The Amsterdam guide that does not appear in other guides
Here you will not find recommendations to visit the Anne Frank house or the flower market. There are no tour boats or blue china shops. This article is dedicated to true friends and the plans that we like to do together.
Promenades, cafes, restaurants, shops and canals, yes, but with the emotion of discover the best ramen dish in the city, a lingerie store that you will love, the winter terraces where the Dutch meet to drink wine and the places where you can eat delicious, healthy and organic food.
This is the Amsterdam guide that your best friend would give you: the one who knows you and the one who wants to surprise you. The guide that does not appear in other guides.
Those addresses that we would really like to keep secret -let's hope the tourists never arrive!- but that are so good that we can't resist telling them. The guide to the plans that Amsterdammers make every weekend in their city, the most beautiful in Europe.
Amsterdam with friends: the perfect plan in the perfect city
FRIDAY: NINE STREETS AND JORDAAN
If you ask anyone who lives in Amsterdam, she will tell you that the nine streets (Negen Straatjes in Dutch) are the most ideal in the city. As its name suggests, it consists of nine streets connected by canals and small bridges.
We could say that this is the most photogenic area of Amsterdam, with its sloping black brick houses, its ideal cafes (that low lighting that the Dutch dominate with so much taste, that Nordic decoration, those homemade cakes), its small clothing stores (here you will not find Zaras or big chains) and its little jewels that meets you at every step.
The nine streets are: Reestraat, Hartenstraat, Gasthuismolensteeg, Berenstraat, Wolvenstraat, Oude Spiegelstraat, Runstraat, Huidenstraat and Wijde Heisteeg. The good thing is that you don't have to remember their names.
At Pluk you can eat a delicious poke bowl and buy designer pieces such as agendas, jewelery and cushions
Where to eat hipster:
Something that is going to happen to you all the time this weekend is that you are going to find yourself with too many restaurants and cafes that you would like to try. As there is not time for everyone, here are three, with a guarantee of authenticity.
** BRIX ** (Wolvenstraat 16)
It's been open for a couple of years and is a favorite with the Dutch. Sandwiches, eggs and soups : are the three basic (and delicious) of the cool places in Amsterdam.
One detail that particularly interests you is that lunch hours are extended until 4:00 p.m. Be careful with this: the schedules are not Spanish; the most common is to eat around 12:30 p.m. and dinner shifts start at 6:00 p.m.
pluk (Restraat 19)
Here you can eat (recommended the poke bowl with salmon, avocado and edamame ), buy a design agenda, a hipster cushion, ceramic cups or minimalist jewelry.
Sandwiches, eggs and soups are the three basics of the cool places in Amsterdam
Where to buy the most beautiful souvenir in the world:
LOVE STORIES (Herengracht 298)
Love Stories is the brand of the Dutch Marloes Hoedemann , who first worked as a fashion stylist and interior designer until she decided to launch her own lingerie firm.
Forget the typical souvenirs: a silk pajama shirt (to take down the street, like the Dutch) or a set of underwear so beautiful they will be a much cooler memory.
Where to have dinner and have fun like never before:
CHIN CHIN CLUB (Rozengracht 133)
If what you want is an experience, this is the place. Here the club lines blur between a restaurant, a (cocktail) bar, an entertainment room with arcades and private karaoke, and a nightclub.
Chin Chin Club is that place where the last drink is never the last. The restaurant serves Chinese cuisine (with a very personal touch) and although reservations are recommended, they reserve a few tables for the spontaneous ones who arrive early.
Where to dance until dawn:
** MAD FOX ** (Spuistraat 175 B)
This is the most fashionable club in Amsterdam. We could define it as hypermodern, a bit dark and with a sophisticated air. Located in the W hotel is what in Amsterdam they call a hutspot. So if you are nocturnal animals, this is the place.
Chin Chin Club, where the last drink is never the last
SATURDAY: PIJP
The preferred neighborhood of all those who live in the city. Here you will not find clueless tourists but the true essence of Amsterdam: young people, many terraces, endless bars and restaurants, designer shops and a bohemian atmosphere.
The walk to not miss anything:
You can start at Sarpathi park. Much smaller than the famous Vondelpark… and much more authentic too.
If it's good you'll see the phenomenon of amsterdamers in the sun: everyone goes out to have a picnic, barbecue, play with a ball or drink wine. It is a simple experience but it perfectly describes the essence of the city.
From there you can walk to the street Gerard Doustraat: the best plan is to wander around and discover. On Saturday mornings there is a market Quite a big one on Albert Cuypstraat and it's funny to take a walk.
There are artisanal cheeses, typical Dutch street food, second-hand clothes, fruits and vegetables, sourdough bread and, in short, everything you can think of.
