The 10 best bars in Amsterdam, grouped by style: six cocktail bars, three beer cafés and an Irish music bar, with opening hours and one honest downside each.
The best bars in Amsterdam are not one type. The centre has hotel cocktail bars such as Super Lyan and Belly of the Beast, a cinema bar inside Pathé Tuschinski, a sky bar on the 11th floor above the Oosterdokseiland and a tasting room in a former distillery with about 250 bottled beers. South of the canals, TapZuid pours 25 taps of mostly Amsterdam-brewed beer.
This list ranks ten bars, grouped by style: six cocktail bars, three beer cafés and one Irish music bar. The dance floors are in our guide to the best clubs in Amsterdam, so this one is for sitting down. Each entry gives the opening hours as we have them, a tip and one honest reason to skip it. In the Netherlands the legal age for alcohol is 18.
We chose these ten from the more than 80 bars in our Amsterdam database. We kept bars where we have opening hours, a clear identity and a reason to go, and we spread the picks across the Centrum, Zuid and Oost. The order follows style, not a single score: cocktail bars first, then beer cafés, then the Irish music bar. The details come from our Amsterdam venue pages. We have not confirmed every opening time with the bar itself, so check before a late visit. We do not sell tickets ourselves.
The cocktail bar of the Pillows Maurits at the Park hotel, beside the Oosterpark, with a 1920s-style room and a menu that builds drinks around scents. Gault&Millau named it Cocktail Bar of the Year 2026. It opens at 17:00 and closes at midnight, or 02:00 on Friday and Saturday. Skip it if you want to avoid a hotel setting: you enter through the hotel's main entrance.
A cocktail bar from the London bartender behind Mr Lyan, in a 17th-century house attached to the Kimpton De Witt hotel, a short walk from Centraal. The room has curved bars, neon and mid-century furniture. It opens at 17:00 and closes at 01:00 every night. Skip it if you want a hidden, hushed speakeasy: this is a casual hotel cocktail bar.
A cocktail bar on the lower floor of the Odeon building on the Singel, with a light beach-bar entrance and a darker room further in. Cocktails come with sharing plates. From Thursday to Saturday it opens at 17:00 and runs until 04:00; on other nights it opens at 18:00 and closes at 03:00. Skip it if you want a dance floor: this is a place to sit and drink.
The cocktail bar inside Pathé Tuschinski, the cinema Abraham Tuschinski opened in 1921. The cocktails take their cue from films and use Dutch ingredients, with a wine list and small plates. It opens at 16:00 from Tuesday to Friday, with shorter hours at the weekend, and closes at midnight. It is closed on Monday. Skip it if you want a party: this is a cinema bar, not a club.
The sky bar on the 11th floor of the DoubleTree by Hilton, a short walk east of Centraal, with a rooftop terrace over the city and the water. The cocktail list is built around a Menu of Colors and DJs play regular sessions. It opens at 17:00 midweek and at 12:00 from Friday to Sunday, and stays open until 03:00 on Friday and Saturday. Skip it if you want a dive bar.
A tequila and mezcal cocktail bar on Reguliersdwarsstraat, the street best known for the city's LGBTQ+ bars. Agave drives the menu, from margaritas to mezcal cocktails. It is open Monday to Saturday, from 19:00 to 02:00 from Monday to Wednesday and from 17:00 to 03:00 from Thursday to Saturday, and closed on Sunday. Skip it if you want a dance floor: on a normal night it is a cocktail bar first.
A beer and food café on the Maasstraat in the Rivierenbuurt, built around Amsterdam brewing. Twenty-five taps carry ten fixed beers and fifteen that rotate through the city's craft breweries, and the kitchen does burgers and Flammkuchen. In winter it opens at 16:00 on weekdays and at noon at the weekend, and it closes at 03:00 on Friday and Saturday. Skip it if you want imported beer: the list is local by design.
A beer tasting room in a former distillery on the Kolksteeg, an alley off the Nieuwendijk. Eighteen beers rotate on draught and about 250 more sit in bottles, led by Belgian and Dutch brewing with plenty of Trappists. It opens at noon from Monday to Saturday, closes at midnight midweek and 01:00 on Friday and Saturday, and stays shut on Sunday. Skip it if you want space to yourself: Het Parool reported it as the best-rated nightlife spot among tourists on TripAdvisor.
The Gollem branch on the Amstelstraat, between Rembrandtplein and the Amstel, with thirty taps and more than a hundred bottles and cans: sours, stouts, barrel-aged specials and IPAs. The room is larger than most beer cafés in the centre, so a group fits. It opens at 16:00 on weekdays and 14:00 at the weekend, and closes at 02:00 on Friday and Saturday. Skip it if you want a quiet brown café.
An Irish pub on the Amstel, a short walk from Rembrandtplein, known for traditional Irish sessions with musicians from all over, including the BackRoom Sessions, and for its Guinness. There is a small courtyard terrace named after Oscar Wilde. It opens at 14:00 midweek and at noon at the weekend, and closes at 02:00 on Friday and Saturday. Skip it if you want a quiet corner to talk.
Most of these bars are in the Centrum: Super Lyan, Belly of the Beast, Bar Abraham, Bar Bacán, LuminAir, In de Wildeman, Gollem and Mulligans are all a short walk from Centraal, the Singel or Rembrandtplein. Fitz's Bar is beside the Oosterpark and TapZuid is on the Maasstraat in the Rivierenbuurt.
For a late night, Belly of the Beast stays open until 04:00 from Thursday to Saturday. LuminAir, TapZuid and Bar Bacán close at 03:00 on Friday and Saturday, and Super Lyan closes at 01:00 every night. There is no metro between 00:30 and 06:00, so plan the way home: night buses and bikes are the usual options.
Amsterdam rewards a bar-hopping night: start with a beer at In de Wildeman, move to a cocktail on the Singel and finish on Reguliersdwarsstraat. For closing times, prices and the way home in one place, read our Amsterdam nightlife guide. For the dance floors, see the best clubs in Amsterdam and the best clubs on Rembrandtplein. To choose an area first, read the guides to the Centrum, the Jordaan, De Pijp, Zuid, Oost and Noord. Planning a longer trip? Browse the Netherlands guide or find upcoming nights on NightFind tickets.
It depends on what you want. For cocktails, Fitz's Bar by the Oosterpark and Super Lyan on the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal are the headline names. For beer, In de Wildeman has about 250 bottled beers, and TapZuid has 25 taps.
It varies by bar. Super Lyan closes at 01:00, Fitz's Bar at midnight (02:00 on Friday and Saturday), TapZuid and LuminAir at 03:00 on Friday and Saturday, and Belly of the Beast at 04:00 from Thursday to Saturday.
Yes. LuminAir is on the 11th floor of the DoubleTree by Hilton near Centraal, with a rooftop terrace. Reserve if you want the terrace on a warm evening.
Gollem Craft Beers near Rembrandtplein has 30 taps, TapZuid rotates 15 of its 25 taps through Amsterdam breweries, and In de Wildeman has 18 draught beers.
The legal age for alcohol is 18. Bring photo ID, because staff may ask when in doubt.
