7 late-night dives in Amsterdam, editor-picked by TableJourney. All Amsterdam nightlife.
Wolvenstraat 23 ★ 4.2
centrum · Wolvenstraat 23, 1016 EP Amsterdam
Wolvenstraat 23 sits in the Nine Streets and has run as a day-to-late bar without a formal name since opening, with newspapers, noodle soup and coffee all day rolling into beers and a late, mixed canal-belt crowd after dark.
Tip: Owner Rob Benoni runs the room; the kitchen does Asian-leaning bites until late on weekends. Cash card preferred.
Cafe de Pieper ★ 4.4
grachtengordel · Prinsengracht 424, 1016 JC Amsterdam
Cafe de Pieper has run on the corner of Prinsengracht and Leidsegracht since 1665, with worn floorboards, a low brown-beamed ceiling, stained-glass windows and a tiny canal-side terrace that catches the late afternoon sun.
Tip: Front room is standing only, back room has a few small tables. Cash bar; closes earlier than the late-night strip but the room peaks at 23:00.
Cafe de Kuil ★ 3.8
centrum · Oudebrugsteeg 27, 1012 JR Amsterdam
Cafe de Kuil runs out of an old building on Oudebrugsteeg near Damrak with brown ceiling beams, a long bar along one wall and a small smoking room, opening early and running through to the late-night hours seven days a week.
Tip: Cash bar; the smoking room out the back is small and busy on weekends. Walk five minutes from Centraal Station.
Cafe Belgique ★ 4.5
centrum · Gravenstraat 2, 1012 NM Amsterdam
Cafe Belgique on Gravenstraat behind the Nieuwe Kerk is a small wood-panelled beer bar with eight Belgian taps and another fifty bottles, regularly listed among the city's best beer rooms and busy two-deep on weekends.
Tip: Tiny room, no reservations; the lone table out front opens up after the dinner crowd thins. Cash and card both fine.
Cafe Sonneveld ★ 4.2
jordaan · Egelantiersgracht 72-74, 1015 RM Amsterdam
Cafe Sonneveld stands on the corner of Egelantiersgracht and Tweede Egelantiersdwarsstraat in the Jordaan with a sunny canal-side terrace looking toward the Westerkerk, serving genever, kopstoot beers and Dutch comfort food late into the evening.
Tip: Terrace fills the moment the sun hits it; the kitchen runs until close with kroketten and burgers. Cash card preferred.
Cafe de Pels ★ 4.3
centrum · Huidenstraat 25, 1016 ER Amsterdam
Cafe de Pels has run as a neighbourhood brown bar on Huidenstraat in the Nine Streets for more than fifty years, a long-standing meeting room for journalists and artists with veal croquettes in the fryer and one of the better canal-belt terraces.
Tip: Open from 09:00, so the morning crowd folds into the late-night crowd without ever clearing. Friday and Saturday push to 02:00.
Vrankrijk ★ 4.0
centrum · Spuistraat 216, 1012 VT Amsterdam
Vrankrijk has held its Spuistraat building since it was squatted in 1982 and now runs as a legalised social centre with a ground-floor events space mostly given over to punk shows, queer parties and benefit nights through the week.
Tip: Cheap drinks, donation door, cash only. The mural-covered facade is the surest way to spot the door from the street.