Amsterdam for the Busy, Sophisticated Traveler CITI PRESENTS LUXE CITY GUIDES Luxecityguides.Com
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Citi Prestige® The cult pocket city guides and mobile apps Amsterdam for the busy, sophisticated traveler CITI PRESENTS LUXE CITY GUIDES luxecityguides.com FLAT, COMPACT, AND EASILY At once formal yet liberal, the city bikes and pedestrians, and the artisanal WALKABLE, THE STUNNINGLY beckons with its vibrant but laidback boutiques and markets, but find yourself BEAUTIFUL CITY OF Dam Square, dazzling Canal Ring, and beyond the city centre and you will be AMSTERDAM AMAZES WITH arty, gentrified Jordaan. It’s easy to get rewarded with lush parks and true Dutch ITS METROPOLIS HEAD AND lost along the labyrinthine canals, the hospitality. So saddle up and pedal hard! VILLAGE HEART. cycleways with their steady stream of P1 / LUXE AMSTERDAM Intro Blah Blah LUXE Insider LUXE Loves LUXE Loathes Drab vs. Fab LUXE Itineraries Citi Prestige® Blah blah • Weather-wise, May-Sep is the best time • Buy a 1-7 day pass for unlimited tram, • A cafe is for coffee, a coffeeshop is for to visit. The glorious outdoors is in full bus and metro rides. Check in and marijuana swing, though so are the hordes check out EVERY time you board/exit • International country code for • Winter can be chilly, grey and drizzly, • Most shops close Sun and Mon am, but Netherlands is +31; Amsterdam but crowd-free open late Thu landlines begin with 020, most mobiles begin with 06 • AMS Airport to city ≈ 20mins / €45 by • Thu/Fri best nights out, Sat can be vile, cab, ≈ 20mins / €3,90 by train quiet other days • In emergencies call 112 • Just about everyone speaks English • Service levels can be woeful and tipping well, and often is not required. Though 5-10% left as cash is nice when it’s good • Best place to get a taxi is at stands – but it can be a lottery. Beware of scams, • Most restaurants offer value set menus especially around Centraal Station on top of à la carte • Trams are easy, regular and cover most • Several establishments don’t accept of the city. Buy tickets on-board or at credit cards, and some don’t even ticket machines; trip planner at gvb.nl accept cash, though most take PIN/ATM cards P2 / LUXE AMSTERDAM Intro Blah Blah LUXE Insider LUXE Loves LUXE Loathes Drab vs. Fab LUXE Itineraries Citi Prestige® LUXE INSIDER Esther Coppoolse FASHION DIRECTOR Esther Coppoolse is fashion director at ELLE Netherlands. Over the past decade she has elevated the casual philosophy of the Dutch, introducing stylist platform the ELLE Style Awards to Holland amongst other notable achievements. Esther was also the brain behind pop-up concept store ‘little black boutique’ and the founder of ‘CLUB 14 A’, a small but charming creative community and label in Amsterdam. elle.nl P3 / LUXE AMSTERDAM Intro Blah Blah LUXE Insider LUXE Loves LUXE Loathes Drab vs. Fab LUXE Itineraries Citi Prestige® LUXE INSIDER Esther Coppoolse WHAT’S THE ONE THING WHAT ARE THREE OF YOUR WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE EVERY VISITOR TO FAVORITE RESTAURANTS AND NEIGHBORHOOD FOR A DAY AMSTERDAM MUST DO AND WHAT DISHES DO YOU ORDER OF SHOPPING? WHY? AT THESE PLACES? You should start at Haarlemmerstraat, a Hire a bike or a boat. It’s great to see the Wilde Zwijnen is a relaxed restaurant in great street for different and independent city from the canals, or to bike along like the east of Amsterdam. They serve great boutiques. Move on to Noordermarkt, the locals. Amsterdam feels like a village. tasting dishes from local farmers (I love where there’s an organic food market their steaks) in a raw and industrial but every Monday morning and a flea market cozy atmosphere. on Saturdays. Then cross one of the canals to De Negen Straatjes, which is WHERE CAN YOU BE FOUND Pont 13 is a restaurant situated in an old a very dynamic shopping area with a ON A SATURDAY OR SUNDAY ferry. The view over the water and old creative mix of people and places. MORNING? harbor is beautiful and romantic. If the weather is good you have to book a table In the Westerpark (Westergasfabriek) outside. Their fish dishes are simple and – the best park in Amsterdam, bursting very good. with nature, but also cultural events. WHAT ARE YOUR THREE It has some great coffee spots like Le Restaurant is very charming and so FAVORITE SHOPS AND WHAT De Bakkerswinkel, as well as lovely perfect that it’s difficult to know what to DO YOU LOVE ABOUT THEM? restaurant Rainarai, and there’s a lot of say. Please book a table as soon as you space to have a picnic or for children and can and be surprised by the talented Lock, Stock and Barrel is a multi-brand dogs to run around. French-style kitchen and elegant but cool boutique of mid-segment labels with an atmosphere. authentic Scandinavian/French style. westergasfabriek.com SPRMRKT for fashion, interiors, books, debakkerswinkel.com wildezwijnen.com music and art. This exciting