Tucked away down a narrow alley, this lively shop is a tourist hot-spot. The staff are friendly, internet is free and chess boards are plentiful - as are the separate rooms...
Jonge Roelensteeg 12-14Brits will spot the pun from 50 paces: yep, it's an English fish 'n' chip gaff. Besides fish, there's a selection of pies, pasties, peas and downmarket tabloids. Hearty fare...
Nieuwendijk 10This giant started as the tiniest of ventures; today it sells street classics from Converse, Ben Sherman, Timberland and the like. It also holds the accolade of being the only...
Magna Plaza, Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 182Now located in a fancier location a mere two blocks from the old shop and an Amsterdam institution since 1972, the American Book Center stocks English-language books and...
Spui 12A note to all those historical museums around the world that struggle to present their exhibits in an engaging fashion: head here to see how it's done. Amsterdam's Historical...
Kalverstraat 92This marvellous building houses a private artists' society, whose members gather in the first-floor bar, while members of the public can climb a Berlage-designed staircase to...
Rokin 112This is where Amsterdam's most highbrow literary browsers choose to hang around. The Athenaeum Nieuwscentrum, as its name might suggest, also stocks newspapers from all over...
Spui 14-16A goblin's cave hiding behind the palace, there's barely room for 20 customers in here, but the atmosphere - enhanced by dripping candles - is intimate rather than cramped and...
Gravenstraat 2Designed in 1896 by Hendrik Berlage as the city's stock exchange, the palatial Beurs, while incorporating a broad range of traditional building styles, represents a break with...
Damrak 277, entrance at Beursplein 1This former stock exchange, designed by Hendrik Berlage, is worth a visit in its own right as perhaps the most important piece of 20th-century architecture in Amsterdam. But...
Damrak 213This busy, comfy and casual bar triples as a venue for theatre and music. Both bands and DJs tend to embrace the jazzy, world and urban side of sound, as demonstrated by...
Spuistraat 2This conveniently central shop stocks a full spectrum of jazz, from '30s stompers to mainstream, avant-garde and Afro jazz. Effortlessly ool.
Gravenstraat 12This brasserie is housed in the oldest covered terrace in Amsterdam. As you might guess, it harks back to classier times, but what's more surprising is its embrace of the...
Damrak 93-94Definitely the smallest bar in Amsterdam at just a handful of square metres, the Doctor is also one of the oldest, dishing out the cure for whatever ails you since 1798....
Rozenboomsteeg 4