Why visiting Amsterdam now reveals a city at a crossroads

It’s pre-dawn on a flight to Amsterdam, and a group of men on a bachelor party are pounding beers, dressed in costumes as Bavarian barmaids and talking loudly about visiting the red-light district without their partners knowing. This isn’t the vision of Amsterdam that city officials want.

During the pandemic, Amsterdam was able to see what the city looked like without tourists of this ilk, and it doesn’t want to go back. Some city officials have proposed a “discouragement” ad campaign for international visitors with plans to “go wild” in the city.

Other ideas: earlier closing times for bars and clubs; an extended ban on group tours; further Airbnb restrictions as well as a tightening of river cruises, sea cruise ships and budget flights; and marijuana smoke-free zones, linked to an existing alcohol ban in the city centre.

They still want tourists, but for the culture, not just the cannabis coffee shops.

A typical scene in the city of Amsterdam.

“What we do not welcome is people who come here on a vacation from morals. They express a form of behaviour they would not express at home,” Mayor Femke Halsema told Bloomberg CityLab last July.

“It’s a place where you should go if you’re looking for beautiful museums, or to see the underground culture, or if you want to attend our [gay] Pride.”

According to Onderzoek en Statistiek (the city’s research and statistics department), more than 18 million tourists will arrive in 2023, a limit at which the city council is required to intervene under a June 2021 ordinance called Amsterdam Tourism in Balance.

In 2019, 22 million visitors came to Amsterdam, the population of which is less than 900,000. Of course, people have always come to this cool capital for many reasons, even if a bit of fun is one of them.

The Van Gogh Museum, one of Amsterdam's most famous attractions.

When I first visited in 2014, I toured the Anne Frank house, a dream since reading her diary as a young Jewish girl hoping to be a writer; I hustled around the Van Gogh Museum, then split a THC-laced space cake and got extremely lost. I don’t think I wandered outside the city centre. If I did, I can’t remember.

Revisiting today, armed with the advice of my Bloomberg colleagues in the Amsterdam bureau, I find the city as I recalled: buzzy and vibrant even on a cold weekend in January. There is thick bike traffic ring-a-ling-ing everywhere and heavy footfall along the De 9 Straatjes (Nine Streets) district canals, though “no public drinking” signs now threaten €100 ($109) fines. Ads for museums and cultural attractions are ubiquitous.

I wanted to be the kind of visitor Amsterdam was hoping for now and to see firsthand the efforts to spread tourism over the whole of the city.

I hit the Zuidas district to find the restaurant Nela, which opened in August. It’s one of the hottest tables in the city, located up several marbled flights of an outdoor staircase. (As I caught my breath, a kind hostess informed me that there was indeed an elevator.)

Nela's menu celebrates the joy of live fire cooking.

Inside the elegant, airy space, chefs Hari Shetty and Ori Geller, formerly of Nobu London and Yaffo-Tel Aviv, respectively, offer such dishes as sea bream in a green herbal rub, prepared from an open kitchen with a “live-fire cooking” concept.

Shetty says people from all over the Netherlands are coming on weekends, and some Americans and Brits, too. The two chefs used to work in the city centre, but wanted something off the beaten tourist track—and a haven that could become a destination.

“We want to be like the living room in this neighbourhood to make people feel at home,” he says. The baby leeks with mustard dressing are reason enough to return.

Back toward the centre, eclectic Dutch design store Moooi opened the doors of its Utrechtsestraat shop in December. Inside I was immediately charmed by quirky bedding with patterns featuring extinct animals and lighting fixtures that looked like large marshmallows on chopsticks. How much space did I have in my carry-on?

Pick up some Dutch designer wares at Moooi.

Utrechtsestraat is one of the nicer independent shopping streets in Amsterdam, with the Zwart op Wit (Black on White) bookstore, Dutch women’s clothing store Vanilia, and the Zielinski & Rozen perfumery. Not a stag party in sight, just chic boutiques in which to spend an afternoon and a paycheck.

Alongside its changing relationship to tourism, Amsterdam is reckoning with a more intractable past. Over in trendy Oost, the Tropenmuseum (Museum of the Tropics) collection dates back to 1864 as a display of colonial might featuring artefacts from places such as Indonesia and Suriname.

In June, a powerful permanent exhibition opened with a more reflective narrative.

“Our Colonial Inheritance” starts with a video display featuring interviews about what colonialism means to people in the modern world. There are also news clips of Halsema apologizing in 2021 for the city’s role in the slave trade, and Prime Minister Mark Rutte doing the same on behalf of the Netherlands for his country’s violence against Indonesia.

The Rijksmuseum is an essential port of call for every visitor.

