Pop a Herring: Amsterdam folk like their herring fresh and raw from a neighborhood fish stall. The best in a fishy business is Stubbe's Haring. Eat your fish in the approved Dutch manner — whole, holding the fish by its tail, with your face to that wide Holland sky. Amsterdammers…
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Amsterdam Attractions
Amsterdam affords sightseers an embarrassment of riches. There are miles of canals to cruise, hundreds of narrow streets to wander, 7,000 historical buildings to see in the heart of town, around 40 museums of all types to visit, and diamond cutters and craftspeople to watch as they practice generations-old skills. The list is as long as every tourist's individual interests, and then some.
The first thing you should do is join the 2.5 million people every year who take a canal ride on a tour boat. Why? Because the water-level view of those gabled canalside houses and the picturesque bridges lends meaning and color to everything else you do in Amsterdam.
Yet most of Amsterdam's attractions are hidden, and they're not even attractions in any conventional sense. They're part of a fabric of life, a special but elusive atmosphere that's been slowly evolving for centuries. There are few open vistas or bombastic buildings; rather, the city is enclosed within itself. You'll need to dig a certain amount to get at these hidden-in-plain-sight features. Above all, maintain that certain attitude: A willingness to slow down, open up, and mentally unbutton.
The Canals
Amsterdam would not be the same without its canals. There might still be Golden Age architecture, trams, "brown cafes," and museums, and maybe locals would retain their iconoclastic outlook on life -- but without a mirror of water to reflect its soul, the city would be a shrunken glory. The city has 160 canals -- more than Venice -- with a combined length of 76km (47 miles), spanned by 1,281 bridges.
The best-known canals are those of the 17th-century Grachtengordel (Canal Belt, or Canal Ring): Herengracht, Prinsengracht, and Keizersgracht. To these three, UNESCO in 2010 added the 15th-century Singel when it inscribed the Grachtengordel on the list of World Heritage Sites.
To get up close and personal with Amsterdam's canals, you could start out by taking The Golden Age Canals tour. Or sail forth on a DIY "cruise," by pedaling your way around the canals on a water bike (pedalo) from Canal Bike. Or stroll along the canals after dark, when they're lit up.
The Big Three
Two of Amsterdam's big three attractions -- the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum -- are around Museumplein ("Museum Square"), just south of the oldest part of town. Most of the "square" consists of open green areas bordered by avenues of linden trees and gardens and crisscrossed by walking and bike paths. At Museumplein's north end is a long pond that serves as a handy foot-cooler in summer and has served as a skating rink in winter. The third attraction of the top trio, the Anne Frankhuis, is in the historic Centrum (Center) district, on Prinsengracht.
By no means should you hit all three in a single day. You'll wind up emotionally battered by the Anne Frankhuis, bedazzled by the Van Gogh Museum, and, well, Rijksmuseum-ed by the Rijksmuseum. One per day is enough.
62 Results
- Museum
Amsterdam Museum
Telling the story of Amsterdam’s progression from simple fishing village to world power in the 17th-century Golden Age, the city’s historic museum kicks off superbly with the interactive exhibition “Amsterdam DNA”. It takes a whistle-stop tour through the main stages of the city’s…Old Center
- Museum
Amsterdam Pipe Museum
For what sounds like a museum of fairly niche appeal, the pipe museum turns out to be actually quite good fun. The eccentric curator-owner is an entrancing character and also runs the curiously old-fashioned Smokiana shop in the basement, which sells pipes and books about pipes. Go…Canal Ring - Historic Site
Anne Frankhuis
You shouldn't miss seeing and experiencing this typical Amsterdam canal house, with steep interior stairs, where eight people from three separate Jewish families lived together in near silence for more than 2 years during World War II. The hiding place in Het Achterhuis -- literally… - Zoo/Aquarium
Artis Royal Zoo
Amsterdam’s wonderfully family-friendly zoo was established in 1838 and covers more than 14 hectares (35 acres) of tree-lined pathways and landscaped gardens. It has more than 900 species of animals, successfully combining 19th-century layouts and buildings with a 21st-century… - Landmark
Begijnhof
Entered through an ornate gate off Spui, this cluster of photogenic gabled houses around a leafy garden courtyard is the perfect place to feel the ambience of old Amsterdam. Built as a hofje (almshouse) intended to offer beguines (devout women) the option to live independently of… - Landmark
Beurs van Berlage
