Evert’s personal recommendations for Amsterdam!

These are my personal tips -based on experience and research- for a great experience in Amsterdam! This resulted in a good list of tips! You can click on the bold text to get to the Google Maps location of the establishment.

All of you good luck in Amsterdam!

And don’t forget to write me a review here of course 😉

Food / Restaurants
Food / Breakfast / Lunch
Dutch Snacks
Food Markets
Bars
Nightlife
Shopping
coffeeshops no coffee weed
Museums
Parks
Things to do
More Free Tours in Amsterdam

Food / Restaurants

I’ll start with some fancy restaurants:

Hemelse Modder is a really nice Dutch/French organic restaurant. Around €35 for a menu or €20 main dish.
Website

De Witte Zwaan is a nice, similar, establishment in the center of Amsterdam.
Website 

If you want authentic Dutch food you need to visit Moeders. The walls of the restaurant are filled with pictures of costumers mothers!
Website 

A great vegetarian restaurant is de Waaghals. Around €35 a menu or €20 for a main dish.
Website

Other ones in the same category would be Cafe Modern or Gebroeders Hartering.
All around 50 to 70 for a 5 to 7 course menu. Make sure to reserve.

Another good restaurant with vegetarian options is de Kas, located in a greenhouse where they grow all their own vegetables.
Website

Great Indonesian food at Blauw or Tempo doeloe. Go for a”rijsttafel” (rice table) to experience the traditional Indonesian cuisine.
Website Blauw
Website Tempo Doeloe 

A nice cheap nearby Thai place is Ocha. Around 10 for a dish.

Great cheese fondue and Entrecôte at Cafe Bern on the Nieuwmarkt square. Around 20.
Website

If you want a great salad, go to one of the SLA restaurants. Around 10 for huge meal filling salads.
Website

Cafe Kadijk is a more simpler Indonesian restaurant where a meal will cost you around €15.
Website 

The Jordaan Area is also really nice to check for restaurants.
As well as the more bohemian area “de pijp” around the daily food and clothes market the Albert Cuyp. Nice market in a neighborhood definitely worth visiting!
Chinatown around the zeedijk (cross the nieuwmarkt square) is hit or miss with Asian restaurants. Sechuan (Chinese) or Bird (thai) are alright though, around 10 to 15 for a dish.

Breakfast/lunch

For great sandwiches and breakfast go to the Broodbar.
Website 

Another place for nice sandwiches is Betty Blue.
Website 

Caldi e feddi (near dam square) has 101 different sandwiches for a good price!

Great juices with amazing açaï bowls are The juice brothers establishments.
Website 

Trust at the Albert Cuyp is a great vegan place were you pay by tip.
Website 

Dutch snacks

For amazing haring and kibbeling (typical Dutch fish treats) visit the stand on the nieuwmarkt square (It’s not there every day though).

Have a “broodje kroket” with mustard (white bun with a croquette filled with ragout) at Van Dobben, the dutchest snack there is.
The kroket also comes in a small balls called “bitterballen” you can buy these at almost every bar or cafe.

Best French fries at Vleminckx Sausmeesters, make sure to get them with mayonnaise or peanut sauce for the most authentic taste. You can also get a ”patatje oorlog” for a combination of mayonnaise and peanut sauce with chopped onion.

Food markets

There are 2 great biological food markets on saturday (best for your cheese shopping) on the nieuwmarkt square and the noordermarkt square (famous apple pie at Cafe Winkel here as well)

There is a big food market on the Albert Cuyp every day except sunday.

Bars

Great for special beers is Brouwerij ‘t Ij (it’s in a windmill) or de Prael.

A great 17th century Dutch liqueur distillery is Wynand Fockink, you can make a reservation for a tasting hour for €17,50 including 6 drinks and a tour!
Website 

For more alternative places you can go to Pllek or de Ceuvel, better with nice weather though.

The Bloemenbar at Spuiplein is open until late, the Poolbar around the same area is aslo a very nice spot.

Nightlife

Go to the areas of Leidseplein or Rembrandtplein, I prefer the former. Paradiso is a beautiful old venue at Leidseplein for concerts as well as dancing.

A great Berlin style EDM venue is de School (usually only in weekends, so check what’s on).
Website 

For more alternative places go to Pacific or Skatecafe, always check what’s on though.
Website Pacific Parc 
Website Skatecafe 

The (legendary) gay areas can be found around the Reguliersdwarsstraat and the Zeedijk.

Shopping

For nice boutique shops go to the 9 streets or the Haarlemmerstraat in the Jordaan area.

For the expensive big brand fashion shops go to the Pieter Cornelis hooft straat between the Vondelpark and the museum square.

For great secondhand clothes go to the Waterloo square clothes market (Monday through Saturday).

All the ‘standard’ shops (like H&M or Nike/Adidas) can be found at the Kalverstraat and the Nieuwendijk. 

Coffeeshops (no coffee; weed)

Great Coffeeshops are the Bluebird, the Grey Area, the Dampkring or De Graal (really nice to hang out, play chess and board games, they even have a 5 euro an hour recording studio out back for customers!). If you are with a big group you should visit Prix D’Amie. 

Museums

For the most popular museums (Anne Frank, Van Gogh, Rijksmuseum) order your tickets online beforehand to skip the hour long lines.
Website Anne Frank
Website Van Gogh
Website Rijksmusem 

If you want to ‘fact check me” and learn more about the history and culture of Amsterdam go to the Amsterdam museum.
Website 

Some nice alternative museums are Stedelijk museum (modern art) and Eye (cinema and video art, its a movie theater as well, with a bar with a wonderful view of Amsterdam).

Also have a peak inside Tuchinski, the oldest movie theater in Amsterdam build in an Art Deco style with a crazy interior.

Parks

The Vondelpark. It’s next to museumplein.

Sarphatipark: in the Pijp parallel to the Albert Cuyp market.

Amsterdamse bos is a huge man made woods (if you want to spend some time away from the city).

Join our themed tours!

Did you enjoy our Classic Tour? Dive deeper into the Dutch culture with our Free Alternative Tour or Free Food Tour: