Amsterdam nightlife

Leidse plein

The Amsterdam nightlife is very diverse and it never stops. There is something for everybody. The best known party areas with clubs and bars are the Leidseplein (Leidsesquare) and the Rembrandtplein (Rembrandtsquare). But new and trendy clubs and bars can also be found outside the city centre.

If you are looking for more exciting entertainment, you can enjoy live music in one of the big music venues. Many Amsterdam cafes also offer live music, ranging from blues to jazz and Irish folkmusic to coverbands.In the Jordaan you find typical Amsterdam bars(We call them "bruin Café").

concerthall on the waterfront)

Not everybody wants to go to bars and clubs. There are a lot more possibilities in the Amsterdam nightlife. You could go to the cinema or to a theatre. At the VVV, the Dutch office for tourists you can get information about what,s up. The "Uitkrant" is a newspaper with information. Amsterdam has lots of theatres and concerthalls.

old fashion Dutch cafe

For enjoying a good meal, you find restaurants all over the centre of Amsterdam. Especially in the area of Leidseplein and the Jordaan. Amsterdam is a melting-pot of cultures, so there are restaurants of every thinkable country in the world. there are also a few Dutch food restaurants. There is a difference between a restaurant and a dinnercafe. A dinnercafe (eetcafe in Dutch) is a cafe where they serve good meals, but a lot cheaper than a restaurant. In the evening it is a normal cafe.

Coffee shops are very popular with the younger tourist. Yes, you can buy coffee there, but the most important thing to buy there are legal soft drugs. Holland is famous for the legal selling of softdrugs. In Amsterdam coffeeshop means a place where cannabis is openly sold and smoked. If you just want to drink coffee or tea, you should not go to an Amsterdam coffeeshop, but go to a normal cafe. The coffeeshops can legally store up to 500 g of marijuana and can sell up to 5 grams to adults over 18. Coffeeshop or Coffee Shop is a unique Dutch institution. For over 40 years, coffeeshops exist and have operated with quasi-legal status in the Netherlands. So if you just want to drink a cup of coffee, a coffeeshop is not excactly the place where you should go. There are a couple of hundred coffeeshops in Amsterdam, of any size and atmosphere.

red light district

A very special experience, is to take a walk trough the Amsterdam red light district. It is crowded with tourists, so you won't feel awkward at all. The prostitutes have very friendly attitude towards the tourists who just take a look out of curiousity.

return from Amsterdam nightlife to homepage