Amsterdam’s red-brick former stock exchange was built in 1903 by Hendrik Berlage and is now an occasional concert venue . This monumental building was one of the precursors of the Amsterdam School and is exceptional for its use of patterned brickwork and clean lines, which broke away… - Local Landmark/Outdoor Sculpture
Beurspassage
Tucked between the busy shopping corridors of Damrak and Nieuwendijk, this eye-popping, 165-foot-long passageway is an Instagrammer’s dream: a wonder of colored mosaic tiles, gilded chandeliers, stained glass, and patterned mirrors. A trio of Dutch artists reimagined the bland… - Museum
Bijbels Museum (Biblical Museum)
Two of a group of four majestic 1660s houses (nos. 364–370 Herengracht) form Cromhouthuis, and on the upper two floors, house the Biblical Museum. The houses, featuring delicate neck gables, were designed for wealthy timber merchant Jacob Cromhout. The biblical museum is nothing to… - Market
Bloemenmarkt (Flower Market)
Amsterdam’s last remaining floating market is a permanent fixture housed on a row of moored barges along the Singel canal. Once famous for its many flower shops, the market has since ceded to tourism, with the last florist closing up shop in 2019. You can still purchase seeds, bulbs,… - Train Station
Centraal Station
Amsterdam’s humongous main railway station is an architectural masterpiece. Designed by Dutch architect P.J.H. Cuypers, who also built the Rijksmuseum, it was built between 1884 and 1889 on three artificial islands in the IJ waterway. Amsterdammers thoroughly disliked the building… - Museum
Cobra Modern Art Museum
Art lovers will find this breathtakingly contemporary museum worth the trek to its off-the-beaten-path location. The most enjoyable way to get here is the 20-minute Tram 5 ride from Amsterdam city center, giving you a chance to see leafy, suburban Amstelveen as you rattle through the… De Appel
Named after Amsterdam Cobra artist Karel Appel, this center for contemporary art provides cutting-edge artists, both known and unknown, with space for exhibits, projects, and research. Six yearly presentations of solo or group work are backed up by interaction with the artists…- Landmark
De Waag
You’ll find Amsterdam’s only surviving medieval fortified gate on the fringe of Chinatown. The many-towered, squat Waag was constructed in 1498 of red-and-white brick and is now the oldest secular building still standing in Amsterdam. The building had many functions over the… - Landmark
Dockworker Statue
Just to the left side of the Portuguese Synagogue complex is Jonas Daniël Meijerplein, where many Dutch Jews were herded together while awaiting deportation to concentration camps in Germany and Poland. The bronze figure is always surrounded by wreathes of flowers; it was created by… - Museum
EYE Film Institute
The pristine white shape of Amsterdam’s film museum hovers over the north bank of the River IJ like a mantis. Built in 2012 by Austrian firm Delugan Meissl Associated Architects, the EYE was the first major public building to be constructed north of the river. Its gleaming complex… - Museum
Erotic Museum
Even less erotic than Amsterdam's (unsexy) Sex Museum, this ludicrous attempt at an homage to erotica is spread over five dusty floors, with one entirely dedicated to some rather alarming aspects of S&M; here you’ll find a photo opportunity complete with handcuffs and whips,…Old Center - Museum
FOAM
Dedicated to contemporary photography, this cool gallery is tucked behind a traditional canal-house facade. Its interior has been partly stripped out to reveal a warren of white exhibition rooms that form the perfect backdrop to show off the work of established photographers like the…Canal Ring - Museum
Hash Marihuana and Hemp Museum
Along one of the Red Light District’s main drags, this museum will entertain anyone curious about the history of soft drugs and modern-day medicinal applications of hemps. There’s the predictable display of pipes—some beautifully carved—and bongs, some lovely old paintings depicting…Old Center - Winery/Brewery/Distillery
Heineken Experience
The Heineken is one of Amsterdam’s most popular attractions and so is always crowded with multi-national youngsters eager to get their hands on the beer. It’s housed inside the red-brick former brewery, which functioned from 1867 until 1988 before production was moved to modern… - Museum
Hermitage Amsterdam
The Amsterdam branch of St. Petersburg’s Hermitage is a delight to visit. It’s housed in the Amstelhof, a former almshouse for elderly women built in 1680 behind a serene neoclassical facade. Centered on a giant courtyard and all but surrounded by canals and the Amstel River, the…Plantage - Museum
Het Grachtenhuis (Canal Museum)
This brilliant museum shares the secrets of Amsterdam’s expansion through a cleverly curated series of interactive displays. First off, a sound-and-light show centers on a model of the city in medieval times; it was grim, overcrowded, and unhygienic. By the 17th century, expansion…Canal Ring - Museum
Het Scheepvaartmuseum (National Maritime Museum)
