Amsterdam is in many ways an ideal city to visit on a budget: many of its attractions are free or cost only a few euros. A canal walk, a coffee in a cosy café, a browse through an antiquarian bookshop and a stroll down a street-market are all essential, affordable Amsterdam experiences.
Accommodation is a different story – Amsterdam is among the most expensive cities in Europe for an overnight stay. And while it is possible to eat out cheaply, unless you choose carefully you may end up sorely disappointed.
Avoid hotels near the red-light district, which tend to be backpacker joints. Amsterdam is a small city, and even hotels around the edges of the centre, which offer better value, are walkable at a push. A “b & b” tag usually means the accommodation has more atmosphere, but not that it is cheaper than a mid-range hotel.
Indonesian and Turkish restaurants offer nutritious, tasty and affordable cuisine; eetcafés (“eat-cafés”) usually have a good-value dish-of-the-day, and De Pijp, south of the centre, is the quarter to head to for eateries not too heavy on the pocket.
Sunhead of 1617 9 /10
Herengracht 152
0031 20 626 1809; sunhead.com
A house that combines boutique style with a cosy atmosphere and an historical setting. Set on one of the canals that put the city on Unesco’s World Heritage List, it is within walking distance of pretty much anywhere you’d want to visit. Rooms have been done up by a photographer with a flair for colour and an eye for detail, and have burnished antique furniture offset by modern frescoes and rich fabrics.
Price from £78
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Sunhead of 1617
•Top 10: budget hotels in Amsterdam
Orlando 8/10
Prinsengracht 1099
20 638 6915; hotelorlando.nl
A stone’s throw from the Amstel river, on one of the Big Three historic canals, Orlando is close to the city’s heart, yet not part of its hurly-burly. This canalside mansion dates from 1680 and has a period garden out the back. Restrained chic and Dutch sobriety are given zip by quirks of furniture and contemporary touches.
Price from £95
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Hotel Van Onna 8/10
Bloemgracht 102-108
20 626 5801; hotelvanonna.nl
The hotel runs through three canal houses, dating back centuries. Inside, it’s no fuss, few extras – simple, neat and clean. It is in the heart of gentrified Jordaan, once the equivalent of London’s East End, now a quarter of galleries, hip shops, restaurants and cafés a short hop from the Anne Frank House. You get what you pay for – simple bed, somewhere to sit, somewhere to wash, occasionally an atmospheric note (such as wooden roof beams in an attic room), and in many cases a canal view.
Price from £51
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The Exchange 7/10
Damrak 50. City centre.
20 523 0080; exchangeamsterdam.com
An unpromising start – a single street door, opening into a narrow corridor at the end of which a lone receptionist sits in what looks like a p*rn-cinema box office – belies what awaits beyond. Rooms have been fitted out with quirky, sometimes fantastical, originality by students of the Amsterdam Fashion Institute, helped by an interior design studio, and using fabrics made in co-operation with the Dutch Textile Museum. The Exchange is on a hectic street between Central Station and the Dam, a heartbeat from the red-light district.
Price from £74
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•Top 10: budget hotels in Amsterdam
Hotel V 7/10
Weteringschans 136, 1017 XV
31 20 662 3233; hotelv.nl
Hotel V sits on the cusp between the old city centre and the up-and-coming quarter of De Pijp, so is convenient both for conventional sightseeing and for a more local taste of the bar and restaurant scene. It has a new-Dutch design fit to grace the pages of the hippest interiors magazines. A giant lobby/lounge/bar area is all clean lines and muted colours, with here and there the odd eyebrow-raiser (cowhide wall tiles). A circular fireplace and large half-moon sofa give a clue to V’s real attraction – the buzz. This is a place to hang out, meet other visitors, find out what’s hot and happening.
Price from £71
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Seven Bridges Hotel 8/10
Seven Bridges Hotel, Reguliersgracht 31, 1017
20 623 1329; sevenbridgeshotel.nl
Seven Bridges enjoys one of the most beautiful locations in town with (as you might have guessed) a view of seven bridges at the intersection of two canals. Inside, it’s a showcase of antiques. We’re talking the real stuff – a rare Dutch Empire récamier in the reception; up a 15th-century oak staircase, in the bedrooms, that priceless little Louis XVI table; a Baroque commode; here an elegant piece of Biedermeier, there a touch of Art Deco – all done with exquisite taste and care, and an eye for authenticity. Breakfast is served in the rooms on prime porcelain.
