5 Amsterdam coffee shops that aren’t “coffeeshops”

by James Clark on October 15, 2009

in Travel Blog

Amsterdam is world famous for its coffee shops, but as a non-smoker I have no interest in these “coffee shops”.

Cannabis coffeeshop displaying Coffeeshop license

Cannabis coffeeshop displaying Coffeeshop license

The Netherlands doesn’t rate high in the coffee making stakes in Europe. The typical coffee of the Netherlands is filter coffee.

Coffee shops that aren’t coffee shops in a land of filter coffee may sound like a strange place for a coffee snob to like. Nevertheless, Amsterdam is an international city and there are plenty of places to find a good coffee.

If you are after a koffiehuis and not a coffeeshop, then here is a selection of my faves.

Cafe het Palais

Good coffee and international newspapers has made this one of my favourite cafes in Amsterdam.

Cafe Het Paleis

Cafe Het Paleis

Cafe Luxembourg
For a classic Parisian style people watching cafe head to the Cafe Luxembourg on Spuistraat. It has theatre row seats out the front, which is a perfect spot for watching Dutch girls on bicycles riding by.

Cafe Luxembourg

Cafe Luxembourg

Coffee Company

For take away coffee this American style coffee store does the job for me. They have a few locations around Amsterdam.

Coffee @ Company

Coffee Company

Cafe Americain

For a bit of old school American style I like the Cafe at the Hotel Americain.

Cafe Americain

Cafe Americain

Cafe de Saloon

This place is more of a bar than a cafe but I like to come here on a sunny day and sit outside. The building is Flatiron shape and is next to a canal.

De Saloon

De Saloon

{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Josh October 30, 2009 at 5:52 am

Thanks for sharing these great cafes, James. Obviously I’m biased because I help out with the site, but I have to say that I think this list would make for a wonderful guide on nextstop. I think our blog widget would be really useful for you. You can check out some examples of embedded guides on our blog: http://blog.nextstop.com/

Josh

2 Andy Hayes November 2, 2009 at 4:23 am

Aww….this post makes me very nostalgic for a place I call home! Cafe Het Paleis is great and was a block from my old flat.

Nice list and many of these tourists don’t frequent, so great tips.

3 James Clark November 2, 2009 at 9:35 pm

@Josh thanks for the tip. I joined up nextstop and had a play. Looks like an interesting site.

@Andy lucky you for having lived near Cafe Het Paleis. They do a good hot chocolate as well, which my friends living there put me onto. You get the hot chocolate and a little tray with whipped cream.

4 girlwithluggage January 6, 2010 at 1:29 am

I love Cafe Het Paleis, I’ve just discovered, but it’s definitely my favourite cafe in Amsterdam…just perfect!!
:-) )

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