Housed in a mammoth, Venetian-style 17th-century arsenal, Amsterdam’s Maritime Museum is a gem of a museum whose displays showcase the importance of Amsterdam’s maritime history. There are many paintings and models of ships, seascapes, navigational instruments, cannons, and other…Oost - Museum
Hollandse Schouwburg
The imposing white Hollandse Schouwburg was originally a theater, but in World War II hundreds of Dutch Jewish families were forcibly detained here before deportation to the concentration camps of Poland. The former theater is now the official memorial to the Nazi Holocaust in… - Park/Garden
Hortus Botanicus (Botanical Garden)
The treasure-trove of tropical plants, steamy hot houses, and exotic palm trees planted in these soothing, tranquil gardens have their origins in former Dutch colonies across the world. Established in 1682, the gardens are packed with 115,000 rare plants and trees; in summer the… - Museum
Huis Marseille Museum voor Fotografie
One of two Amsterdam photography museums (see also FOAM), the Marseille is privately owned and housed in two spectacularly neck-gabled aristocratic town houses along Keizersgracht (the Emperor’s Canal). Fourteen exhibition rooms alternate photos from the museum’s permanent collection… - Museum
Joods Historische Museum (Jewish Historical Museum)
This vast complex was central to Jewish life in Amsterdam between the 17th and mid-20th centuries and it originally consisted of four synagogues. Built by Ashkenazi Jewish refugees from Germany and Poland in the 17th and 18th centuries, it was sheer luck that the synagogues survived…Plantage - Air Travel
Koningsdag (King’s Day)
Put simply, Amsterdam loves a decent party, and the celebration that brings Amsterdammers out on to the streets like no other in the festival year is Koningsdag (King’s Day) celebrated on April 27 in honor of their monarch, King Willem-Alexander. The whole city grinds to a halt for…$Amsterdam - Historic Building
Koninklijk Paleis
The behemoth building plonked in the middle of Amsterdam’s focal Dam Square is the official residence of the reigning Dutch House of Orange, although these days the Royal Family prefers to reside in The Hague. This palace was originally designed by Jacob van Campen in 1655 as the… - The Performing Arts
Koninklijk Theater Carré
The big, plush Royal Carré Theater, on the banks of the Amstel River, opened in 1887 and used to be a full-time circus arena. These days, clowns and animals are infrequent visitors, though spectacles such as the Cirque du Soleil fill the gap. In addition to opera, modern dance, and… - Art museum
Modern Contemporary Museum (Moco)
Joining the trio of Amsterdam’s notable art institutions on Museumplein is this small museum devoted mainly to street art. Inside a lovely turn-of-the-century mansion in the shadow of the Rijksmuseum, local gallerists Lionel and Kim Logchies have assembled an impressive number of… - Landmark
Monument of Jewish Gratitude
This white limestone memorial was given in thanks by the Jewish community to the people of Amsterdam for supporting them against the Nazis in World War II. It sits on Weesperstraat at the rear of the Hermitage Amsterdam . - Museum
Museum Het Rembrandthuis
The former home of Rembrandt van Rijn, Dutch Old Master artist extraordinaire, was on the edge of the former Jewish quarter and proved to be his downfall. He bought this elegant town house in 1639 when his career as Amsterdam's premier portrait painter was flying but overstretched…Old Center - Museum
Museum Het Schip
The city’s most famous example of Amsterdam School architecture is a bus ride west to Zaanstraat. The movement’s designs were influenced by the socialist ideals of architect Hendrik Berlage and are epitomized by heavy use of brickwork, elaborate masonry, spiky towers, painted glass,… - Museum
Museum Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder (Our Lord in the Attic)
One of Amsterdam’s best-kept historical secrets is tucked away on Oudezijds Voorburgwal. Following the Alteration and the sacking of all Dutch Catholic churches in 1578, practicing Roman Catholicism was banned, so the Catholics had to find ways to worship in secret. Between 1661 and…Old Center - Museum
Museum Van Loon
The Museum Van Loon is housed in an elegant mansion first owned by Ferdinand Bol, who was a student of Rembrandt. Between 1884 and 1945 it was the property of the Van Loons, who were founders of the Dutch East India Company and one of the richest families in Amsterdam. Although this…Canal Ring - Park/Garden
Museumplein
After the crush of the Rijksmuseum, take a breather in the vast green space that is Museumplein, home to all three of Amsterdam’s great art museums—Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh, and the Stedelijk—as well as edgy newcomer Moco. The elaborate facade of Het Concertgebouw faces the… - The Performing Arts
Muziektheater
In the 1980s, construction of this superbly equipped 1,600-seat auditorium sparked street riots that sent teargas drifting across what is now the stage. Today, it's the performances that cause a stir. The Muziektheater is one of the city's stellar venues and home base of the highly… - Cultural complex
