Merel van Helsdingen

You are guaranteed to feel hip when you cross the threshold at this trendy bar & restaurant in Amsterdam Noord. It is a great place to have a cosy, relaxed dinner with a large group of friends, thanks in no small part to the indoor skate park. Watch the skaters ollie & heel flip for hours while you sip an ice cold beer.

With the laidback, extra gezellig vibe that characterises Noord, it should come as no surprise that one of the best, most chilled brown cafés is smack dab in the middle. Café t’ Sluisje is an old school pub where Noord locals have gone for over 100 years to fill up on bitterballen & a biertje or twee. It’s the perfect pit stop when exploring Noord by bike.

Second only to the Serpentine Pavilion knees-up, the London art world’s next big bash is preview night at the Summer Exhibition. The RA’s patchwork submission-based show has been going since 1769 and is wonderfully accessible. Yet the big focus on the exhibitions means a lot of people don’t know that Michelangelo’s Taddei Tondo (the artist’s only marble sculpture in Britain) is in the permanent collection. You’ll also find next-level jamón sandwiches at José Pizarro’s café Poster Bar.

Killer croquettes? No problem! Top notch coffee? Easy! But pizza? Well, that’s a different story here in Amsterdam. Or at least it used to be until Euro Pizza burst onto the scene in the midst of the city's restaurant boom of 2020. This laidback restaurant is good for more than just excellent pizza, however. Head here for delicious natural wines and thoughtful small plates. Or, for a more fine-dining experience snag a table at their sister spot, Restaurant Europa, next door.

Though we’re certainly suckers for classic paintings by Old Masters like Vermeer and Paulus Potter, we can't deny the appeal of dynamic new media. When we want to be inspired, taken outside of ourselves and to another world, we head straight to the Nxt Museum. It has a wonderful programme of rotating exhibitions that focus on large-scale, multi-sensory works. Even if you’re more old school, we bet you’re going to love this.

Amsterdam is no stranger to great music, especially when it comes to techno, deep house and EDM. Start, continue and end your night at murmur, one of Noord's many excellent bars and clubs.

Another day, another excellent Amsterdam club. Have a few drinks nearby, swing over to Schietclub on your bike and stay until the wee, wee hours.

Just like Noord itself, Chateau Karlito is a wonderful whirling dervish, managing to pack a lot of things–wines, ceramics, rugs, jazz, sake, sausages, cider–into one cute, inviting shop. Sure, it may sound chaotic, but that’s what we love about it. As Chateau Karlito’s eponymous owner hails from Brabant (home of woorstenbroodjes), you know their sausage rolls just have to be good.