Amsterdam Nightlife and Private Bar Guide
Posted by Kim Kardashian on April 19th, 2017
We walked out of Amsterdam central station utter noobs – there really isn’t another word for it. Totally adrift in what we knew for a fact was one of Europe’s top nightlife destinations we headed for our hostel, dumped our stuff and dived right in at the Warmoestraat, one of Amsterdam’s major tourist hot spots.
It’s easy to get lost in Amsterdam’s myriad bars and clubs!
We quickly found that Amsterdam is awash with bars aiming at cornering the tourist market. Up and down the Warmoestraat we sampled a series of solid pubs and bars, from Irish pubs to sports bars to a thumping bar with live dancers performing on the bar.
But there was something lacking – every bar we went into was clearly aimed at tourists. They were great venues, but we felt that we were lacking a quintessential Amsterdam experience – this couldn’t be how the locals partied. So for night two we decided to pick up an Amsterdam Private Bar Guide to show us the city’s secret drinking spots.
An awesome Amsterdam experience!
Our Amsterdam Private Bar Guide met us in a chic little bar off Dam Square, well away from the stag party stomping grounds on the Warmoestraat.
He listened to our problems and nodded sagely, before promising to show us some of Amsterdam’s most unique drinking experiences. We headed over to Wynand Fockink, an amazingly cool independent distillery hidden near the De Wallen Red Light district.
We were treated to an in depth talk on the unique Dutch liqueurs and jenevas they produced before enjoying some samples. Then we nipped around the corner to independent brewery De Prael where we sampled some specialty Dutch craft beers.
Around the corner our guide introduced us to Café Zilch, a super classy hole in the wall bar that specialised in fine spirits, and then we were pushed onto a tram to head down to Leidseplein where we made it into Club Sugar Factory at about 11pm to enjoy a wild electro punk night I’ll never forget.
We had an amazing night that showcased the best Amsterdam has to offer in terms of drinking and nightlife, that really blew night one clean out of the water. If you’re checking out Amsterdam this year, we recommend that you do your research, or pick up a guide to steer you around the bars rammed with rowdy tourists.