NDSM-Werf (NDSM-Wharf)
The Nederlandsche Dok en Scheepsbouw Maatschappij (Netherlands Dock and Shipyard Corporation) had been long derelict before it was taken over by an artists’ community known as Stichting Kinetisch Noord, who have spruced up the dilapidated buildings and strewn the streets with… - Museum
NEMO Science Museum
As much children’s play station as museum, NEMO is the number one place to hit with kids if it’s a rainy day. Housed in a magnificent, pale green, ship-shaped building designed by Renzo Piano, this interactive science center introduces kids to science and technology…but never feels…Oost - Religious Site
Nieuwe Kerk (New Church)
This beautiful church is the most important in The Netherlands. It was built in the last years of the 14th century, and in 1814, King William I first took the oath of office and was inaugurated here (Dutch royalty are not crowned). It still retains its relevance into the modern era,… - Religious Site
Noorderkerk
A Greek cross-shaped church, designed by Hendrick de Keyser and dating from 1620, Noorderkerk was built for the Jordaan's poor Calvinist faithful. The four triangular houses tucked into the cross's angles weren't part of de Keyser's original plan; architect Hendrick Staets, unwilling… - Religious Site
Oude Kerk (Old Church)
This late-Gothic, triple-nave church has its origins in 1250 but was only completed with the extension of the bell tower in 1566. Behind its grand brick façade, the barnlike interior was stripped of all its adornment in the Alteration of 1578. Rembrandt’s beloved first wife lies in… - Religious Site
Portuguese Synagogue
Europe’s largest synagogue was built in 1675 by Sephardic Jews who moved to Amsterdam from Spain and Portugal. The building was restored in the 1950s and today it looks pretty much as it did 3 centuries ago. The women’s gallery on the upper floor of the synagogue is supported by 12… - Museum
Rijksmuseum
The Rijksmuseum is the world’s biggest repository of Dutch Golden Age treasures, stacked over four sprawling floors in the red-brick P.J.H. Cuypers monolith opened in 1855. A decade-long refurbishment completed in 2013 did a spectacular job in sprucing up the elegant Cuypers…Museum Quarter - Neighborhood
Rosse Buurt (Red Light District)
A few steps away from the Oude Kerk and De Waag and you’re immersed in the sleazy underbelly of Amsterdam’s infamous Red Light District. Here barely clad prostitutes advertise themselves behind illuminated glass windows along the medieval canals and alleyways; if the curtains are… SMBA
An initiative by the modern-art Stedelijk Museum, this gallery was described in a Dutch newspaper as a "hatchery for young artistic talent," particularly from Amsterdam. Exhibits change constantly, but the works are always by promising young artists who embrace painting, sculpture,…- Museum
Schuttersgalerij (Civic Guards Gallery)
Outside the entrance to the Amsterdam Museum, this narrow, glass-roofed walkway links Kalverstraat to the Begijnhof and has been transformed into a public art gallery currently displaying 15 bigger-is-better, 17th-century portraits of the city’s heroic musketeers, the Civic Guards.… - Museum
Sexmuseum Amsterdam
Located on scruffy Damstraat, Amsterdam’s so-called "Venustempel" opened in 1985 and is the oldest sex museum in the world. Thanks to its position on the edge of the Red Light District, it attracts more than half a million giggling visitors per year, who wander in a bemused manner…Old Center - Religious Site
Sint-Nicolaaskerk
Opened in 1887, the city's somewhat gloomy, neo-baroque main Catholic church has twin towers and a high domed cupola. At the heart of what was once the old harbor, it started out as a place of worship for seafarers (of whom St. Nicholas is the patron). Inside, murals illustrate… - Museum
Stedelijk Museum
This is the second of the triumvirate of great art museums in Amsterdam, along with the Van Gogh and the Rijksmuseum. Devotees of contemporary art will instantly fall in love with this place, and one hopes that all visitors will be instant converts to its delights. The stark original…Museum Quarter - Museum
Tropenmuseum
One of the city's most intriguing museums belongs to the Royal Institute for the Tropics, a foundation devoted to studying the cultures of tropical areas around the world. Its focus reflects Holland's centuries as a landlord in areas such as Indonesia, Surinam (on South America's…Oost - Museum
Tulip Museum
The Tulip Museum is just across Prinsengracht from the Anne Frank Huis, and is the perfect antidote if you need cheering up after a visit. It's a cheery, contemporary, and informative slant on the story of Amsterdam's obsession with tulips, which were imported from the Himalayas and…Canal Ring - Museum
Van Gogh Museum
The third of Amsterdam's heavyweight art museums, along with the Stedelijk and the Rijksmuseum, it opened in 1973 and designed by Gerrit Rietveld, the leading exponent of the Dutch De Stijl movement. The museum has three floors of white space in which to show off the tortured…Museum Quarter - Museum
