Looking for the best cafés in Amsterdam? This guide is curated with every unmissable café in the city! Whether you’re looking for the best brunch or the perfect barista coffee, this cafe guide has it all.

Patio seating. Design-forward interiors. Impeccable coffee. Amsterdam is home to a coffee scene that punches well above its weight. In recent years, it's become one of Europe's most exciting cities for coffee enthusiasts, thanks to baristas treating every cup as a craft, and new cafes continuously raising the bar.

I spent a week exploring Amsterdam's café scene, neighborhood by neighborhood, hunting down the city's best cups. From the canals of Jordaan to the tree-lined streets of Oud-West and the eclectic energy of De Pijp, I've scoured every corner. Read on to fill your Amsterdam itinerary with the best coffee the Dutch capital has to offer.

About Coffee in the Netherlands ↴

Real coffee lovers know that the Dutch basically shaped the modern coffee trade as we know it. When Yemen banned coffee bean exports in the 1600s, the Netherlands pulled off a workaround by smuggling coffee plants to their colonies in Indonesia. For centuries after that, the Dutch had access to loads of decent coffee.

Yet, somehow, proper café culture was pretty slow to take off here. For a long time, it was very much quantity over quality. Big pots of filter coffee, a trusty Senseo pad machine, and a quick koffie verkeerd at the local bruine kroeg. But that was about as far as it went.

Luckily, things have changed a lot, especially in Amsterdam. A wave of specialty roasters and passionate café owners have completely transformed the scene, with many roasting their own beans. The espresso you'll find in this city now is genuinely world-class.

One more thing the Dutch have always gotten right: the coffee break itself. Coffee here is a social ritual. Coffee breaks are an excuse to slow down, catch up with a friend, and duck into somewhere warm when the rain rolls in (which it will). You'll feel that cosy, unhurried energy in every spot on this list. I never felt rushed anywhere in Amsterdam that I sipped my espresso.

Amsterdam “coffee shops” vs. “cafes” ↴

Before we dive into the best cafes in Amsterdam, an important distinction needs to be made. Visitors are often confused about Amsterdam's coffee culture due to the city’s marijuana laws and infamous “coffee shops”. Here, a "coffeeshop" (one word) refers to a cannabis café. If you wander in looking for a flat white, you might be in for a surprise. The cafés on this list are the other kind. This guide is comprised only of “cafes” serving exceptional espresso, creative brunch menus, and house-roasted beans. Sorry, no THC here!

Best Coffee + Cafés in Amsterdam ↴

Toki

Toki is committed to a very particular kind of excellence that has made it the go-to spot in the trendy Jordaan neighborhood. Since day one, it has served incredible specialty coffee under its bright neon lights. The café’s calm, considered design makes it a place to linger on a quiet afternoon with a book.

4850

My absolute favorite cafe in Amsterdam is one that you might walk right by. Part neighborhood cafe, part wine bar, and part restaurant, 4850 sits tucked into a double-fronted, light-drenched space in Amsterdam East. Whether you’re sipping your coffee in the airy interiors or on the sunny patio, 4850 serves laidback friendliness in an upscale atmosphere.

skina

Skina epitomizes modern coffee culture. Red and chrome decorative details make it feel like the cool girls’ coffee go-to. But don’t let the trendy interiors fool you into thinking this is another overhyped coffee spot. Skina isn’t a style-over-substance establishment; the coffee here is every bit as good as the aesthetics.

Nook

Nook is part wine bar part specialty coffee spot. They regularly host wine nights and tasting events, but their coffee stands on its own. Nook’s small selection of pastries were also fantastic (I’m a fan of their cinnamon roll), but my recommendation is to grab coffee here before walking around the corner to Bakkerij Mater for baked goods.

Rum Baba

Rum Baba isn’t just another specialty roaster in Amsterdam. They roast their beans into genuinely unique flavor profiles. It’s the kind of thing that turns even committed filter-coffee cynics into believers. The baristas are happy to help you find a coffee that matches your mood, which makes it a great spot for those dipping their toes into coffee.

