Discover the real Amsterdam with tips from locals.
Tips Amsterdam is a local platform for people who want to experience the city beyond the obvious highlights. We focus on the Amsterdam that residents actually enjoy: neighbourhood cafés, good restaurants, lively markets, cultural spots, local events and practical tips that make exploring the city easier and more enjoyable.
Instead of sending you to the same crowded places everyone already knows, we help you find the areas, addresses and ideas that give you a better feel for the city. That can mean a relaxed coffee bar in De Pijp, a good place for drinks in Amsterdam-Noord, a market worth browsing on a free afternoon, or a neighbourhood that makes more sense for your trip than the busiest part of the centre.
Our goal is simple: help you spend less time scrolling and more time enjoying Amsterdam.
What this website is for
Tips Amsterdam is made for visitors who want useful, honest and easy-to-read advice about the city. Some readers are planning a first trip and want to know where to stay, what to do and which parts of Amsterdam are worth their time. Others already know the city a little and are looking for better restaurants, local hangouts, seasonal events or ideas for a weekend that feels less standard.
That is why our articles combine inspiration with practical information. We want content to be enjoyable to read, but also genuinely helpful when you are making plans. That means we look at atmosphere, location, ease, who a place is good for and whether it still feels relevant now.
You will find guides for neighbourhoods, food and drinks, culture, nightlife, family outings, city breaks and local inspiration throughout the year. If you are looking for ideas for your stay, you can also browse our pages on where to stay in Amsterdam, current events in Amsterdam, nightlife in Amsterdam and fun things to do in Amsterdam with kids.
Our approach
We write with a local mindset. That means we do not just ask whether a place is popular, but whether it is actually worth your time. A restaurant can be famous and still not make our list. A small café, market, ferry route or neighbourhood bar can be much more useful for someone who wants to experience a more relaxed and real side of Amsterdam.
We choose topics based on what people genuinely search for when planning a trip or day out. That can be broad, such as where to stay or what to do this weekend, but it can also be very specific, like the best area for a casual dinner, how to avoid tourist-heavy spots, or which local experiences are still enjoyable when the weather is not perfect.
Whenever possible, we work from first-hand knowledge and local familiarity with the city. We know that Amsterdam changes fast. A place can be great one season and far less useful the next if the atmosphere shifts, prices rise too much, service drops or the audience changes completely. That is why we stay critical and keep reviewing what still deserves a place on the site.
How we choose recommendations
Not every good place belongs on Tips Amsterdam. We only feature spots, areas and ideas that feel relevant for readers who want quality, atmosphere and a better sense of the city. Our selection is based on a mix of local experience, practical usefulness and editorial judgement.
When deciding whether something deserves a mention, we look at questions such as these:
- Would we honestly recommend it to a friend visiting Amsterdam?
- Does it add something compared with the usual tourist lists?
- Is the atmosphere right for the type of reader landing on that page?
- Is the price level reasonable for what you get?
- Is the information clear enough for someone to actually use it?
That does not mean every place has to be hidden or unknown. Sometimes a well-known museum, market or square still belongs in an article because it is genuinely worth visiting. But we always try to give it the right context, including who it suits, when to go and what to combine it with nearby.
Keeping information up to date
Amsterdam is a city where things change quickly. Opening hours shift, reservations become necessary, kitchens change, events move, prices go up and new places open all the time. Because of that, we treat practical information with care.
For details such as opening times, access, booking rules, transport or temporary closures, we check official venue information when available and update articles when needed. We also review older content to see whether it still matches what readers need now. Sometimes that means refreshing a paragraph. Sometimes it means removing a recommendation that no longer feels strong enough.
We would rather leave something out than keep weak or doubtful information online just to fill space. That is especially important on a city guide, where readers often make immediate plans based on what they read.
If you notice that something has changed, you are welcome to contact us. Reader feedback helps us keep articles sharper and more reliable.
Independent by default
Tips Amsterdam is an independent platform. Our editorial choices are based on relevance, quality and whether something honestly fits the topic of the article. We do not publish places simply because they are trendy, heavily marketed or well known on social media.
Sometimes we hear about new places through invitations, tips from readers, PR outreach or collaborations. That can be useful, because it helps us discover updates and new openings more quickly. But those signals never decide what we recommend. If something does not feel good enough, practical enough or relevant enough for our readers, we simply do not include it.
We believe that local trust is built through consistency. Readers should be able to assume that a recommendation is there because it earned its place, not because someone wanted visibility.
Affiliate links and transparency
Some pages on this website include links to tours, tickets, hotels or other travel services. In some cases, those are affiliate links. That means we may earn a commission if you book through that link, at no extra cost to you.
That never determines which places, activities or services we mention, and it never affects the order of our recommendations. We only include links when they make sense for the reader and fit naturally within the article. A booking link should support the content, not drive it.
If a link does not improve the page, it does not belong there. We prefer a cleaner and more trustworthy article over a page full of distractions.
For more information on how we handle data and website use, please see our Privacy page.
Who our content is for
Our content is especially useful for travellers who like a city to feel lived-in rather than staged. Some people come to Amsterdam for museums and canals, others for food, local neighbourhoods, nightlife, architecture, shopping or a long weekend with friends or family. We try to write in a way that helps all of those readers make better choices without overcomplicating things.
That also means being honest about fit. Not every area is ideal for every trip. Not every hotspot is worth the queue. Not every local favourite is convenient if you only have one day in the city. Good travel advice is not just about naming nice places. It is about helping someone pick the right place for the moment they are planning.
If you want to get a better feel for that style of travel, our guide on how to experience Amsterdam like a local is a good place to continue.
Corrections and contact
We do our best to keep everything on this website accurate, clear and useful. Still, cities move quickly and mistakes can happen. A venue may change direction, a practical detail may become outdated or a link may stop working. If you spot an error, feel free to tell us. We review corrections carefully and update pages where needed.
Have a question, suggestion or local tip to share? You can reach us by email.
Email: jesper@y-catcher.nl
Thanks for reading Tips Amsterdam. We hope the site helps you discover a version of Amsterdam that feels more relaxed, more personal and more worth remembering.
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