Editorial
Amsterdam has 165 canals and roughly 1,500 bridges. A small fraction of those canals are wide enough to drink beside without traffic noise. A smaller fraction has bars that face the water rather than turn their backs to it. The 12 below are the ones that get it right.
What makes a great canal bar is not just the view. It is also the relationship between the room and the water. The best ones have a pontoon or a wooden deck that puts you over the canal, not next to it. Some have a window seat that costs nothing extra. Others have a heated terrace that works in winter. We rank by all of these.
The canal ring concentrates the best of them. Egelantiersgracht in Jordaan has more good canal terraces per metre than anywhere else in the city. The Reguliersgracht and Prinsengracht in the centre have a few standout view bars. The Brouwersgracht has a couple of quieter options. We cover all of them.
The pontoon at Cafe t Smalle is the most photographed bar terrace in Amsterdam. The bar itself dates from 1786 and was originally a jenever distillery. Inside is classic brown cafe. The terrace fills from 4pm in summer. Open daily from 10am.
Hotel bar at the Pulitzer with a small canalside terrace overlooking the Prinsengracht. The cocktails are precise and pricey. The crowd is mixed corporate and travelling. Best for an early evening cocktail in a more formal setting. Open daily.
Floating bar on a converted barge moored on the Prinsengracht. The bar is on the water, not over it. Open until 3am most nights. The drink list is uncomplicated, the crowd local and slightly older. Open daily.
Tiny brown cafe with a window onto the Prinsengracht and a few sidewalk seats in summer. The interior is wood, brass, and old jenever bottles. Singalong evenings on Saturdays. This is the canal bar without pretension. Open daily.
Built in 1642 on the corner where the Brouwersgracht meets the Prinsengracht. Two canals out the window. Inside is preserved Delft tile and dark wood. Bill Clinton came here once and the apple pie now has a small framed sign about it. Open daily.
In summer the bar opens its handful of terrace tables on the canal corner. The terrace is small, sought after, and one of the best people watching spots in the canal ring. Get there before 4pm.
Corner cafe on the Brouwersgracht with one of the better view tables in the city. The Brouwersgracht is quieter than the main canal ring, so the view is calmer. Drinks are simple and reliable. Open daily.
Wooden deck over the water near Centraal Station. Not a canal in the strict sense but a harbour edge that drinks like one. The deck is large enough for hundreds of people, and in summer the sundown crowd is one of the citys best gatherings. Open daily.
A wooden seventeenth century lock keepers house leaning hard over the Oudeschans canal. The interior is a tilted small room with low ceilings. The terrace is one of the great Amsterdam canal terraces. Open daily.
A jenever specialist with a small terrace facing a quiet canal in the old city. Two hundred jenevers behind the bar, mostly Dutch, some Belgian. The terrace is small enough that you should reserve it. Open daily from 4pm.
Wine bar on the Lijnbaansgracht with a small terrace. The wine list is a quiet European focus, mostly natural. Cheese plates are good. Crowd is local and mixed age. Open Tuesday to Sunday.
Small bar on the corner of the Reguliersgracht. The view of seven bridges from the corner is one of the most photographed sights in Amsterdam, and you can drink in front of it. Drink list is simple, terrace is small, view is everything. Open daily.
Canal terraces work from late April to early October. Outside that window most are closed or covered. May and September are the best months. Light is long, temperatures are kind, and the canal traffic is steady but not overwhelming.
Time of day matters. Most canal terraces fill up between 4pm and 7pm in summer. If you want a seat at Cafe t Smalle or Hannekes Boom, get there at 3pm with something to read.
Sundays after 1pm are the second highest occupancy time. The canal ring fills with locals at brunch and sundown.
Pilsner is the default. Heineken pours everywhere but better bars pour Brouwerij t IJ, La Trappe, or a regional Dutch lager. Order a vaasje, the standard small glass, and you can drink for hours without committing to a session.
Jenever is the local move and works well outdoors. A jonge jenever is light and lemon dry. An oude jenever is barrel aged and rounder. Try them at In de Olofspoort or Wynand Fockink. Either pairs with a Heineken in the kopstootje, the head butt move that locals do without thinking.
Wine works on a terrace if the bar takes wine seriously. Wijnbar Boelen and Boelen pours by the glass from a careful list. Most other terraces pour wine but treat it as a placeholder for beer drinkers.
Do not photograph the canal from inside a bar with flash. The reflection is awful and bartenders will think less of you. The canal is fine to photograph from outside or from your seat without flash.
Tipping is optional. Round up. Five percent is generous. Ten percent for excellent service is over the top by Amsterdam standards but no bartender will refuse it.
If you are sitting on a tight pontoon and the table next to you is taking photographs, do not pose for them. The canal is the photograph. You are not.
Twelve canal bars is enough for a long weekend. If you want a fuller picture, the main Amsterdam guide covers eighteen bars across every neighbourhood and includes most of the cocktail rooms and brown cafes that do not face a canal. Or browse the 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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