-1am; Fri, 3pm-2am; Sat, 1pm-2am; Sun, 1pm-1am
Prices: ££
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Super Lyan
Mixology legend Ryan Chetiyawardana (aka Mr Lyan) of London’s Lyaness fires a comet of cocktail genius into the heart of Amsterdam. Designer Jacu Strauss (known in Amsterdam for his witty makeover of the Pulitzer Hotel) comes up with cheeky wink-at-the-past décor through 1950s bubble-gum colours and rounded contours, given 21st-cenury zing by funky lighting. Colourful cocktails – some of them mini sculptures that seem a sin to sip at – are triumphs of delicate balance and flavour, such as the Clover Club Royal (tropical gin, raspberry whey, lemon and bubbles). Boozeless options are grown-up and creative, and definitely not second-best.
Contact: 00 31 20 521 1757; superlyan.com
Opening times: Sun-Thurs, 12pm–1am, Fri-Sat, 12pm–2am
Prices: ££
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Café@droog
Dutch design marvel Droog has an extremely cool café above the company shop. It is sparkling white, dotted with furniture, objets d’art, prototypes and leftovers by Droog collaborators. I particularly like Tejo Remy’s bundled-up Rag Chair, and Rachel Harding’s dinky Chinese restaurant interior constructed in a fish tank. Design aficionados and the severely chic come to snack and sip on juices (think fennel, celery, lime, and cucumber combo). But not that many people wander upstairs from the Droog emporium, so this makes a welcome quiet spot in a hectic part of town, with a few window tables giving a canal view.
Contact:00 31 20 217 0100; droog.com
Opening times: Daily, 9am-7pm
Prices: ££
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De Pilsener Club (De Engelse Reet)
There is no bar at De Pilsener Club (commonly known as De Engelse Reet). Drinks are dispensed in a small backroom, opening into a voorkamer (‘front room’ or parlour). It’s a centuries-old set-up which, as far as I know, remains nowhere else in town. The current owners have run the bar for four generations, and successive first sons have all had the same name. I love the fact that the barman has been called ‘Teun van Veen’ for more than 85 years. Try one of the jenevers (Dutch gin) from local distillery De Ooievaar, which dates back to 1782 – they have a really good range here.
Contact: Begijnsteeg 4; 00 31 20 623 1777
Opening times: Mon-Thurs, 12pm-1am; Fri, Sat, 12pm-2am
Prices: £
Credit:
Cris Toala Olivares
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Grand Café 1e Klas
The former first-class waiting room at Central Station appears with every bit of its original grandeur – high ceilings, large Delft vases, potted palms, William Morris patterns on the walls and rafters (and these days a grumpy resident cockatoo). The station was designed in 1882, as a palatial paean to the new railways. First-class passengers were given royal treatment, and it shows. This is an ideal spot to meet up with someone if one of you doesn’t know the city, though you may have to pick up a (free) platform access ticket to do so. It’s easy to find, directly on the station platform (but be careful not to confuse it with Pub 1e Klas next door).
Contact: 00 31 20 625 0131; restaurant1eklas.nl
Opening times: Daily, 9.30am-11pm
Prices: £
Hoppe
A reproduction Old Master on the wall, fine sand on the wooden floor, barrels behind the bar – Hoppe is every inch a traditional ‘brown café’ (so named for the wood panelling and eons of tobacco smoke staining walls and ceiling). Hoppe has been going strong since 1670 – the right-hand part, the ‘Standing Room’, is the oldest. For decades it was an establishment place, as opposed to the more bohemian Café De Zwart across the alley, and in a way the division still holds true. Avoid coming in the early evening, when Hoppe becomes unbearably packed with after-work drinkers in suits.
Contact: 00 31 20 420 4420; cafehoppe.com
Opening times: Mon-Thurs, 8am-1am; Fri, Sat 8am-2am
Prices: £
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Café In De Waag
Built in 1488 as one of Amsterdam’s city gates, and transformed in the 17th century into a public weigh-house, ‘De Waag’ is now a café and restaurant. Inside, it’s all bare brick and burnished wood, lit by nearly 300 candles. Boy, can that make it hot in summer! But then there’s a neatly enclosed terrace outside the main door, with a view onto the hurly-burly of Nieuwmarkt square, on the edge of the Red Light District. This is a good place to come if you want a drink in a more sedate atmosphere than most other cafés in the quarter offer.
