Amsterdam’s best-known and biggest flea market sprawls in a ramshackle fashion around Waterlooplein. Two canals were filled in 1882 to form a market square that by 1893 lay at the heart of the Jewish Quarter. Before World War II this was a daily market central to Jewish life, but as Amsterdam’s Jews were deported it fell into disrepair. During the 1960s the market was reborn when dazed hippies floated in from all over Europe in the haze of their summers of love to sell bongs, water pipes, and doubtless lots of dope. Today the market has around 300 stands, flogging anything and everything from rubbishy oil paintings to jugglers’ balls, beat-up army jackets, and dainty ethnic jewelry. You can still find genuine treasures under all the second-hand junk but you have to look hard; be prepared to bargain, but accept that Dutch speakers will probably get a better deal. Whether you turn up that vintage Burberry trench or not, Waterlooplein makes for a great hour or two rummaging around in what is effectively other people’s cast-offs.
Amsterdam› Attraction
Waterlooplein Flea Market
Waterlooplein 2
Map
Waterlooplein 2 AmsterdamNote: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.