Printable destination guide
For more information and to book please visit www.mrandmrssmith.com or let us arrange your whole trip, by calling +44 (0)20 8987 4312 or from the USA dial 1 866 610 3867.
Amsterdam
Netherlands
- Cityscape
- Townhouses and waterways
- City life
- Laid-back laissez-faire
The city with a village mentality, where ducks compete for canal-bank space with disoriented tourists.
Once you’ve dipped into the heady club and bar culture, jump on a tram to the picturesque Nine Streets area; hire a bike to explore architecturally interesting Zuid; or hit the beach – it’s only 30 minutes away. It’s time to graduate from the red-light district and explore one of Europe’s most picturesque, liveliest cities.
Pictured: The Dylan
Our round-up of the hippest hideaways and boutique hotels in Amsterdam
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Planes, trains, automobiles, or maybe even helicopter – we tell you the best way to go.
more
Highlights the best Amsterdam has to offer, from art and culture to fun-packed activities; we've even found the most inspiring place to enjoy the views from.
more
We've tracked down the best cafés for people-watching, the bars with the coolest cocktails, the most accomplished restaurants and the liveliest local nightlife in Amsterdam.
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Here is the map of Amsterdam; each Mr & Mrs Smith hotel is marked by a flag; click it for more details.
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Local knowledge
- Taxis
- There are ranks all over, but you can usually hail; tip ten per cent. Beware of unlicensed mini-cabs.
- Tipping culture
- The Dutch aren’t big tippers; ten per cent is usually about right, and it’s common to give the bartender a euro with every round.
- Packing tips
- Bicycle clips; puncture kit; an open mind.
- Recommended reads
- The Diary of Anne Frank; Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach; Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier.
- Cuisine
- Hearty, rib-sticking Northern fare, as well as herring, smoked eel, and Indonesian rijsttafel ('rice table'), an army of small spicy dishes.
- Currency
- Euro.
- Dialing codes
- Country code for the Netherlands: 31. Amsterdam: 20.
- Do go/don't go
- Weekends are busy all year round, and September is a big time for conferences, so book ahead.
Getting there
Planes, trains, automobiles, or maybe even helicopter – we tell you the best way to go.
- Planes
- A taxi from the airport costs around €45. For the most laid-back ride into town, Ralph’s taxi service offers a superior, leather-interiored TV-toting Merc (email ralph.q.s@worldonline.nl).
- Trains
- A 20-minute train from Schiphol airport to the city centre costs about €6 one-way.
- Automobiles
- Parking is hellish. Everyone uses trams or a bicycle.
Worth getting out of bed for
Highlights the best Amsterdam has to offer, from art and culture to fun-packed activities; we've even found the most inspiring place to enjoy the views from.
Absolutely Amsterdam
Visit a coffeeshop – follow Brad Pitt’s lead and go to De Dampkring on Handboogstraat. Enjoy an tour of the canals in a skippered ‘genie boat’ (a former army vessel used for towing large objects), €70 an hour for two (+31 (20) 5327 0076).
- Viewpoint
- Owing to topography and building-height restrictions, nothing is that high up, but your best shot is the café on the sixth floor of Metz department store on Leidsestraat.
- Arts and culture
- Van Gogh Museum (www.vangoghmuseum.nl), Rijksmuseum (www.rijksmuseum.nl), Stedelijk Modern Art Museum (www.stedelijk.nl).
- Something for nothing
- In April or May, take a drive out to the tulip fields and feast your eyes.
- Shopping
- For designer labels, go to PC Hooftstraat. We prefer the Nine Streets – a grid within the canal network that is packed with boutiques and curiosity shops. We love DOM on Spuistraat, for all kinds of items you never thought you needed. Spmrkt is a warehouse of all things retro and cool: books, fashion, furniture, art. Spiegelstraat is renowned for antiques. For markets, on Saturdays and Mondays head to Noordermarkt for organic food and bric-à-brac, or the bigger, touristier Waterlooplein market for second-hand clothes. Albert Cuypmarkt in the Pijp claims to be Europe’s longest street market.
- And...
- Go with the flow in restaurants – Dutch service can be very laid-back.
Diary
30 April Queen’s Day – the whole of Amsterdam is on holiday and the canals come alive. May National Cycling Day on the second Saturday sees thousands pedalling through town. August Classical concerts on the canals; Gay Pride, when the city is awash with revellers (www.amsterdampride.nl). 5 December St Nicholas Day kicks off the Christmas festivities.
Eating, drinking and dancing
We've tracked down the best cafés for people-watching, the bars with the coolest cocktails, the most accomplished restaurants and the liveliest local nightlife in Amsterdam.