Uncommon Café

Uncommon opened its first café near Overtoom and quickly became a mainstay of Amsterdam's coffee circuit. Here, breakfast and lunch take center stage, but the coffee is what keeps people coming back. Its newer sister spot across the road, Uncommon Bar, specializes in wild pastries and dinner service Thursday through Saturday, and the coffee flight there is one of the most creative things I came across in the city: a Geisha flower tea, a Cascara soda, and a shot of espresso served together. Genuinely unlike anything else you'll find.

Lot61

Lot61 is arguably the café that kick-started Amsterdam's specialty coffee revolution. Like many great coffee spots, it was founded by an Australian, Adam Craig. Adam spent fifteen years running cafes in New York before moving to Amsterdam and introducing the city to a proper flat white. Here, you’ll find a relaxed space with a Kees Van Der Westen Spirit espresso machine at its heart and rotating local art on the walls. The coffee is sourced ethically and roasted in the basement.

yusu

Yusu ticks every box. Planted on a corner spot, it's the kind of café that draws you in before you've even reached the door, complete with light, airy interiors, and a soundtrack that actually makes you want to stick around. It gets busy, but for good reason. When I visited, people were sitting in the window sills, on sidewalk stools, and in whatever spare chairs they could find. It’s truly a community hang; the kind of place where everyone wants to be. This seemed like an unmissable spot for matcha, as signified to me by everyone ahead and behind me in line ordering their own. I had and recommend the cortado!

coffee district

This slick micro-chain has a clutch of coffee bars on the perimeter of Vondelpark and Amsterdam-Zuid, each as minimally designed and whitewashed as the next. Expect a selection of homemade pastries alongside perfectly poured flat whites and matcha: the ideal stop for a pick-me-up before wandering around the city.

luuk’s

Inside Luuk’s you’ll find the clean, sleek interiors you’ve come to expect from most modern cafes. What sets it apart isn’t its design, but rather its expertly prepared barista coffee.

Haku Specialty Coffee

Tucked into the Jordaan neighborhood, Haku is the kind of specialty roaster that takes everything seriously — the beans, the brew, and the space itself. The interiors are designed with light in mind, dark wood touches softening what could easily feel stark into something genuinely calming. Coffee is served as either filter or espresso, keeping the focus exactly where it should be. If you want to slow down and actually taste what's in your cup, this is your spot.

Friedhats / FUKU

Friedhats' cafe FUKU has been a west Amsterdam institution since it opened in Bos en Lommer in 2018, and it's earned every bit of its reputation. Almost everything from the Friedhats roster is available as filter or espresso, plus a rotating selection of competition-grade beans for the curious — think experimental processes, Gesha varieties, and flavors that lean funky and complex in the best possible way. Beyond the coffee, there are pastries, natural wines, and craft beers, with as much sourced locally as possible. Good coffee, good people, and occasionally a great glass of wine — what's not to love?

Hummingbird Café

Hummingbird is one of those special places that manages to be both technically brilliant and genuinely warm. A striking mural of a hummingbird covers the wall, the first Modbar in the Netherlands sits at the counter (allowing for seamless conversation between barista and guest), and the coffee selection rotates through specialty roasters from around the globe. Owners Agavni and Kees have created a space that prioritises human connection, and you feel it the moment you walk in.

Five ways roasters

The coffee at Five Ways Roasters was great, but it’s the brunch that really stood out. Light poured through the floor to ceiling windows at the Boerhaaveplein location as we munched on classics: avocado toast, poached eggs, and shakshuka. The patio tables were full every time we passed by, proving that it’s a place people like to linger— and I don’t blame them.

White Label Coffee

White Label roasts in-house and operates several locations across Amsterdam, including a canal-view café on Singel that is genuinely hard to leave. The Scandinavian-influenced design — concrete floors, wooden elements, clean lines — keeps the focus firmly on what matters: the coffee. They offer single-origin pours alongside a house blend that's particularly well-suited to espresso. If you want to take a bag home, you can pick one up here or at their other locations. This is the type of café where serious coffee drinkers feel immediately at home.