Verzetsmuseum (Dutch Resistance Museum)
Take a trip back in time to Holland's dark World War II days, during the Nazi occupation (1940-45). With authentic photographs, documents, weapons, communications equipment, spy gadgets, and other materials actually used by the Dutch Resistance, exhibits show the ingenuity—along with…Plantage - Park/Garden
Vondelpark
A 5-minute stroll from the Van Gogh down Van Baerlestraat (head down to P.C. Hooftstraat to gawp at the expensive stores) brings you to Amsterdam’s biggest, greenest public park, providing 44 hectares (109 acres) of peace and quiet. This is a cherished open space crammed with trees,… - Market
Waterlooplein Flea Market
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… - Park/Garden
Wertheim Park
The little scrap of grass overlooking Nieuwe Herengracht canal houses one of Amsterdam’s most poignant commemorations of the Holocaust. In the center of Wertheim Park is a 1993 memorial by sculptor Jan Wolkers, dedicated to the millions killed at Auschwitz. Six large cracked glass… - Religious Site
Westerkerk
Just round the corner from the Anne Frank Huis, the Protestant Westerkerk is yet another ecclesiastical masterpiece by the Dutch celebrity architect of the 17th century, Hendrick de Keyser (who also designed the Noorderkerk and the Zuiderkerk), as part of the new development of the… - Park/Garden
Westerpark
Until the early 2000s the Westerpark was a scrubby patch of green in the otherwise grimy industrial wasteland around the gas works that lay on its western flank, which became redundant and fell into disrepair after the advent of North Sea gas in the 1960s. Since then new life has… - Museum
Willet-Holthuysen Museum
This is a wonderful museum with a pristine interior dating from the 19th century in a perfectly restored canal house that shouts money. It's redolent of the sybaritic lifestyle of Amsterdam's prosperous merchant classes and every curtain, every piece of furniture displayed, and every…Canal Ring - Museum
Woonbootmuseum (Houseboat Museum)
The Houseboat Museum is found on board the Hendrika Maria, a freighter that was built in 1914, and was busily transporting sand up until the 1960s. A self-guided tour won’t take more than 15 minutes as there’s not that much to see but it offers the opportunity to glimpse life aboard… - Religious Site
Zuiderkerk
Three of Rembrandt's children were buried here, in the city's first Protestant church, designed by Hendrick de Keyser and built between 1603 and 1614. In recent years, it's succumbed to a shortage of worshipers and today houses a permanent exhibit on modern urban planning, which…
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Especially for Kids in Amsterdam
Neighborhoods Worth a Visit in Amsterdam
Sights of Religious Significance in Amsterdam
Museums in Amsterdam
Amsterdam Shopping
Street markets abound in Amsterdam. Among the best are the historic Waterlooplein Flea Market, the huge Albert Cuyp Market and the organic Boerenmarkt farmers' market. There are fashionable shopping streets like Pieter Cornelisz Hooftstraat and Rokin, antiques in Spiegelkwartier, funky boutiques in Jordaan, and intriguing specialists along Nine Little Streets. Most shops are open Monday to Saturday from about 9.30am to 6.30pm (until 9pm Thursday), and some are open from 12pm to 5pm on Sunday.
31 Results
Albert Cuypmarkt
Amsterdam’s biggest street market stretches for 1km ( 1/2 mile) and takes place Monday through to Saturday from 9am to 5pm. Although it is fast becoming a tourist attraction in its own right, the market still functions as the daily food market for De Pijp residents. Reflecting the…- Bookstores
American Book Center
From best-selling novels to travel guides, remaindered titles, and the latest celeb magazines, this vast bookstore is handsomely stocked. Book readings are frequent, there are discount vouchers for students, and if you are an aspiring author, there’s even a self-publishing advisory… - Antiques
Antiekcentrum Amsterdam
The largest indoor antiques market in The Netherlands is situated in Jordaan. Formerly known as De Looier, it’s a cornucopia of Delftware, porcelain, silverware, wonderfully restored furniture, and bizarre statuary straggling through several old warehouses. There are 46 dealers with… - Art
Art Plein Spui
Sundays in the Old Center see a gathering of local artists who show their works under canvas just off the busy street of Spui. Standards and subject matter vary considerably as 25 artists from a pool of 60 exhibit each week. As well as predictable canal-side views badly executed in… - Fashion
Azzurro Due
With four stores now open in chi-chi PC Hoofstraat, Azzurro has got the job of dressing men, women, kids, and fashion-conscious youngsters—the latter at the on-trend Four Azzurro at no. 127—all wrapped up. The shiny, sleek flagship store Azzurro Due showcases young Dutch designers… Bloemenmarkt (Flower Market)