concept store rainarai.nl pont13.nl is a raw essential place on the Amsterdam lerestaurant.nl scene. Azzurro Due is a deliciously decorated shop for fashion-lovers and great for high-end labels. lockstockbarrel.nl sprmrkt.nl azzurrofashiongroup.nl P4 / LUXE AMSTERDAM Intro Blah Blah LUXE Insider LUXE Loves LUXE Loathes Drab vs. Fab LUXE Itineraries Citi Prestige® LUXE Loves THE DYLAN CONSERVATORIUM ANDAZ Hotel Hotel Hotel A range of mod oriental-accented rooms, This antique conservatory of music Designed by local starchitect Marcel perfect canal position, sophisticated turned swank pad hits all the right Wanders, the avant-garde Andaz boasts lounge, comely courtyard, Michelin- notes with contemporary suites and the quirk-chic Dutch touch from top starred neo-Dutch Vinkeles, and a can-do duplexes elegantly appointed in cream to toe, with its light-filled lobby-cum- concierge to orchestrate private airplane and wood, with custom-made furniture observatory with soaring blue ceilings, tours or culinary canal cruises make this from Milanese designer Piero Lissoni, 122 whimsical, wired-up rooms, in-house a standout choice. and natty add-ons like complimentary restaurant and bar, and charming outdoor WiFi, espresso machines, and mirror TVs. estate garden. Keizersgracht 384 / Canal Ring Add to that Feng Shui-inspired Akasha +31 20 530 2010 spa, live jams at sleek gastrobar Tunes, Prinsengracht 587 / Canal Ring +31 20 523 1234 dylanamsterdam.com humidor La Casa del Habano, and you’ll almost certainly be pleading for an andaz.hyatt.com ‘encore’. Van Baerlestraat 27 / Old South +31 20 570 0000 conservatoriumhotel.com P5 / LUXE AMSTERDAM Intro Blah Blah LUXE Insider LUXE Loves LUXE Loathes Drab vs. Fab LUXE Itineraries Citi Prestige® LUXE Loves RON GASTROBAR DE KAS DE BAKKERSWINKEL Dining Dining Dining Local celeb chef Ron Blaauw surprised Locavores flock to this stunning nursery Breads, cakes, flans, and tarts as far as the culinary world when he renounced and glasshouse restaurant situated in the eye can see. De Bakkerswinkel is an his eponymous restaurant’s 2 Michelin- the middle of Frankendael Park, which unmissable treat of freshly baked goods starred throne in order to renovate and serves solely organic, locally sourced and and homemade preserves. Eat in or take reopen as Ron Gastrobar, swapping his homegrown fare. Leave the growing to out, but whatever you do, don’t miss the trademark molecular, neo-Dutch haute the green-thumbed owner, and exchange delectable artisan jam and scones. cuisine for a more relaxed and accessible that garden rake for a knife and fork. offering. Different it may be, but Blaauw’s Warmoesstraat 69 / Centrum deft hand remains ever present and Kamerlingh Onneslaan 3 / East +31 20 489 8000 / + branches exciting. +31 20 462 4562 lunch Mon-Fri, dinner Mon-Sat debakkerswinkel.com Sophialaan 55 / Old South +31 20 496 1943 restaurantdekas.nl lunch Sun-Fri, dinner Sat-Fri rongastrobar.nl RIJKSMUSEUM Activities DOOR 74 The country’s premier museum has Bar recently reopened in its entirety after a LION NOIR decade-long nip/tuck, and the neo-Gothic A mysterious location that’s only divulged starlet has never looked better. With many Dining upon reservation (and below!) definitely of the building’s original C.19th details Movers and shakers beeline for this kooky, ups the ante at this exclusive lounge for fully restored, as well as a brand spanking low-lit, curio-filled hotspot featuring a those in-the-know – but don’t worry, your new stone atrium, cafe and shop, not to delicious menu of French favorites. Can’t concierge will get you in if you haven’t mention more than 8,000 artworks on get a reservation? No matter. Console booked ahead. The creative, seasonal display, Rijks is unquestionably the finest yourself at the bar, where the cocktails cocktails are arguably the best in town. art destination in town. are classic and the small plates range Reguliersdwarsstraat 74I / Canal Ring Museumstraat 1 / Museum Quarter includes oysters and goose rillettes. +31 6 3404 5122 +31 20 674 7000 / 9am-5pm daily Reguliersdwarsstraat 28 / Canal Ring door-74.com rijksmuseum.nl +31 20 627 6603 lionnoir.nl P6 / LUXE AMSTERDAM Intro Blah Blah LUXE Insider LUXE Loves LUXE Loathes Drab vs. Fab LUXE Itineraries Citi Prestige® LUXE Loves NOORDERMARKT HORTUS BOTANICUS FROZEN FOUNTAIN Activities Activities Shopping Gourmands stampede to Noordermarkt Founded in 1638, this leafy inner-city Contemporary furniture and decor every Monday for its organic farm-fresh oasis is today home to more than 4,000 jackpot with top designers from the produce and welcoming vendors, and then plant species, picturesque outdoor Netherlands’ art academies and beyond, again for the Saturday flea market that gardens complete with whimsical winding featuring bespoke commissioned abounds with handicrafts, vintage finds paths, soaring butterfly-filled, climate- pieces and permanent collections from and artisanal wares.