Screaming Beans

Screaming Beans is small, Australian-owned, and focused on doing just a few things exceptionally well. This café feels like Melbourne coffee culture to De Pijp neighbourhood. There's no extraneous menu, no fuss, just really great espresso and milk drinks from a team that clearly cares. The café is compact (go early for a seat), but the no-nonsense approach is refreshing in a city where some places seem more interested in aesthetics than in what's actually in the cup.

Trakteren

Trakteren takes coffee seriously enough to compare it to wine, which honestly isn't much of a stretch once you taste what they're serving. The baristas here dial in every shot with obsessive precision, tweaking recipes and temperatures to suit each specific bean. Every month brings a new single origin to the menu, with different origins and processing methods keeping things fresh and worth revisiting. Come for the espresso, stay for the coffee education.

Kafenion

Kafenion occupies the lower floors of a beautiful old Amsterdam building and serves Greek bougatsas — pastries filled with custard that arrive fresh from the oven and are completely addictive. I'm normally not a big pastry person, but I made an exception here and was very glad I did. The coffee isn't quite specialty-level, so manage your expectations there, but as a place to sit, eat something wonderful, and soak up the atmosphere, Kafenion earns its spot on this list.

Gentle Place

Gentle Place is worth the short trip to Amsterdam Noord, just across the IJ from Centraal Station. The owners are deeply invested in sourcing high-quality beans and have created a space that genuinely reflects that care: multiple distinct seating areas (a nice change from the many tiny Amsterdam cafés), a welcoming, community-minded atmosphere, and a menu that goes beyond the usual pastry-and-croissant offerings. If you're exploring Noord (and you should be — it's one of Amsterdam's coolest areas right now), this is your café.

Good Beans

Good Beans does exactly what its name promises. The mission here is to make specialty coffee more approachable, and they do it beautifully by working with great roasters while also offering their own house roast, cheekily called Fucking Strong Coffee. (It's strong. It's also very good.) The ethos is warm and inclusive, the beans are ethically sourced, and the whole place has an energy that makes you want to linger. For anyone who's ever found specialty coffee cafés a little intimidating, Good Beans is the perfect antidote.

Where to Stay in Amsterdam ↴

One of my favorite characteristics of Amsterdam is how walkable and cycle-able the city is! But, the neighborhood you stay in makes a difference. Most of the cafés on this list are concentrated in Oud-West, De Pijp, Jordaan, and Centrum. So, staying in or near one of these areas will make your café crawl considerably easier.

In my most recent trip to Amsterdam, I stayed at Hotel Arena near Oosterpark. Reddit made it seem like this park was full of unhoused addicts wrecking havoc on picnickers. But the reality was, as I experienced it, was completely the opposite. The hotel itself was a comfortable, quiet stay with a huge room (perfect for our family of three) and great amenities. We went for multiple walks around the park at various time of the day with our baby, and we could not have felt safer. The park was clean and filled with families. I’m not sure why it gets such a bad reputation, but I promise you it’s not deserved. We picked it initially because of its location, a short tram ride fro De Pijp and the Museum Quarter.

Best Areas to Stay in Amsterdam

Jordaan | One of Amsterdam's most picturesque neighborhoods is also one of its most popular amongst tourists. Jordaan is a great spot for couples, solo travelers, and first-time visitors who want to be surrounded by canals, independent boutiques, and some of the city's best cafés. It's also relatively central.
Oud-West | This is where I'd base myself. It's near Vondelpark, close to the Foodhallen, and home to Lot61 and several other cafés on this list. Walkable, residential, and full of good coffee.
De Pijp | De Pijp is probably my favorite (if I really had to pick) neighborhood in Amsterdam. It’s densely packed with cafés in the city, along with the legendary Albert Cuyp market, and a fantastic international food scene.
Amsterdam Noord | I recommend Noord for travelers who wants something off the beaten path. A free ferry from behind Centraal Station takes you across the IJ in minutes. This area of Amsterdam is eco-driven, creative, and increasingly cool.