In December he became the first European head of state to apologize for the slave trade, period. The exhibition then artfully addresses the sins of the tiny country as it stretched out to colonise vast tracts of the world, such as the 1621 massacre of the Bandanese after the islanders refused to accept a monopoly on the nutmeg trade. (Survivors were sent into slavery on Java.)

“Colonialism was global, but we wanted to focus on Dutch colonialism and the inheritance of that here in the Netherlands, because if we wouldn’t do that, who else would?” says Wendeline Flores, lead curator of the exhibition. Her country’s history in that regard isn’t taught in-depth at school, she says, and she wants to create a dialogue around it.

And as Amsterdam’s crown jewel of an art museum, the Rijksmuseum, opens its blockbuster Johannes Vermeer exhibition, that dialogue is especially timely.

The wealth from colonialism is part of what made the region such a leader in art, trade and commerce in the 17th century, when artists like Vermeer and Rembrandt were creating the masterpieces that are such a big draw for tourists and a point of pride for the city.

Where to Stay

Pulitzer Amsterdam: This five-star heritage hotel is a glorious maze of 25 connected 17th and 18th century canal houses with a destination bar that bustles on weekends. Rooms come stocked with bike repair kits, and cute design touches include little gold windows in the bathrooms that look as if they belong on houseboats.

The history of these quintessential Dutch buildings is an attraction in itself—my room was a former silk merchant’s shop—and concierges give walking tours of the canals. A partnership with the Rijksmuseum allows hotel guests to skip the lines on their way to see Girl With a Pearl Earring. From €399 (AUD$617).

The Art Collector's Suite at Hotel Pulitzer.

Conservatorium: Located in an impressive 19th century building that used to be a bank, the 129-room luxury hotel could easily be confused for one of the neighbouring cultural institutions, like the Van Gogh Museum.

Label hounds will love the nearby P.C. Hooftstraat shopping street, lined with stores such as Gucci and Louis Vuitton, while tulip lovers can swoon to the property’s own orangey-red, double-flowered varietal and book helicopter sightseeing tours when everything is in bloom. From €795 (AUD$1,230).

Brasserie restaurant within the Conservatorium Hotel.

Pillows Maurits at the Park: A new addition to the city’s hotel scene, Pillows opened in November next to the Oosterpark, where fit Amsterdammers work out with personal trainers and young families push strollers around while sipping coffee on sunny mornings.

The soft, earthy colour palette of the hotel’s lobby and stairwells gives it a spa-like atmosphere, away from some of the hustle and bustle of the canal areas. From €320 (AUD$495).

Where to Eat

Nela: In a striking plant-covered tower reminiscent of Jenga blocks, the smart, modern design of the dining room, with its light, airy atmosphere and open kitchen, is as memorable as its seasonal, fire-kissed cuisine. Sit at the chef’s counter to watch as peppers are roasted or pizzas are thrown in the wood-burning oven, and make sure to save room for the tiramisu with coffee “caviar” as a dessert.

Rijks: Art lovers can pair world-class exhibitions at the Rijksmuseum with Michelin-starred Dutch fine dining. A €105 (ADU$162) six-course menu focuses on local ingredients, with dishes such as venison with red cabbage, sloe gin sauce, chestnuts and crispy black pudding.

Artfully-plated dishes that taste as good as they look at Rijks.

Amoi: This local-recommended option for Indonesian food is cheap, cheerful and under the radar. The chicken satay with a mild peanut sauce for €11 (AUD$17) was a highlight, alongside plenty of vegetarian options like the gado-gado with crunchy vegetables and jammy egg. It’s on the Kinkerstraat, a five-minute bike ride from the Pulitzer.

Where to Drink

Super Lyan: This buzzy bar comes from spirits maestro Ryan Chetiyawardana, named world’s best bartender by Tales of the Cocktail. Near Centraal Station, it has a glam and moody atmosphere, with pink neon lights surrounding the bar and service and drinks that lean more playful than precious. Try the Pine Pole 75 for €14 ($21), made with Woodford rye, Lillet Blanc and pine “champagne.” It tastes like a smokier version of a French 75.

Super Lyan is a place to see and be seen.

La Dilettante: A cosy little boîte that serves natural wine (mostly French) in the bohemian De Pijp district, alongside bar snacks like cheesy gougères. It’s walk-in only, with friendly servers who are passionate about good pours at reasonable prices: A glass of fruity Beaujolais is €6 (AUD$9).

Bar Basquiat: The crowd runs young and trendy in the hipster Oost district—especially at this all-day spot named for the famed American artist. Fuel up with a coffee and a warm cinnamon roll before a morning visit to the Tropenmuseum. Or afterward grab a tall glass of the local Basquiat Session White beer, offered along with the usual Heinekens, Amstels and simple cocktails for under €11 (AUD$17).