Amsterdam’s last remaining floating market is a permanent fixture housed on a row of moored barges along the Singel canal. Once famous for its many flower shops, the market has since ceded to tourism, with the last florist closing up shop in 2019. You can still purchase seeds, bulbs,…Boerenmarkt (Farmers Market)
Amsterdam’s premier organic market is known locally as the Bio and runs alongside Saturday’s flea market on Noordermarkt. As it has a captive audience of middle-class shoppers from genteel Jordaan, the market’s quality produce has proved a great hit and, despite the high prices, it…- Gifts
Condomerie
The world’s first condom shop is cleverly sited on the edge of the Red Light District for those little emergencies in life. Even though it’s notorious the world over, the store is surprisingly small, but it packs in all manner of protection in numerous flavors, patterns, and shapes… - Food
De Kaaskamer van Amsterdam
Amsterdam’s most famous cheese emporium is in the cutesy Nine Streets shopping district in the Canal Ring. This deli delight lets you choose from more than 300 cheeses, including wheels of aged Gouda, creamy goats’ cheeses, and variety packs of up to six selections of organic cheeses… - Fashion
De Maagd & De Leeuw
A pretty boutique in the lovely shopping enclave of the Nine Streets, selling jeans and stylish tops for off-duty wear, smart day dresses, and elegant gowns for the evening, all sourced from the latest Paris fashions on a monthly basis. There’s also a selection of stylish shoes and… - Fashion
Episode
This was one of Amsterdam’s original thrift stores and has been a huge eco-friendly success story, adhering to principles of sustainability that see almost nothing thrown away. Everything sold here is secondhand—tatty old jeans are up-cycled into shorts, gauzy evening frocks given a… - Bookstores
Evenaar
In the Canal Ring, Amsterdam’s first stop for travel literature is a beguiling, cramped warren of travel maps, mainstream guides, and gorgeous coffee-table tomes containing stunning color photography. There’s also a section on armchair travel and anthropology as well as antique… - Art
Galerie Lieve Hemel
Located in the exclusive Spiegelkwartier in the Canal Ring, Lieve Hemel is a refined gallery selling the very best of contemporary Dutch art from a carefully selected gaggle of fine artists who may prove to be the Damien Hirsts of the future. Styles range from slightly surreal to… - China & Glassware
Galleria d’Arte Rinascimento
Buying authentic Dutch Delftware can be a problem in Amsterdam, but you’ll never have an issue here as all the blue-and-white pottery on sale is authenticated. Dealing in pottery old and new, the gallery has a fine collection of antiquarian Delft tiles depicting Dutch views that make… - Jewelry
Gassan Diamonds
An international company of some repute, Gassan’s jewelry stores have spread into airports across the world, but their HQ is still based in the remarkable Amsterdam School building designed by J.N. Meyer in 1897, overlooking the Oudeschans canal. It is here that the founder of Gassan… Gerda’s Bloemen & Planten
This enticing flower shop in the center of Amsterdam has a regular gig creating all the flower arrangements for the Grachtenfestival. Every day there’s a fresh selection of riotously colored blooms for sale in the stylish store, and a delivery service spans the city.- China & Glassware
Heinen Delfts Blauw
There are six Amsterdam and four Delft branches of this family-owned chain that makes and sells its own-brand porcelain as well as being official dealers in fine De Porcelyne Fles and leaded crystal. It’s the go-to place for many-spouted tulip vases, the legacy of 17th-century tulip… - Malls & Shopping Centers
Magna Plaza
Housed in the city’s former main post office, which dates back to 1899, this elegant mall has just been through a multimillion-euro facelift, and its attractive, colonnaded, and arcaded interior looks as good as new. Arranged around three levels under a soaring vaulted roof, the 21… - Antiques
Mathieu Hart
Still family owned and considered one of the leading experts in fine art since 1878, Erik Hart’s antiques emporium in the Old Center is stuffed to the gunnels with rare prints of Dutch cities, elaborate French Empire chandeliers and candlesticks, top-quality 18th-century Delftware,… - Flea Markets
Noodermarkt op Zaterdag (Northern Market on Saturday)
The Noorderkerk (North Church) was built in 1623, the final masterpiece of Hendrik de Keyser . The square surrounding the church is the site of a sprawling flea market on Saturday, where stalls are a mixed bag of decent paintings, a few antiques, handmade jewelry, rugs, and old books… - Departments Stores
Peek & Cloppenburg
This elegant shop is in pole position just off Amsterdam’s main square, the Dam. It does fashion for both sexes brilliantly at a range of price levels, from designer brands such as D&G and Armani to the less pricey Fred Perry and Geox. With stores now in 15 European countries,… - Housewares & Furniture
Pol’s Potten Amsterdam B.V.
