Amsterdam, Our Way
Some cities are about ticking off landmarks.
Amsterdam, for us, is increasingly about returning to places we already love, discovering something new in between and leaving enough space in the day to wander.
On our latest trip, we travelled by Eurostar with our friends Dan and James from Coffee Flamingo, who were visiting Amsterdam for the first time. Seeing a familiar city through someone else’s eyes always changes the experience a little, and their reaction to the city reminded us why we enjoy returning.
L-R: Jason, James, Dan
They also made one observation that felt particularly appropriate given their coffee credentials: they didn’t have a bad cup of coffee anywhere in Amsterdam.
We stayed in De Pijp, which is a particularly good base for the kind of trip we enjoy. It gives you neighbourhood energy rather than simply feeling like you are staying in the centre of a tourist destination, while still making the rest of the city easy to explore.
Our hotel, Sir Albert, fitted that perfectly: stylish without feeling overly formal and surrounded by streets that immediately encourage you to head out and see what is around the next corner.
That is really how we like to experience Amsterdam.
Start with the neighbourhoods
Rather than rushing between attractions, we like to spend time simply walking.
Amsterdam rewards it.
The scale of the city means that a route can easily take you from busy streets to quieter canals, independent shops, cafés and unexpected pieces of architecture. It is the kind of place where what people are wearing, the colours of a shop interior or a bicycle propped against an old building can become as memorable as the thing you originally went out to see.
That observational side of travel is part of why Amsterdam appeals to us so much.
There is an ease to the way people dress: relaxed layers, interesting textures and colour used without everything feeling overly considered. It is a useful reminder that personal style often works best when it looks lived in rather than constructed.
Make time for markets and independent shopping
A visit to Noordermarkt gives us exactly the kind of browsing we enjoy, with food for the eyes and the soul: vintage brooches and crystals, art and leather goods, all mixed with the amazing smells of the market.
One aspiration for a future trip is to stay in an apartment with a kitchen so we can actually cook some of the wonderful things we find there.
Markets and independent shops tell you something about a city that the main shopping streets rarely do. You begin to notice local tastes, vintage pieces, objects, fabrics and ideas that may have nothing directly to do with what you were looking for.
And that is usually where the interesting discoveries happen.
We rarely travel with a shopping list. We would rather find one thing that reminds us of a place than come home with bags of things we could have bought anywhere.
That said, we do love returning to Property Of and PRJCT AMS whenever we are in town.
See the city from the water
However many times you visit Amsterdam, seeing it from the canals changes the perspective.
Our choice was Pure Boats, which suited the way we wanted to experience the city: smaller, relaxed and scenic rather than feeling like a mass sightseeing exercise.
From the water you notice details you miss on foot — the proportions of the canal houses, tiny gardens, houseboats and the way different parts of the city connect.
It is also one of those rare sightseeing experiences where doing very little is actually the point.
Sit down. Look around. Let Amsterdam come to you.
Mix culture with something unexpected
Amsterdam has no shortage of major museums, but one of the places that particularly appealed to us was STRAAT Museum.
Its huge-scale street art feels completely different from the traditional museum experience and is exactly the sort of cultural contrast we enjoy when travelling.
We also like balancing those moments with something more playful.
The House of Bols was far more fascinating than we expected. The history of genever, the stories behind Dutch drinking culture, and the way the experience used sight, scent and flavour made it feel genuinely immersive rather than just another museum visit.
Then there was the Heineken Experience, which gave us one of the more unexpected moments of the trip. At the end of the tour, up on the rooftop, someone asked whether we were in a band.
We weren’t. But we did come up with a band name during the course of the evening!
Apparently the four of us were giving off enough collective energy to suggest otherwise.
That is exactly the kind of thing we enjoy about travelling with friends. The planned experiences matter, but the odd little moments around them are often what you remember most.
Not every cultural experience needs to be serious, and not every hour needs filling. A city break should have room for history, art, flavour, humour and a bit of nonsense too.
Eat — and drink coffee — somewhere because it sounds interesting
Food is always part of how we remember a trip.
For breakfast, Little Collins and Oeuf are both the kind of places we enjoy: relaxed, distinctive and good enough to become somewhere you actively want to return to rather than simply somewhere convenient to start the day.
And then there is the coffee.
Travelling with Dan and James meant we were hardly going to ignore it, and their verdict after a first visit was impressive: they genuinely felt they had not had a bad cup anywhere in the city.
That somehow fits Amsterdam. Good coffee does not need to become a destination in itself because you seem to encounter it naturally as you move around.
Foodhallen works brilliantly when you want choice and atmosphere without committing the evening to one formal restaurant.
Elsewhere, Kaasbar gave us something much more specific and memorable.
The objective is never to create a definitive restaurant guide.
It is simply to collect places that make us want to go back.
And leave some of it unplanned
Perhaps the most important part of our Amsterdam guide is the bit that cannot really be written.
Leave a gap.
Walk through Vondelpark without needing to arrive anywhere at a particular time. Take a different street back to the hotel. Stop because a café looks good. Go into the shop you had not noticed before.
That is usually where the best parts of a trip appear.
Amsterdam gives you enough to do that you could create an itinerary for every minute.
We would rather not.
Our version of Amsterdam is a combination of good design, independent places, culture, food, coffee, style and plenty of room to drift.
And perhaps that is why we keep wanting to return.
