Bars in Amsterdam

Bars in Amsterdam:
Brown Cafés, Cocktail Bars, Grand Cafés, Tasting Rooms, Party Bars & Gay Bars

Amsterdam counts more than 1,100 bars and pubs. You can imagine that there is basically one on each corner of the street around the city. Most bars in Amsterdam are situated in the city center. As in every city, the bars in Amsterdam differ in size, atmosphere, price (depending on the location) and the range of beverages and food offered.

Don’t confuse the Amsterdam bars and pubs with coffee shops. These so called coffee shops are known as Amsterdam Cannabis Cafés. They don’t sell alcoholic drinks and probably not even coffee, but they do sell soft drugs like weed, hash and marijuana.

The Dutch people call their pubs a café or bar. A café refers to a kind of venue that serves soft drinks, coffee, beer, liquor and food like hot meals, sandwiches and snacks. A bar is a venue that only serves drinks and is open only during evening hours. The lively nightlife in Amsterdam is famous around the globe. ‘Rembrandtplein’ and ‘Leidseplein’ are two popular areas with many clubs, pubs and party bars.

You will find five different types of cafes & bars in our featured list of ‘Bars, Pubs & Brown Cafés in Amsterdam’.

Bars in Amsterdam

Brown Cafés

The most famous type of café in Amsterdam is the so called ‘Brown Café’. This kind of café really embodies the Dutch words “gezellig” or “gezelligheid” and is typical for the Dutch culture and Amsterdam atmosphere. Read more →

Grand Cafés

These classy and spacious cafés are, as the Brown cafés, typical for the Amsterdam café culture. Grand Cafés serve a larger choice of quality food and are good places to relax a few hours during the day. Read more →

Cocktail Bars

The name of this bar speaks for itself. Cocktails are available in many places. But if you really want to enjoy perfect mixed drinks, visit one of the best Cocktail Bars in Amsterdam. Read more →

Tasting Rooms

Taste a famous Dutch beer, Old Dutch liqueurs, gin or Dutch cheese in one of the Amsterdam tasting rooms. Some beers and spirits are even brewed at the same specific place. Read more →

Party Bars

Party bars are popular with students, (local) youngsters and tourists. Main reason is that most venues are free of entrance. If you are into a party, go to one of these popular party bars in Amsterdam or join one of the pub-crawls! Read more →

Gay Bars & Clubs

For decades Amsterdam is known as the world’s ‘Gay Capital’ with the most gay-friendly attractions, bars and clubs per square meter. Most of the Gay bars are located at the ‘Reguliersdwarsstraat’, close to Rembrandtplein. Read more →

Check out our featured list of clubs about Amsterdam Nightlife.