Housed in a former warehouse right at the coal face of Amsterdam regeneration in the eastern docks, this funky design store concentrates on selling simple, stark designs for the home. From colorful glassware to plastic kitchen utensils and desk accessories, the shop’s style is… - Antiques
Premsela & Hamburger
Opened in 1823, this historic store in the Old Center deals in antiquities at the luxury end of the market. Although some modern jewelry is sold here, the shop specializes in antique silver and gold collectables, from beautifully crafted 17th-century galleons under full sail to… - Gifts
Smokiana
Like a relic of a bygone age, this odd little store underneath the bizarrely compelling and informative Amsterdam Pipe Museum offers tobacco in a multitude of flavors, snuff, and smoking memorabilia as well as an enormous selection of wooden and clay pipes from across the world. An… - Toys
Tinkerbell
The place in Amsterdam to purchase traditional wooden toys, puzzles, and gentle learning tools for kids 9 and under. Located in the exclusive Spiegelkwartier among the antiques shops, there’s a refreshing lack of plastic in favor of quality and sustainability. Best sellers include… - Shoes
United Nude
On the outer reaches of the corner of the Nine Streets shopping area, this wackily designed boutique is owned by avant-garde designer Rem D Koolhaus, who has pushed boundaries in shoe design in the same way that his uncle of the same name storms forward with his architecture. A… - Art
Van Gogh Museum Shop
One of the better Amsterdam museum shops, selling hundreds of items smothered with Van Gogh’s familiar artworks. There’s a choice of books detailing the story of the tortured artist’s life and postcards and posters by the hundred as well as puzzle books for kids and pretty silk… - Flea Markets
Waterlooplein Flea Market
The big daddy of Amsterdam street markets has around 300 stands flogging anything and everything from rubbishy oil paintings to jugglers’ balls by way of knock-off DVDs, beat-up army jackets, and dainty ethnic jewelry. You can still find genuine treasures under all the second-hand… - Fashion
Webers Holland
A scream of a shop hidden behind the facade of one of Amsterdam’s narrowest houses. Yes, the 17th-century Klein Trippenhuis (Little Trippenhuis) in the Old Center is the unlikely venue for the wacky, outlandish fetish designs of Désirée Webers, who has been creating rubber and… - Departments Stores
de Bijenkorf
Amsterdam’s answer to Harrods and Bloomingdales is a four-story shopping addict’s dream in the Old Center, selling anything from Gucci belts to Chanel headphones under one roof. The city’s most prestigious and expensive department store is a luxurious delight, with high-brand designs… - Gifts
’t Curiosa Winkeltje
A deeply eccentric store in the Canal Ring where you’re sure to find an unusual gift, be it a glitzy gold tea service, a 1960s record player, plastic tulips in plastic pots, and children’s toys from the 1950s. It’s worth having a good scrabble around to come up with that truly unique…
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Amsterdam Nightlife
Most of Amsterdam's bars and clubs are in the city centre around the Dam, De Pijp and Leidseplein. Amsterdam has earned an international reputation for its dance scene in spectacular clubs like Panama, while many of the best gay bars and clubs are along Reguliersdwarsstraat. Most clubs don't get going until midnight and stay open until 5am or later. Popular bars include swish modern cocktail bars like VakZuid at the Olympic Stadium. The red light district is touristy, but has some interesting old theatres showing revues and cabaret.
22 Results
- Comedy Clubs
Boom Chicago
Amsterdam's foremost comedy theater has moved from the Leidseplein but continues to bring delightful English-language improvisational comedy to the city. The partly scripted, partly improvised humor takes potshots at life in Amsterdam, politics, tourists, and any other available…$$Jordaan - Bars & Pubs
Brouwerij ‘t IJ
The biggest draw of this brewery and pub, set on the eastern fringes of the city, is the chance to drink next to Amsterdam proper’s only surviving windmill. But the beer is pretty fine, too; the microbrewery’s craft beers range from bright blondes to uber-hoppy IPAs to… - Bars & Pubs
Bubbles & Wines
An oh-so-sophisticated champagne and wine bar in the Old Center that was voted Amsterdam’s wine bar of the year in 2011 and makes a little oasis of hushed red decor and subdued lighting among the chaos of the city's tourist heartland. Along with the extensive and reasonably…$$Old Center - Bars & Pubs
Cafe Hoppe
Hoppe is an ancient brown cafe that dates back to 1670. It has a convivial, English-pub atmosphere, and is standing-room-only in the early evening, when the place fills up with a merry after-work bunch of locals. Things can become a bit rowdy after a couple of samplings of Dutch…Old Center - Bars & Pubs
Café Pollux
A real treasure just a short walk from Centraal station, primarily due to the charismatic and slightly bonkers owner Frits and his enigmatically smiling wife. It has a garish scarlet interior reminiscent of an old-fashioned American diner on acid, and a simple menu of Dutch favorites…$Old Center - Performing Arts Venue
Concertgebouw
Amsterdam’s top orchestra—indeed, one of the world’s top orchestras—is the renowned Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, whose home is the Concertgebouw. This majestic concert venue first opened its doors in 1888 and still touted as one of the most acoustically perfect concert halls in…$$$Museum Quarter - Bars & Pubs
De Drie Fleschjes
