Menu
A blog about (hidden) Amsterdam
A blog about (hidden) Amsterdam
Amsterdam comes alive when the sun comes back each spring. Every evening, each neighborhood rings with laughter from the patios for outdoor drinking and dining. Every bar, café and restaurant that’s able to, will open a terras.
Well, it’s Amsterdam’s answer to alfresco drinking and dining in a city where space is at a premium. While some do live up to terras’ literal translation of terrace, some cafe patios commandeer the sidewalk or even traffic-ways. Café de Magere Brug extends its terras onto the busy Magere Brug, moving the bike traffic to the side.
Like everything in this city, there are some with deep historical roots. These are our five favorite Amsterdam terraces with historic connections:
In De Waag. It’s hard to get more historic than Nieuwmarkt. The castle-looking building that houses the café was originally a city gate before becoming a tax office, guild hall and museum. Rembrandt’s famous painting, “The Anatomy Lesson”, depicts a dissection that happened here. For centuries, the plaza next to the patio has been home to markets, festivals, protests and – briefly – executions. Nowadays, the drama to watch is locals navigating their bikes through recently arrived pedestrians.
Café Schiller. Let’s be honest: even the most beautiful Amsterdam sunset has trouble competing with the Amsterdam art deco décor inside this cafe. Its small terras, however, has more than a great view. It was an early 20th-century theater hangout that saw the goodbye between renowned Jewish actress Heintje Davids and her journalist husband when their wedding celebration was interrupted by news of the outbreak of the First World War.
Café de Jaren. While most of the outdoor seating on the list is next to street and sidewalk traffic, De Jaren overlooks boat traffic. This airy restaurant has a patio on the water where the Amstel meets the canals of the inner city. It’s also in a building where the city wall used to be and whose previous occupants included Rembrandt van Rijn and his wife Saskia.
Brasserie Nel. This tree-adorned plaza on the Prinsengracht would place on any list of Amsterdam’s most beautiful terraces. It also has the city’s religious conflict written in architecture. It’s located in the Amstelkerk, which was built to be a temporary wooden church for the dominant Dutch Reform faith during the expansion of the Canal Belt. Due to complicated politics, it was still standing two centuries later when Catholics were allowed to worship openly again and built the imposing stone church, De Duif, directly across the canal.
De Ysbreeker. The long lines on any remotely sunny day mean this might be Amsterdam’s most popular outdoor dining spot. Its name comes from the days when it used to be a way station for the boats bringing clean water into an overcrowded city. It also became a popular meeting place for Jewish and Socialist intellectuals in the early 20th There’s a striking story of the café emptying out within an hour of news of the Nazi invasion, never to be full again until the war was over.
We have to add one extra recommendation, even though we’re not totally sure it counts as an Amsterdam terras because it’s in a courtyard. Café-Restaurant De Plantage has a patio within the Artis, the country’s oldest zoo. Rather than the traditional violin, you can have your meal serenaded by exotic birds.
Whichever terrace or terras you choose, make sure to spend sunny hours outside. It’s the Amsterdam way!
Book one of our Badass Tours and cap it off with a visit to one of Amsterdam’s historic terraces. It’s a perfect conversation starter while you have a sip outside on your terras.
Check out some more Blamsterdam! posts.
Self-Guided Digital Tour
Use your phone to explore Amsterdam! This self-guided tour uses audio, images, maps, and text to introduce you to the women, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and Jewish people who made Amsterdam what it is.
Private Walking Tour
Get a personalized tour that covers the interests you’re curious about and the neighborhoods you want to see. Choose pick-up/drop-off locations, any combination of our hidden history topics, and themes such as artists, politicians, and rebels.
Private Museum Tour
See the highlights and hidden icons of Amsterdam’s world-renowned Rijksmuseum in a private guided tour that explores who creates art and what stories it’s used to tell. And don’t worry about museum tickets. We’ve got you covered.
Small-Group Walking Tour
The women who shaped Amsterdam are more complex than traditional tours would have you believe. Go to Amsterdam’s historic sites to hear stories of women who fought, wrote, calculated and led through the city’s chaotic and complicated past.
Small-Group Walking Tour
In 1593, Jewish Amsterdammers began building a community in the relative safety of the city that transformed both the Netherlands and the world. Learn about these creative, compassionate, and challenging mavericks and their impact.
Small-Group Walking Tour
The world’s first gay marriage was officiated by the Mayor of Amsterdam at its City Hall. But did you know that the city’s LGBTQ+ history stretches centuries? Meet historical Amsterdammers across the gender spectrum and sexual orientations.
Small-Group Walking Tour
This historical tour through the busy Jewish quarter and residential Plantage neighborhood offers a selection of stories from BIPOC, LGBTQ+, Jewish and women’s history. It’s the perfect way to get an alternative view of Amsterdam.