Going out in Amsterdam Centrum? My honest guide to the best clubs and bars around Leidseplein, Rembrandtplein and the canals. Find your night on NightFind.
If I want guaranteed energy, I head straight for Rembrandtplein. Within a hundred steps you have five very different rooms. Club Prime is the loud, colourful one, open seven nights a week with EDM and hip hop and a floor that never seems to empty. Right next to it sit Escape, the big room that has been an Amsterdam institution since 1986, and John Doe, its underground techno neighbour for when the mainstream floors stop doing it for you. Oliva mixes dinner and dancing across three rooms, and Jantjes Verjaardag is the place I send anyone who wants a proper Dutch sing along night. Dress a little sharp here, because the doors on this square do pay attention.
Leidseplein is the other beating heart, and it is where I go when I want a concert before the club. Melkweg and Paradiso both run live shows that roll straight into club nights, so you can catch a band and stay for the dancing without moving an inch. Jimmy Woo is the glamorous option, all low light and a ceiling of twelve thousand bulbs, with a strict door and a dressed up crowd. Club Up and Chicago Social Club round out the square for a more relaxed, music first night.
Not every night needs a thousand people. When I want something more intimate I walk the canals and the side streets. Bitterzoet on Spuistraat is my home base for hip hop, afrobeats and soul, with no VIP tables and no attitude. Supperclub near the Rokin turns dinner into a party as the tables disappear, and Club NYX brings three floors of queer nightlife off Reguliersdwarsstraat. For a slow start there are the hidden cocktail bars, the kind you reach through an unmarked door, where the night begins with one good drink instead of ten shots.
A few things I have learned the hard way. Start earlier than you think if you want a table, because the good spots fill up fast on weekends. Keep some cash on you even though most places take card. Walk between venues instead of grabbing a taxi, because half the fun of the Centrum is the streets in between. And if a door feels strict, a smile and a decent outfit go further than any guest list.
The Centrum has more nightlife per square metre than anywhere else in the city, and this is only the start of it. Browse every club and bar in Amsterdam Centrum on NightFind, check the opening hours, and sort your tickets in two taps. Then all you have to do is show up.
