Editorial
Amsterdam has three drinking traditions stacked on top of each other. The oldest is the brown cafe, the bruine kroeg, the timber and tobacco stained bars some of which have been pouring beer continuously since the seventeenth century. The middle one is the borrel, the post work drink that is still a working part of Dutch life. The newest is a cocktail scene that, in twenty years, has gone from non existent to one of the strongest in Europe.
All three coexist. You can drink at a brown cafe in the morning and a Test Kitchen tier cocktail bar that night, walk between them, and never leave the canal ring. This guide covers eighteen bars across all three traditions, in the neighbourhoods where they actually function. Tourist bars are not on this list. Touristy is a real failing in Amsterdam, where authentic bars cost almost the same as fake ones.
Three areas matter. De Pijp in the south is the dense food and bar district where most of Amsterdams new wave bars opened. Jordaan in the centre west is the historic neighbourhood with the highest brown cafe density. The Centrum and Nine Streets area in the middle has the canal view bars and the polished cocktail rooms. We cover bars in all three plus a few in less obvious neighbourhoods.
Cocktail bar set in a quiet alley near the Old Church. The drinks list is one of the most disciplined in the city. Most cocktails are stirred classics with a small twist. The room is dark wood and amber light. Bartenders are formally trained. Reserve. Open Tuesday to Saturday from 6pm.
Reportedly Amsterdams smallest bar. Established in 1798. Old jenevers behind the bar, a wood stove in winter, twelve seats, no music. This is the brown cafe in its most concentrated form. Cash only. Open Wednesday to Saturday from 4pm.
Speakeasy behind an unmarked black door. Sit at the bar if you can. The seasonal menu changes four times a year and is one of the better quarterly cocktail programs in Europe. You ring a bell to get in. Booking is essential. Open daily from 8pm.
One of the great canal terrace bars. The pontoon over the Egelantiersgracht is the most photographed bar terrace in Amsterdam. Inside is classic brown cafe. The crowd is mixed and the tap list reliable. Get there at 4pm in summer for a terrace seat. Open daily.
Whisky and cocktail room with a serious back bar. The whisky list runs into the hundreds. Cocktails skew classic and are uniformly excellent. Atmosphere is grown up, low lit, and conversational. Closed on Mondays. Open from 7pm Tuesday to Sunday.
Wood and concrete bar on the water near the Centraal Station. Outdoor terrace on a wooden deck over the harbour. In summer this is one of the best bars in the city for sundowners. The kitchen does decent food. Open daily from 11am.
Tiny cocktail bar named after the Bond drink. Twenty seats. The menu is short, the bartenders are excellent, and the prices are fair by Amsterdam standards. Reserve in advance. The crowd is a mix of locals and travelling cocktail nerds. Open Wednesday to Saturday from 7pm.
Established 1670. One of the oldest bars in Amsterdam still operating. The terrace on Spui is busy from spring through autumn and is one of the great people watching spots in the city. The interior is sawdust on the floor brown cafe. Reliable beer. Open daily.
Hotel bar at the Pulitzer with a canal view, polished cocktails, and an outdoor terrace overlooking the Prinsengracht. Excellent for an early evening cocktail in a more formal setting. The cocktails are precise, the prices are hotel level. Open daily from noon.
Sailor bar from the sixteenth century in a wooden building that survived the great fires. There were once monkeys here, hence the name. Now it is a brown cafe with one of the strangest histories in Amsterdam. Cash, jenever, and old maps on the walls. Open daily.
Twenty third floor of the Okura hotel. Best citywide skyline view in Amsterdam. Cocktails are good, food is excellent, prices are high. Best at sunset. Reserve. Open daily from 6pm.
Wine bar with a tight natural list and a kitchen that does small Mediterranean plates. The Dutch wine industry barely exists, so this is mostly French and Italian. Bartenders are wine people, not bartenders. Standing room after 8pm. Open Wednesday to Sunday.