Where to have a beer:
Gerard Douplein's complex is full of terraces (with blankets and heaters, everything has been thought of) to have a beer: a favorite is the mash-bar , and it is also a good plan to sit on Brut de Mer and combine a glass of wine with some oysters (which, by the way, is a very Dutch plan).
In the surroundings there are endless options: another favorite is the escobar , with Spanish essence, with a very good atmosphere in the late afternoon.
The atypical plans of Amsterdam and your friends, could you ask for more?
Where to eat:
** SLA ** (Utrechtsestraat 10HS)
It's a organic salad bar and opened in 2013 under the concept of "conscious food". Jop, Nina and Ida, its founders, believe in food almost like medicine for health: “Sla is our way of creating an environment with a heart that inspires and encourages healthy habits”.
Here you will find all organic, unprocessed ingredients from local suppliers. And it's great.
Where to do some shopping:
** COTTON CAKE ** (1e van der Helststraat 76-hs)
Here you will fall in love several times. Of brands with that nordic bohemian spirit such as Monocrafft, Sessun, Polder, Samsoe & Samsoe, Hartford, Selected, Daphny Raes and By1oak, from little gems, of gift items. You can too have a cappuccino and a homemade granola , or an avocado toast.
**HUTSPOT** (Van Woustraat 4)
Nick van Aalst, Reinier Bernaert and Pieter Jongens, three childhood friends, founded Hutspot in the summer of 2012. What started as a small pop-up shop for clothing, designer goods and accessories, today It has stores in Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Rotterdam and Utrecht.
hutspot searches new and exciting brands, designers, artists and entrepreneurs, offering them the opportunity to display their products in their own space within the stores.
Here there is one hairdresser-barbershop and events such as cooking classes for children and barbecue sessions in the spring. Among the clothing brands we find all those Scandinavian brands that are trendy today, such as Samsoe & Samsoe, and Second Female.
** SCOTCH AND SODA ** (Gerard Doustraat 71)
is possibly the best-known Dutch high street brand in fashion, with its endless prints. It was born in the heart of Amsterdam, in a small studio next to a canal, and today they already have more than 150 own stores around the world. It is worth a visit.
Cotton Cake, a store with a Nordic bohemian spirit from which you will want to take everything
Where to drink the coolest coffee in the world:
** SCANDINAVIAN EMBASSY ** (Sarphatipark 34)
This is a small cafe where you can have healthy breakfasts and lunches , with a delicious exercise in Scandinavian interior design.
The cuisine is organic and inspired by typical Nordic dishes, they brew their own beer, everything is sustainable and their suppliers are small, change with the seasons and are very niche. In addition, conceptual fashion collections are exhibited.
CT COFFEE & COCONUTS (Ceintuurban 282-284)
In an old cinema from the 1920s (formerly Ceintuur Theater) , now there's CT Coffee & Coconuts: a funky, laid-back spot where you feel like you've gone on vacation near the beach.
Three floors full of light, whitewashed walls that interact with industrial elements of red brick and pipes, rustic wooden furniture, comfortable linen cushions, long shared tables and green plants. Easy and natural. Calling their cuisine “healthy and happy,” the menu is largely organic and locally sourced.
Easy and natural, this is the kitchen of CT Coffee & Coconuts
Where to dine the best noodles in town:
PHO 91 (Albert Cuypstraat 91HS)
One of the best things about Amsterdam is that you can travel the world through food. There are restaurants from Suriname, and especially Asian: Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, Filipino... Pho 91 is a Vietnamese restaurant with a relaxed, informal and welcoming atmosphere.
They say that the pho (a bowl of soup with long rice noodles, served in a bowl in a beef broth with small pieces of meat and vegetables) warms the soul. Seriously, it's really good.
Where the Dutch dance:
PARADISE (Weteringschans 6-8)
This concert hall is an old 19th century church that was used for religious events until 1965. With that practical mentality from northern Europe, today it has become one of the most special venues in the city where you can listen live music.
Usually electronic and indie, if you feel like the experience you can check their program online before traveling.
Paradiso, a former 19th-century church converted into a concert hall
SUNDAY: A BRUNCH PLAN BEFORE THE AIRPORT
Where to have brunch:
BAKERS AND ROASTERS (Eerste Jacob van Campenstraat 54 and Kadijksplein 16)
An idea of a New Zealander and a Brazilian Judging by the popularity of her brunch, they'll be hitting gold.
They opened this place combining everything they missed about their homeland: their mothers' cooking, their favorite street foods and the most delicious coffee. Organic eggs, sausages, beans, avocado… you won't be hungry until late at night.
DIGNITÀ HOFTUIN (Nieuwe Herengracht 18a)
Another option is Dignità Hoftuin, which has opened its second location in a privileged and hidden location in the center of Amsterdam: in the courtyard next to the Heritage museum.
Stop first to take your Instagram photo on **one of the most beautiful bridges in the city (the Magere Brug)** and then celebrate with a frittata with poached eggs, for instance.