Cafés
De Bakkerswinkel
This is the best place for lunch and high tea in Amsterdam, (if not in Europe) Order a huge slab of spinach quiche from the hand-illustrated menu, then go to the counter and pick out a tranche of one of their delicious just-baked cakes. There are several branches across the city.
Warmoesstraat 69
(+31 (20) 4898000)
De Taart van m’n Tante
Cake specialists who have even been known to make edible clothing. This cute café with a cosy B&B upstairs is the only place in the city where you can have your cake and eat it.
Ferdinand Bolstraat 10
(+31 (0)20 7764600)
Moko
Moko’s setting is what you come for – it’s based in a wooden church with views of one of the most picturesque squares in the city. During the day, visitors can snack on gourmet sandwiches, and by evening the menu switches to European/Australasian fusion, with a huge cocktail list.
Amstelveld, 12
(+31 (0)20 6261199)
Restaurants
Cinema Paradiso
An informal, moderately priced, modern Italian restaurant in a former cinema auditorium. This is a very popular place, and it’s only possible to book for parties of 10-plus, so unless you arrive as soon at it opens at 6pm, you may have to wait in line in the candle-lit bar, which is no bad thing.
Westerstraat 184-186
(+31 (0)20 6237344)
Odessa
This boat-based restaurant is all things to all people. Each deck has a its own unique vibe, meaning guests can come here for a romantic dinner, a drink on the sun deck or a dance on the lower levels. The restaurant serves international fusion cuisine and tends to kick off into a party after dinner.
Veemkade 259
(+31 (0)20 20 4193010)
Cosmopolitan Brasserie Harkema
Built in a former tobacco hall, the saw-tooth roof with northern light which lent itself to the process of tabacco leaf selection, now provides the brasserie with beautiful, soft, indirect light.
Typical brasserie dishes are skillfully knocked up in the open kitchen.
Nes 67
(+31 (0)20 4282222)
Envy
This Italian-influenced eaterie brings the fresh flavours of deli produce to atmospheric little restaurant tables. Daily-changing menus offer tasting platters of cheese, charcuterie, and gourmet confections, which are on display to diners in 26 refrigerators before they are prepared in the open kitchen.
Prinsengracht 381
(+31 (20) 3446407)
Bond
Bond’s plush Charles Eames’ and Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired interior lends itself to intimacy and relaxation. Modern French cuisine is served up, either in the glowing, golden interior or, in fine weather, out on the terrace.
Valeriusstraat 128b
(+31 (20) 6764647)
The Blonde Hollander
We recommend this restaurant for a truly traditional Dutch experience in hip surroundings. Stuff yourself with herrings, onion, gherkin, rissoles, mashed potatoes and meatballs. But go somewhere else if you’re on a diet - traditional Dutch dishes are meaty and filling, and the portions here are huge.
Leidsekruisstraat 28
(+31 (20) 6270522)
De Kas
A little way outside town, but well worth a visit, De Kas is a former greenhouse that used to belong to Amsterdam Municipal Nursery. Vegetables and herbs are grown on site and daylight shines in from all sides, Try to get a kitchen table and let the chef decide what you eat.
Kamerlingh Onneslaan 3
(+31 (0)20 4624562)
Bars and clubs
Republiek
Twenty minutes by train from Amsterdam, Bloemendaal is Holland's beach resort. Café Republiek is a club for Amsterdam’s beautiful people who flock there between April and November. In good weather, it’s a bit like being in Ibiza.
Zeeweg 1, Bloemendaal
(+31 (0)20 3573073)
Bloomingdale
A larger, improved version of Republiek, with loads of space devoted to dining and lounging on couches, chairs with waterproof cushions. A glass wall overlooks the sea and bunches of scented flowers, house DJs and a great cocktail list complete the picture.
Zeeweg 94, Bloemendaal
(+31 (0)20 5737580)
Cineac
A bar/club in a former 1930s modernist theatre which offers great dim sum - but you won’t be allowed in if you’re wearing trainers, or under 25.
Reguliersbreestraat 31-33
(+31 (0)20 5306888)
Jimmy Woo
A glamorous nightclub where a clued-up crew go to party; there is an entry fee, but your hotel might be able to get your name put down on the guest list.
Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 18
(+31 (0)20 6263150)
Supperclub
This legendary venue which provides a mixture of food, music, performances, art, and aims to tickle all your five senses, is still going strong, but it may be even more fun to book dinner on its boat (www.supperclubcruise.nl), with live DJs and dancing till late.
Jonge Roelensteeg 21
(+31 (0)20 3446400)
Vyne
A great little wine shop and bar, Vyne is the sister to deli-bar Envy and has a superb selection of bottles to buy, fine wines to sip and small plates of tapas-style nibbles to share.
Prinsengracht 411
(+31 (0)20 3446404)
©2008 Mr & Mrs Smith
