Cafes

Modern Cafes

Amsterdam has many contemporary cafes that are neither brown cafes nor friendly watering holes (though many examples in both categories are acceptably trendy). You may hear some contemporary cafes described as "white cafes," as distinct from brown cafes. You may also hear talk of the "coke-trail circuit," though that's a bit passé nowadays. Besides the trendy cafes listed below, you might want to check out some of Amsterdam's "Grand Cafes": De Jaren, Café Luxembourg, De Balie, and Grand Café l'Opera.

Jordan Cafes

The Jordaan is Amsterdam's iconoclastic working-class district. It has suffered from the depredations of gentrifiers, demolition experts, and cleaner-uppers, but still retains its distinctive style and preoccupation with itself. Cafes here are old-style, colorful, and working-class (a bit like London's Cockney pubs). You might even take in a singsong of incredibly schmaltzy old Dutch songs about stolen kisses behind the windmill.

For Women Only

Amsterdam is very much a center of women's activism, and there are many women's centers around the city. Vrouwenhuis (Women's House), at Nieuwe Herengracht 95 (tel. 020/625-2066), has a cafe that opens on Wednesday from noon to 5pm and Thursday from noon to 9pm.

Smoking Coffeeshops

Tourists often get confused about the city's smoking "coffeeshops." Well, it's simple, if controversial: You go to a coffeeshop to buy and smoke cannabis. Though technically illegal, the practice is tolerated. For coffee and a snack, you go to a cafe or an eetcafé -- though, the coffee sold in a "coffeeshop" is usually surprisingly good, considering it's only an excuse for selling something else.

Licensed and controlled coffeeshops not only sell hashish and marijuana, but also provide a place where patrons can sit and smoke it all day if they so choose -- they're one reason why most of Amsterdam's drug aficionados are laid-back and gooey-eyed, as opposed to scary-dangerous and wild.

Each coffeeshop has a menu listing its different types of hashish and marijuana, and the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of each. Hashish comes in two varieties: white and black. Black hash is usually more powerful, but both are strong. Local producers, who are tolerated so long as they don't go in for large-scale production (some of their wares are used for pain relief), have developed a Super Skunk hash that's said to be better than stuff imported from Lebanon and Morocco. Connoisseurs say the best has a strong smell and is soft and sticky. A 5-gram bag costs from 5€ to 12€ ($6.25-$15), depending on quality. Coffeeshops also sell rolled joints (stickie) stuffed with a tobacco-hash mix.

Coffeeshops aren't allowed to sell alcohol, so they sell coffee, tea, and juice. You won't be able to get food at a coffeeshop, so don't expect to. You're usually allowed to smoke your own stuff, so long as you buy a drink. Usually, you can also bring in small snacks (potato chips, peanuts, and the like).

Among the most popular smoking coffeeshops: The Rookies, Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 145-147 (tel. 020/694-2353); Borderline, Amstelstraat 37 (tel. 020/622-0540); and the Bulldog chain, which has branches around the city (Bulldog Palace is at Leidseplein 15; tel. 020/627-1908). Like the John Travolta character Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction, you'll find it's mostly fellow high-seeking tourists you'll be gazing at through the fug of bitter-smelling smoke that passes for atmosphere in these places.

Toker's tip: Don't buy on the street. You stand a fair chance of being ripped off, the quality will be questionable, and there may be unpleasant additives.