Shopping
Amsterdam is not the city for true fashionistas, nevertheless
shopping can be a fulfilling affair if you have an eye for the less
swanky stuff. Apart from the usual stores, which you’ll find on
Kalverstraat, it’s fun to shop in specific neighbourhoods. Explore the
quirky boutiques and highly individual shops on the Negen staatjes, www.theninestreets.com/
de Utrechtse staat, Haarlemmer straat, P.C Hooftstraat and Oud Zuid
(old south). Don’t forget to drop by the city’s most typical Dutch
department store: the Hema. In general, shop hours run from 1-6pm on
Mondays and 9/10am - 6pm Tuesday to Saturday. Most shops have late
night shopping on Thursday until 9pm while on Sundays you can shop
mainly in the city centre.
Spiegelquartier Amsterdam is full of
second-hand markets and antique dealers. The high end art and antique
dealers concentrate around the Spiegelgracht near the three main
museums: Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum and Stedelijk Museum.
www.spiegelkwartier.nl/The
Dutch capital is well known for its flea markets. The biggest one on
the 30th of April, Queens Day, transforms the city into one gigantic
flea market. Of the traditional ones, the daily market at Waterlooplein
www.waterloopleinmarkt.nl is the best known, but don’t expect to find
real bargains or original items, and beware of pickpockets! A better
option is the Noordermarkt on Monday mornings.
Amsterdam has
several famous food and flower markets, amongst the best are the daily
Albert Cuyp Market and the Bloemenmarkt (flowers) on Singel. Check out
the city’s wide variety of markets at:
www.hollandsemarkten.nl/markten/