Joost’s 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
Another great 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
Cafe Kadijk is a more simpler Indonesian restaurant where a meal will cost you around €15.
Website
Breakfast/lunch
For great sandwiches and breakfast go to the Broodbar.
Website
Another place for nice sandwiches is Betty Blue.
Website
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 to begin with Boerenjongens wich has two locations in de centre of Amsterdam. My personal favorite coffeeshop is Catch 33, located a bit west of the centre. They have great quality products for a very reasonable price. Another good coffeeshop, just around the corner from Catch 33, is de Republiek wich offers a high range of good quality cannabis strains. They also sell homegrown outdoor weed sometimes! Another good one in de centre of the city is Central.
If you’re located a bit more east of the centre, two good shops are The Stud and Best Friends who both offer good quality for a good price.
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 pick one of the main museums I would personally go for the Rijksmuseum. It’s the biggest museum in Amsterdam and they have art of all the great painters from the 17th century.
I would personally advise you not to visit the Heineken Experience. Long lines, expensive tickets and it’s basically just a brewery, nothing special.
If you want to 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 in the middel of the city and always nice to visit. Play some games, make music or just simply light up, lay back and enjoy.
Amsterdamse bos is a nice place and they also have a place where you can cuddle with goats.
Website
Fun activities in Amsterdam
Complete your visit to Amsterdam, by exploring the city on its beautiful canals. For a quality tour with excellent service, I highly recommend
Flag Ship
Mystery city puzzle tour, discover the city and its history by solving a puzzle. Challenge yourself and try it!
Mystery city escape game Amsterdam
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:
