When you’ve been to a city multiple times, or even if you’re exploring a destination for the first time, there is a wonderful feeling in discovering something new or off the well-beaten track. As a returning traveler to a city, it can be easy and all too comfortable to retrace your steps and head back to that cosy little bar, quaint restaurant or quirky little shop only to be disappointed to find that the memory doesn’t quite live up to it – we’ve all been there.
So with that in mind and maybe our 12th returning visit to the very cool, and therefore very busy, Dutch city of Amsterdam, we decided to miss our regular haunts of the beautiful inner canal circle, dodge the bikes trundling along the picturesque Seven Streets and completely avoid traversing Dam Square to swap them for two neighbourhoods that are completely new to us.
Day 1 – discovering Oostelijke Eilanden (Eastern Docklands)
Turning a sharp left outside of Centraal Station, a 20-minute walk along the river IJ will take you along the old warehouses of the Eastern Docklands. Surrounded by glistening water on all sides, original modern architecture and historic warehouses have been repurposed into contemporary hotspots.
Lunch at De Kompaszaal
KNSM-Laan 311, 1019 LE Amsterdam
The old passenger terminal of the Royal Dutch Steamboat Company was shut down in the late 1950s and despite being abandoned and squatted the building is full of its original fifties charm and is now a restaurant and weekend dance venue.
Tiled walls, glass light fittings, acid-etched windows, and star-patterned flooring are all intact from the original building. A large mural depicting the children from the six Caribbean islands that were under Dutch control sits proudly and colourfully across the back wall where each weekend the city’s lindy hop fans dance to big band music in front of it.
For lunch check out the smoked chicken sandwich (paired with soup of the day) which is delicious.
Sightseeing at Scheepvaartmuseum
As the Maritime Museum (Scheepvaartmuseum) recalls the sea pioneers of the past, be guided around the exhibitions inspired by the waters and sailors of the Netherlands. The museum’s current exhibitions include Maps & Marvels showing how Dutch seafarers in the Golden Age found their way at sea, and how these voyages defined the way Europeans saw the world. Using the centuries-old maps, visitors travel to the locations that shaped Dutch history: South Africa, Indonesia, Japan, Australia, and Brazil. The spectacular wall map of Amsterdam by Pieter Bast dating from 1597 forms the starting point.
The second part of this presentation is entitled ‘curiosities’: a cabinet of curiosities full of beautiful objects through which the ‘unknown world’ was brought into wealthy Dutch homes in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The museum also includes a famous replica of the Dutch East India Company ship ‘Amsterdam’ which is moored at the museum. You are invited to climb on board and explore: Have a look inside the captain’s cabin, the galley and the crew quarters. Discover how sailors lived and worked in the Dutch Golden Age.
The stunning ceiling that covers the courtyard takes its design from the markings of a map and is spectacular with each piece of glass a different size and shape.
Dinner at Instock
Czaar Peterstraat 21, Amsterdam
Along the pretty street of Czaar Peterstraat you can build up an appetite shopping in the independent stores before heading for dinner. You won’t really know what you are getting to eat at Instock and that is because until the morning of your visit the staff don’t know either. Doing their best to save tons of food (quite literally – on the date of our visit that was 80,7061 KG of saved food) from going to waste the restaurant takes food usually thrown away by supermarkets because of its use-by date and here it is put to excellent use.
On the night we visit “too small” cauliflowers have been turned into a tasty and warming autumnal soup. Crinkly carrots have been baked and courgettes pickled and placed upon a tasty bed of Moroccan flavoured couscous that’s been dressed with toasted walnuts. Near to date feta cheese is crumbled on a tangy tomato risotto and the carrots come back for a light and tasty carrot cake dessert.
Illustrations pepper the walls and the restaurant decor is contemporary and stylish and includes the display of kimchi jars near our table that are fermenting cauliflower leaves. The diners are on board and get what is going on; they are here to help to do their bit to save food waste and luckily for them they have a great place to do it.