Microbrewery under a windmill on the east side. Tasting room serves twelve house beers, a few seasonal specials, and a small bar food menu. The terrace fills up in summer. This is a Sunday afternoon bar. Open daily from 2pm.
Eleventh floor rooftop at the DoubleTree near Centraal. View covers the harbour and the eastern docklands. Cocktails are well made if pricey. Best in early evening before the crowd thickens. Open daily.
Distillery and tasting room from 1679. You stand at a wooden bar, lean over a tulip glass, and sip jenever without using your hands. The kopstootje, the head butt of jenever and beer, is the local move here. Open daily from 2pm.
German bar with deep mismatched armchairs, tall ceilings, and a long beer list. In winter this is one of the most comfortable rooms in Amsterdam. The wine list is solid and the cocktails are good rather than exceptional. Open daily.
Natural wine bar that locals book a week ahead. The list is short and changes weekly. The food, mostly small plates, is precise and overdelivers. The room is small enough that conversations carry. Open Wednesday to Sunday.
Gin and tonic bar with around 80 gins, mostly Dutch and Belgian, and twelve tonics. The bartenders match them carefully. The rest of the menu is short cocktails done well. Crowd is younger and the music is louder. Open Tuesday to Saturday.
De Pijp is the dense food and drink district south of the canal ring. Albert Cuyp market sits in the middle, the bars cluster around it. The neighbourhood has the highest concentration of new wave cocktail rooms and natural wine bars in the city.
Jordaan is the historic working class neighbourhood that was gentrified in the 1990s and never lost its bars. Brown cafes line every other street. The Egelantiersgracht and Bloemgracht have the best canal terraces. Most of our brown cafe picks are here, and there is a fuller guide in our brown cafes guide.
The Nine Streets and the central canal ring is what most tourists call Amsterdam. The bars here lean polished and tourist friendly. The exceptions are Tales and Spirits, Door 74, and Cafe Hoppe, all included above.
Oost on the east side is where younger Amsterdam lives. Glouglou is the standout, but the area is full of new bars opening every season. Worth an evening if you are spending more than a long weekend.
Borrel is the after work drink. Workers in Amsterdam start drinking around 4pm or 5pm, often outside, often standing. The session typically runs until 7pm and ends with most people going home for dinner or transitioning to a longer evening. If you want to drink in Amsterdam like an Amsterdammer, plan for a borrel session and then a real evening.
The drink at borrel is usually beer, often a bittere, sometimes a glass of wine. Cocktails come later. The food is bitterballen, deep fried meat croquettes served with mustard. Order a portion. They go fast.
Brown cafes do borrel best, but most bars on this list will work. Our full after work bars page goes deeper, and we have a separate borrel article if you want a longer read.
Spring through early autumn is the right time. Canal terraces, outdoor bars, the wooden deck at Hannekes Boom, the pontoon at Cafe t Smalle. None of this works in February.
Winter is interior. Brown cafes get warmer and louder. The cocktail bars stay good year round but the canal city loses something when the terraces close. Plan accordingly.
Most bars in Amsterdam close at 1am on weekdays and 3am on weekends. Late closing licences are rare and clubs take over after that. If you want a serious late night, plan around the bars that pour until 3am.
Amsterdam is a small bar city dense with options. Eighteen bars is enough for a five day visit. Pick a few brown cafes, a couple of cocktail rooms, a canal terrace in summer, and you have understood the city. For more on the canalside specifically, see our canal bars article. For the brown cafe deep dive, see our brown cafes guide. Or browse our full Amsterdam bar listings.
Travel and bars correspondent for barsforKings across Europe. Writes the city guides that tell you which neighbourhood to start in and which bar to end the night at.
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Where to drink with a canal view, ranked by view quality and drink price.
The bruine kroegen explained: history, etiquette, and the 12 worth visiting.
Borrel culture from 5pm onwards, neighbourhood by neighbourhood.