There's sawdust on the floor and wooden barrels line the walls in this traditional proeflakaal (tasting room), which is a real find and a welcome escape from the Red Light District hinterland. De Drie Fleschjes is run by informed and relaxed bartenders who are only too pleased to…$Old Center - Performing Arts Venue
Dutch National Opera & Ballet
The Dutch National Opera is one of the leading companies in Europe. They perform at the Dutch National Opera & Ballet overlooking the river in Waterlooplein. The box office is at Amstel 3, and the theater is also home to the Dutch National Ballet, which offers both classical…$$$Old Center - Bars & Pubs
Glouglou
Set on the edge of the hip De Pijp neighborhood, this corner wine bar pioneered the natural wine movement in the Netherlands when it opened in 2015. It gets its name from the French term for glug glug, and indeed, that’s exactly what you’ll do here, thanks to an incredibly… - Pub
Het Ketelhuis
An industrial-chic hangout at the avant-garde Westergasfabriek movie theater, with rough plaster walls and concrete floors. A daytime menu sees lashings of organic cheeses and salamis, organic bread and tapenade, or homemade soups of the day served up with wheat beers and frothy…Westerpark - The Performing Arts
Internationaal Theater Amsterdam
The Internationaal Theater Amsterdam (ITA) stages mainstream Dutch productions inside a grand neo-Renaissance building, formerly known as the Stadsschouwburg, on Leidseplein. There are two theaters here: one is the historic 900-seat Great Hall; the other is a modern 500-seat New…$$Canal Ring - Dance Clubs
Jimmy Woo
An Asian-themed club with a posh clientele who happily sit around quaffing champagne all night. Things don't start to heat up until around 1am, when the music cranks up downstairs and the elegant crowds stalk on to the dance floor. Dress up, as the fashion police can be quite picky.$Canal Ring - Performing Arts Venue
Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ
Lovers of avant-garde and experimental music should head to the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ, which opened in 2005 on the ever-expanding IJ waterfront east of Centraal Station. It’s the hub of modern and old jazz, electronic, and non-Western music in Amsterdam, as well as small-scale…$$Oost - Dance Clubs
Paradiso
An Amsterdam institution, Paradiso is based in a former church that has converted well into a majestic, multi-purpose club with lofty ceilings and high balconies encircling the dance floor. Big-name DJs and musical theme nights draw dance fans at the weekend, and in recent times…$$Canal Ring - The Performing Arts
Royal Theatre Carré
This lovely old theater was once Amsterdam's circus arena, but these days a circus performs here only over Christmas. The theater hosts a few English-language productions of opera, contemporary dance, and ballet, as well as best-selling big-name shows such as “Book of Mormon.”…$$$Oost - Gay & Lesbian Bars
Saarein
A happy-go-lucky, essentially lesbian environment that is open to all comers, straight, bi, or gay, Saarein is typical of the Jordaan’s brown cafes in that the bar staff and clientele are cheery, welcoming, and happy to talk. With a decent selection of draught and bottled beers, live…$Jordaan - Gay & Lesbian Bars
SoHo Amsterdam
The city's quintessential gay venue is a typical pub during the week, but it hits party time on the weekend. Don't bother showing up early, though; nothing really gets going until after 11pm. Look for DJ nights and themed parties right in the heart of Amsterdam's gay area in the Old…Canal Ring - Coffee Houses
The Bulldog
Amsterdam’s notorious coffee shops are not known for their mochaccinos but for selling marijuana and hashish. They have played a large part in city life and brought millions of euros into the city through cannabis tourism since the decriminalizing of soft drugs in 1976. Today,…Old Center - Bars & Pubs
Vesper
One of a new breed of super-smooth cocktail bars with some wacky concoctions, Vesper is widely regarded as employing the coolest mixologists in Amsterdam. In Jordaan, it’s one step beyond the usual fare of mojitos and gin slings as the bartenders go off piste to create new wonders in…$$Jordaan - Performing Arts Venue
Vondelpark Openluchttheater (Open Air Theater)
Summer is festival and party time in Amsterdam, and June through August see al-fresco fun kick off in the Vondelpark with a series of concerts at the moon-shaped open-air stage. There are Sunday afternoon jazz sessions plus a program of pop, rock, Latin, classical music, and stand up…$Museum Quarter - Jazz
WesterUnie
Secreted away in the Westergasfabriek cultural complex west of Centraal Station, WesterUnie is a venue of three parts. By day it’s an industrial-chic, cavernous bar and cafe with a suntrap terrace, but at night it morphs into either a concert hall or a heavy-duty music club that gets…$$Westerpark - Pub
’t Smalle
Traditional Dutch taverns or "brown cafes" are great places to mix with resident Amsterdammers, as they are the very embodiment of gezellighied, that particularly Dutch mixture of charm, conviviality, and comfort all wrapped into one splendid welcoming package. Some brown cafes are…$Jordaan
More To Do in Amsterdam
Best Hotel Bets in Amsterdam
Best Ambiance: Taking all factors into account — price, location, facilities, hospitality, Dutchness, and that indefinable element that makes a stay memorable — the Estheréa is one of the best experiences in town. Best for Tradition: Die Port van Cleve is one of Amsterdam's oldest…
The Best Luxury Hotels in Amsterdam
American Hotel Amsterdam: This hotel boasts the best location in town — it's on Leidseplein, Amsterdam's liveliest square, and is close to theaters, cinemas, and a casino. Location aside, this is a fine hotel, and its Art Deco-style Café Americain is a city institution. Hotel de…