Contact: 00 31 20 422 7772; indewaag.nl
Opening times: Mon-Wed, 11am-10.30pm; Thurs-Sat, 9am-10.30pm; Sun, 9am-9pm
Prices: ££
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De Jaren
White walls, light woods, high ceilings and minimalist design combine with huge windows overlooking the Amstel River, and a terrace jutting out over the water. De Jaren is a longstanding networking venue for arts and media folk, and heaves at cocktail hour, but I love it most on a sunny day, when you can moor a boat alongside for a drink on the terrace. It’s also great for whiling away a rainy afternoon, in a basket chair or at the long reading table. Upstairs, in the evenings, there’s a well-stocked salad bar (rare in Amsterdam), as well as affordable fuller meals.
Contact: 00 31 20 625 5771; cafedejaren.nl
Opening times: Sun-Thurs, 8.30am-1am; Fri, Sat 8.30am-2am
Prices: ££
Café Van Zuylen
A down-to-earth ‘brown café’ (bars named for their traditional wooden interiors, and tobacco-smoke-stained walls). One room, especially in the evenings, is cheerfully noisy, and crammed shoulder-to-shoulder. Another – reached through a door beside the bar, or via a separate street entrance – sports a chandelier and paintings on the wall, and tends to be a little quieter and better suited to couples. In good weather, tables and basket-chairs are spread out on an enormous terrace, which stretches across a bridge over the Singel canal – an ideal spot to lean back and bask in the sun for a while.
Contact: Torensteeg 8; 00 31 20 639 1055
Opening times: Mon-Thu, 10am-1am; Fri-Sat, 10am-3am; Sun, 10am-12am
Prices: £
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Wynand Fockink
Yes, the name is for real, and perfectly polite. Wynand Fockink is the man who first opened this distillery and proeflokaal (tasting room) in 1679. The distillery still produces fine liqueurs and jenever (Dutch gin), and the proeflokaal remains pretty much unaltered after more than three centuries: wood-panelled, sawdust on the floor, shelves lined with bottles of quaintly named liqueurs. It’s teeny, and packs out in the early evenings (though a quick late-afternoon shot does wonders on an icy winter’s day). If you’ve only ever tried sharp-tasting commercial Dutch jenevers, treat yourself here to a Superior three-year-old malt.
Contact: 00 31 20 639 2695; wynand-fockink.nl
Opening times: Daily, 2pm-9pm
Prices: £
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Canal Belt – West
De Melkweg
Still going strong since the heady 1970s, when it was at the heart of European counter-culture, the ‘Milky Way’ is a cutting-edge music and performance venue, and hosts wild weekend club nights. The original old dairy building has been expanded with flash new extensions to include a cinema, art gallery and café, hosting everything from Dutch pop via grunge rock and hiphop to contemporary dance. Perhaps as a hangover from the Flower Power days, when De Melkweg was the scene of the first public puffs of marijuana, you have to become a member (€4/£3 a month) to get in to most events. Booking ahead is recommended for some events – there may be a pre-booking surcharge.
Contact: 00 31 20 531 8181; melkweg.nl
Opening times: Hours vary according to events
Prices: £
Credit:
DIGIDAAN
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Morlang
A two-tier canal-side café that’s a perennial favourite with a mixed, thirty-something crowd (the age range edging upwards as the years go by), local office workers loosening their ties and kicking off their heels, and passing visitors. The café buzzes night and day. In good weather there are tables outside, directly beside the canal (though with trams and traffic nearby, it’s not the most sedate of spots). In the upstairs room, there’s a cosy window nook with a view over the canal, where I’m happy to hole up for hours on a rainy afternoon.
Contact: 00 31 20 625 2681; morlang.nl
Opening times: Sun-Thurs, 11am-1am; Fri, Sat, 11am-2am
Prices: ££
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Museum District and De Pijp
Flamingo
An upbeat little café at the hub of De Pijp life. It’s bang on the Albert Cuyp Market, with fruit boxes stacked beside the terrace, and also on one of the most popular streets for evening revels. They serve mulled wine in the winter, zingy summer mojitos, and a healthy range of beers from ace local brewery, Brouwerij ’t IJ. Flamingo makes a good starting point for exploring De Pijp nightlife – there are at least ten other bars within a few minutes’ walk, and you can sit and survey who is going where, and what’s going on.
Contact: 00 31 20 670 9007; cafeflamingo.nl
Opening times: Sun-Thu, 10am-1am; Fri, Sat, 10am- 3am
Prices: £
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Kingfisher
Budding writers and artists from the neighbourhood, students, and the young and easy-going from around the world hang out, meet up, and have a good time here. A corner café in the heart of De Pijp, Kingfisher is something of a non-Establishment institution (if you’ll allow the oxymoron). It’s simple inside – wooden tables, bentwood chairs, one bright red wall to liven things up – and open day and night. During the day, it’s great for a quiet coffee; later on, music levels are upped and the Kingfisher hops. Cheap, daily dinner specials are chalked up on a blackboard.