Price from £99
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Hotel Brouwer 7/10
Singel 83, 1012 VE|
20 624 6358; hotelbrouwer.nl
Right in the heart of town and owned by the same family for three generations, Hotel Brouwer was closed for much of the Nineties, getting a major refit. A warren of 20 rooms became more spacious accommodation with just eight bedrooms, each with bathroom en suite, and the 17th-century canal-house façade was restored to its former elegance. Great for that busy short break, when you are going to be popping in and out, dropping off shopping or that museum poster, picking up another jersey, or having a quick shower-and-change before heading out for dinner.
Price from £88
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Citizen M 7/10
Prinses Irenestraat 30, 1077 WX
20 811 7090; citizenmamsterdamcity.com
Citizen M is a designer-chic-meets-capsule hotel, though with ample space, classier fittings and a hipper atmosphere than you’d expect. The concept is simple: all you need is somewhere to sleep with a bathroom; the rest is automated. You can book online only, and you check in via computer, as at an airport. The difference at CitizenM is that the capsule concept is carried out with quite some degree of style – including touches such as a lounge area dotted with designer furniture.
Price from £87
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The Blue Sheep b & b 8/10
Korsjespoortsteeg 3, 1015 AP
6 2 96 2 34 99; thebluesheep.net
Bouchon du Centre
Falckstraat 3
A tiny restaurant, where Hanneke Schouten runs the show on her own. You sit at one of a handful of tables around the edge of her kitchen and take pot luck. She works with top-ranking local suppliers and has a passion for good, French country cooking – from breads and saucisson to pork-neck confit and coq au vin. It is not (by Hanneke’s admission) for picky eaters or vegetarians.
Foodism
Nassaukade 122
A Slav chef with a background in Japanese macrobiotic cuisine and a taste for the Med could make for a culinary train crash, but Foodism offers healthy, imaginative and affordable dining. Think zucchini stuffed with mushrooms and goat’s cheese or succulent squid cooked in a parsley-garlic marinade. Eat tapas-style (two to three dishes a head is ample).
Couscous Club
Ceintuurbaan 346
Just couscous, and only three types to choose from, but made with fine ingredients, in the traditional manner, and served in convivial surroundings.
La Falote
Roelof Hartstraat 26 IV
More traditionally Dutch would be hard to find. A folksy interior, hearty blonde waitresses, and an accordion-playing chef. The cooking – and hefty portions – seem to come from an earlier age: pots of mussels, cooked ham and mustard, North Sea prawn co*cktail. And it wouldn’t be Dutch if there wasn’t a good wedge of homemade apple pie to finish.
Moksi
Ferdinand Bolstraat 21
The restaurant is a little rundown. The clear plastic that covers the tablecloths can be sticky and the place is often closed. But if you can get past all that, you’ll be rewarded with the best Surinamese cooking in town. The kitchen is ruled by a matriarch, who comes up with superb curries, sate and roti (flatbread) dishes.
Maydanoz
Ceintuurbaan 9
Splendid Turkish tiles line the walls, light glints through the lamps’ coloured glass and from the kitchen come prime grills and eastern Mediterranean cuisine. The old favourites are there – baba ganoush, homemade with wood-grilled aubergine, crisp filo börek, stuffed with feta. But there are more adventurous dishes, too, such as rocket salad with pomegranate dressing. Grilled fish, fresh from the nearby market, is recommended.
Japan Inn
Leidsekruisstraat 4
Beloved of expat Japanese students. There’s a Zen calm to the décor, and the menu ranges from sashimi to sushi and yakitori grills to donburi, with a variety of good-value dinner boxes and set menus.
Tujuh Mare
Utrechtsestraat 73
A no-nonsense spot for Indonesian rijsttafels (feast of small spicy dishes – an Amsterdam speciality), cooked by a chef who used to be at the (far more expensive) restaurant next door.
Koevoet
Lindenstraat 17
The interior is traditional Dutch, the food from a talented Sicilian family. Home-made pastas and sausages, and other fine southern flavours.
- Read our more from our expert guide to eating out in Amsterdam
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