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Netherlands Information · Joined: 21 Oct 2006 Posts: 20 Home Country: netherlands

NIGHTLIFE IN NETHERLANDS (AMSTERDAM)

Nightlife in Amsterdam, like an Indonesian rijsttafel, is a bit of this and a bit of that. The cultural calendar is full, but not jammed. There's a strong jazz scene, good music clubs, and enjoyable English-language shows at the little cabarets and theatres along the canals. The club and bar scene can be entertaining if not outrageous; the dance clubs may indeed seem quiet and small to anyone used to the flash of clubs in New York City, Los Angeles, or London. However, the brown cafes -- the typical Amsterdam pubs -- have never been better. And there are always the movies: You can watch first-run U.S. blockbuster hits with their English soundtracks intact.

As you go around, look up to admire the elegant gables (illuminated from 30 min. after sundown to 11:30pm) or look down to watch the flickering reflections of the street lamps on the canals. The evening hours are a magic time in Amsterdam; if nothing else has brought you around, a sparkling ripple on the water can make you fall hopelessly in love with the city.

Hot and cool at the same time, Leidseplein is the centre of Amsterdam's nightlife, with some of the city's most popular restaurants, bars, and nightspots all within dancing distance of each other around the square. Leidseplein never really closes, so you can greet the dawn and start again. Rembrandtplein is a brash and brassy square that really comes alive at night, when it's awash with neon. Although it has a more downmarket reputation than Leidseplein, this area often seems even more intent on having fun, and there are enough cool and sophisticated places to go around. These two areas are connected by Reguliersdwarsstraat, which has some good cafes, including a few gay cafes, and also several fine clubs and restaurants. The Rosse Buurt (Red Light District) serves up its own unique brand of nightlife, and adjoining this is Nieuwmarkt, which is rapidly becoming a popular, if somewhat alternative, hangout.

Your best source of information on nightlife and cultural events is Amsterdam Day by Day, the VVV Tourist Office's monthly program guide in English, which costs 2€ ($2.50). It provides a complete cultural guide to Amsterdam, day by day, with listings for concerts and recitals, theatre, cabaret, opera, dance performances, rock concerts, art films, film festivals, special museum and art gallery exhibitions, and lots more. Many hotels have copies available for guests, in some cases for free, or you can get one at the VVV offices. There is also the free monthly listings magazine De Uitkrant, in Dutch, which you can pick up at many performance venues, and What's Up!, a free fold-up weekly guide in English that's available from many hotels.

INTERESTING PLACES

De Kroon

Escape tourist schlock at this glam grand cafe. De Kroon's neocolonial design comes with a biological bent (cabinets with pinned butterflies and old microscopes) and a beautiful balcony terrace. Loud levels of yakkety-yak from the building's radio and TV station workers are mercifully muffled by the cafe's size.

1 Medieval Centre
Rembrandtplein 17-1
info - 625 20 11
Open: Sun-Thu 10:00-01:00, Fri-Sat 10:00-02:00

Bar Bep

Resembling a 1950s Eastern European cabaret lounge (lots of olive green vinyl couches and red walls), Bep is one of Amsterdam flashest see-and-be-seen bars. Things start heating up after 20:00 when gaggles of experimental filmmakers, photographers and other wearers of sepia-tinted sunglasses start arriving.

Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 260
Medieval Centre
info - 626 56 49
Open: Mon-Thu 16:30-01:00, Fri 16:30-03:00, Sat 11:00-03:00 , Sun 11:00-01:00

Melkweg

Housed in a former dairy, the legendary Melkweg ('Milky Way') is Amsterdam's funkiest multifunctional entertainment venue: there's a cinema, an art gallery, a cafe, a nightclub and a concert hall all vying for your patronage. The nightclub has a huge program of everchanging nights, so there's sure to be something to suite your tastes.

Lijnbaansgracht 234a
Southern Canal Belt
info - 531 81 81
Email: receptie@melkweg.nl
Website: www.melkweg.nl

Dylan

Like the hotel surrounding it, the Dylan's lobby bar is super-posh - sleek black and white with Indonesian influences, and a great place to pose…if you can get in. Restaurant patrons get seating priority. You might swear that the beautiful people surrounding you stepped off the pages of the fashion mags on the coffee tables.

Western Canal Belt
Keizersgracht 384
info - 530 20 10

Cafe Americain

Opened in 1902, Cafe Americain is the oldest and by far the most stylish grand cafe in Amsterdam. With its Art Deco interior, vaulted roof and glorious stained-glass windows, it's a must-see. Sit yourself down at the antique reading table or get a table on the outside terrace and indulge in a spot of people-watching.

Leidsekade 97
Southern Canal Belt
info - 556 32 32
Website: www.amsterdam-american.crowneplaza.com
Open: 07:00-22:00

De Engel

No visit to the Albert Cuypmarkt is complete without a drink at De Engel, a grand cafe in an old church with a soaring vaulted ceiling. The eclectic interior is a wonder: 1920s lamps from an Antwerp casino, a 1930s Paris nightclub bar, upstairs lighting from New York. There's live jazz and classical music here on weekends.

De Pijp
Albert Cuypstraat 182
info - 675 05 44
Open: Mon-Thu 11:00-22:00, Fri-Sat 11:00-01:00

Odessa

Odessa rocks. Literally. Opposite KNSM Eiland, this groovy boat, with outdoor eating decks and a 1970s-themed 'plush-p*rn' basement disco, is the sort of place where Hugh Hefner would hold a debauched pyjama party. Make your own mischief here while enjoying the terrific meaty menu.

Zeeburg
Veemkade 259
info - 419 30 10
Open: Mon 18:00-01:00, Tue-Sun 11:00-01:00

Mulligans

This is probably Amsterdam's most 'authentic' pub, at least in terms of the music. There's a friendly and convivial atmosphere, the obligatory Guinness on tap, live Irish music performed on most nights from 21:00 (no cover charge). Sunday sesiàns let you participate. BYOI (instrument) and T (talent).

Amstel 100
Rembrandtplein
info - 622 13 30
Website: www.mulligans.nl
Open: Mon-Thu 16:00-01:00, Fri-Sat 14:00-03:00, Sun 14:00-01:00

Luxembourg

Get glamorous on a grand scale at Luxembourg. Take a seat at the library-style reading table or on the glassed-in terrace overlooking the Spui. Order the 'Royale' snack platter and flutter your eyelashes at all those tanned Euro princes and princesses. If this grand cafe's snooty staff aren't rude to you, you must've been mistaken for someone more famous.

Medieval Centre
Spui 24
info - 620 62 64
Open: 09:00-01:00 (Fri-Sat to 02:00)

Cafe Thijssen

All variety of cheery Jordaan locals booze on at this laid-back bar, from unstudious students to pin-striped bankers. And they come in droves, the bar regularly packed to the rafters with a crowd ranging in age from 25 to 35. They do excellent light meals and soups too.

Jordaan
Brouwersgracht 107
info - 623 89 94
Open: Mon-Thu 08:00-01:00, Fri-Sat 08:00-03:00