Contact: 00 31 20 671 2395; kingfishercafe.nl
Opening times: Mon-Thurs, 10am-1am; Fri, Sat, 10am-3am; Sun, 11am-1am
Prices: ££
Jordaan and Amsterdam West
Rooie Nelis
A last taste of the old, working-class Jordaan, which has survived the gentrification of the rest of the quarter. Rooie Nelis (Red Nelis) founded the café in 1937, his daughter Blonde Sien, now in her eighties, still holds the reins. Local singers such as Willy Alberti and Johnny Jordaan were regulars here, and went on to become famous throughout the land. Photos and memorabilia cover the walls (Queen Beatrix visited once or twice), you’ll probably still find Blonde Sien sitting at the bar, and stalwart, old-style Jordaaners having a drink. Drop in after dinner and you might catch a spontaneous sing-a-long.
Contact: 00 31 20 624 4167; facebook.com/caferooienelis
Opening times: Mon-Thurs, 1pm-1am; Fri, Sat, 2pm-2am; Sun, 2pm-midnight
Prices: £
Credit:
Andrew Nash/Flickr
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De Tuin
A friendly, down-to-earth Jordaan bar, populated mainly by regulars and folk from the neighbourhood. De Tuin is my favourite drinking spot in the quarter – especially if I can get a seat outside, watching the world go by. Inside it is stone floors, wooden chairs, flowery wallpaper that is retro by default rather than intention, and a delightfully unrelated clutter of prints and pictures. There are eight beers on tap, more bottled, and the wine is palatable. Try one of the Texels beers, from a craft brewery on one of the northern Frisian islands.
Contact: 00 31 20 624 4559; cafedetuin.nl
Opening times: Mon-Thurs, 10am-1am; Fri, Sat, 10am-3am; Sun, 11am-1am
Prices: £
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Oosterdok and Amsterdam East
Bar Bukowski/Henry’s Bar
Named after the writer, poet and all-round renegade Charles Bukowski, and with a giant typewriter-key light installation above the bar, this is a young, noisy, friendly place, with people packed in shoulder-to-shoulder most nights, and music the whole merrily along. But I prefer the slightly more subdued Henry’s Bar, through an archway, where there are scatterings of soft chairs, and inspired bartenders create superb cocktails, from classics to the ginger-and-chilli-zapped ‘Bar Bukow’. Contrary to the Bukowksi spirit, there’s a really good selection of soft drinks for adults, including pine-flavoured options.
Contact: 00 31 20 370 1685; barbukowski.nl
Opening times: Bar Bukowski: Mon-Thurs, 8am-1am; Fri, 8am-3am; Sat, 9am-3am; Sun, 9am-1am. Henry’s Bar: Thurs, 8pm-1am; Fri, 6pm-3am; Sat, 8pm-3am
Prices: ££
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Hannekes Boom
On one side, wheels screech on rail tracks, as trains build up speed leaving Central Station. On the other, across the waters of the eastern docks, Renzo Piano’s copper-clad NEMO building seems to bear down on you like a giant ocean liner. Hannekes Boom is on a spot of forgotten land, a little lost island with one of the most extraordinary views in town. The shack-like building, with big terraces and tables set out under the trees, attracts a young, alternative crowd and frequently stages live music (funk, jazz, singer songwriters) and arts events. My favourite winter spot? Inside, beside the open hearth.
Contact: 00 31 20 419 9820; hannekesboom.nl
Opening times: Mon-Thurs, 10am-1am; Fri-Sat, 10am-3am
Prices: ££
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De Ysbreeker
Design aficionados and lovers of good style (and during the day, their children, too) join passing politicians and the odd recognisable media face in this vast, high-ceilinged café, whose monumental windows overlook the River Amstel. De Ysbreeker dates back to the 18th century and has been an inn, a renowned billiards bar, and a contemporary music venue. Local design guru Ronald Hooft has given the café a sleek makeover, propelling it into the 21st century while keeping original features such as moulded cast-iron pillars. The large, shaded terrace, directly on the river, makes this a great retreat on a hot afternoon.
Contact: 00 31 20 468 1808; deysbreeker.nl
Opening times: Sun-Thurs, 8am-1am; Fri, Sat 8am-2am
Prices: ££