Beer tasting at Brewery ‘t IJ
Funenkade 7 1018 AL Amsterdam
The craft beer revolution has truly hit Amsterdam and the folks behind its biggest reach is Brewery ‘t IJ. Based in an iconic a home as a Dutch business could wish for, the Windmill in this East neighbourhood is a stone throw from the cities Royal Zoo – Artis (where you can often see a Giraffe head peering over the wall and sit with a coffee watching the flamingos at Café-Restaurant de Plantage). The brewery was taken over by Belgium beer experts Duvel several years ago and has seen impressive expansion – keeping the taste of the great beer and adding to its range even further. They now brew around 30 different types of beer that includes seasonal offerings and specials – which you can try as tasting flights. The brewery have just opened another Tap room ‘t Blauwe Theehuis in the city’s Vondelpark.
Day 2 discovering Oud-West (Old West)
The West area of Amsterdam combines a number of districts including Oud-West, De Baarsjes, Westerpark and Bos en Lommer. Aswell as historic charm and architecture, Oud-West includes a dash of modern culture with shops, markets and street art.
Take an art walk with Street Art Museum Amsterdam
There’s a number of ways to explore a city; maybe through its food offerings, shopping and, our personal favourite, via its bar scene. However at 10am, and even though the Dutch are fairly liberal and open-minded, we’re not ready to get stuck into more Brewery ‘t IJ beers just yet, so we’ve opted for a street art tour. The Amsterdam Street Art Museum is a project of love – one run on passion, dedication, and a serious knowledge of street artists. Our host and founder of the museum, Anna, is a whirlwind with a clear ethos as to what street art ethics are. She knows a lot – that’s for sure – and has introduced 300 unique pieces of work to the area over the past 7 years.
Fiercely proud of her achievements, a guided tour from Anna will give you stories of the fights she’s had to get work displayed, the difficulties with gaining permissions to paint walls and buildings and the sometimes controversial issues she has had to deal with when it comes to displaying works in diverse neighbourhoods. Every piece has a story – some uplifting that talk of community cohesion and some sad or frustrating that talk of modern-day struggles and tragedy (pictured above is a piece by Spencer Little).
Brunch and Lunch at Foodhallen
Bellamyplein 51, 1053AT Amsterdam
Opened five years ago as Holland’s first food hall this vast space (which was once an old tram repair shed) has 21 stalls that are all ready to take you on a culinary journey across the globe. The team behind the FoodHallen concept invites the best of the city’s food makers for a highly curated selection of stalls.
With Sushi, gourmet burgers, shucked oysters, Mexican tacos, Vietnamese bowls, dim sum and delicious smelling Indian food you can also grab more local dishes and try the national Bittenballen (a hot molten, deep-fried, cheese and ham snack). There’s a decent drinks selection with plenty of local beers to choose from as well as a Gin bar.
We tried the Vietnamese belly pork bowl which came with vermicelli noodles, greens, carrots, caramelised pork belly, and spring rolls, washed down with a Brand Weizen.
De Hallen
Hannie Dankbaarpassage, 1053 RT Amsterdam
Once you’re filled with food take a look around De Hallen for an indie shopping treat. An upcycling bicycle store sits opposite a denim emporium and next door there’s a gift shop selling quality Dutch-made and designed clothing, art and trinkets. There’s fashion and sock stalls, art galleries and a beautiful cinema complex to check out also.
Stay at Lloyd Hotel
Oostelijke Handelskade 34, 1019 BN Amsterdam
For a stylish hangout for the night, we suggest immersing yourself into the neighbourhood and staying at the first 1-to-5 star hotel in the world. Backpackers and business travelers breakfast side-by-side with plush surroundings, great furnishings (think modern vintage with a nod to art deco) and plenty of quirky neon lighting touches. All the rooms vary in size thanks to this historic building (from 1921 it has been; a hotel for emigrants awaiting the next boat to South America; a place where German Jews found refuge during WWII; a prison for young offenders; and artists’ studios).
Regardless of your choice of star/room the service is the same for everyone. Comfortable beds with downy duvets, free WiFi and room service is available 24 hours. (The 1 star budget rooms have a bathroom facility located in the hall). Food in the Lloyd Restaurant is prepared in house and with an ever-changing menu that includes the freshest ingredients sourced locally and organic where possible.
It’s an iconic building full of stories and unique rooms that have different features like a 7-person bed, a swing, a Bas Kosters design or a grand piano in a grand style room.
How to get there:
Fly direct to Amsterdam with KLM from a number of UK airports.
For more information on neighbourhoods in Amsterdam visit I amsterdam here.
