Amsterdam Hostels Are Fine. Here’s How to Find the Good Ones.
Not all Amsterdam hostels are canal-house party machines. Some are quiet, well-located, and actually comfortable. A practical breakdown.
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The IJ Ferry Is Free and Nobody Told Me
I moved to Amsterdam two years ago. For the first three months I took the metro to Noord. Then someone at my startup mentioned the ferry and I stood on the deck for the first time watching the city from the water and thought: this is free. All of this is free. And nobody told…
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Making Ramen in Amsterdam Because the Alternative Is Settling
It took four hours. That includes the broth, which I started at eleven in the morning, and the tare, and the soft-boiled eggs, which I finally got right on the third attempt. By the time I sat down with a bowl at three in the afternoon, I had used almost every pot I own and…
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The GVB Is Good, Actually
Trams, metros, ferries — Amsterdam’s public transport gets a bad reputation it doesn’t entirely deserve. How to use it properly.
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Ten Things About Amsterdam That Took Me Two Years to Learn
The tourist tax is 12.5%. The Rijksmuseum has free entry on your birthday. Sunday afternoons are for the park, not for getting things done. Two years of living here, distilled.
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How to Spend a Full Day in Amsterdam for Under €15
In Tokyo, almost nothing is free. The parks are free. Most other things cost money — entry fees, machine fees, vending machine fees. The city assumes you have somewhere to spend money and makes it easy to do so at every point. Amsterdam is different in ways I am still adjusting to after two years….
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What’s On in Amsterdam: April 2026
DGTL at NDSM, the Amsterdam Tulip Festival, King’s Day on the 27th, IJ-Hallen flea market, the Coffee Festival. A genuinely busy month.
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Where to Eat in Amsterdam When You Actually Live Here
Tourists eat near the Rijksmuseum. Locals eat at the Albert Cuyp market, in Chinatown on Zeedijk, or at the surinamese places in De Pijp. Here’s the actual food map.
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Where to Stay in Amsterdam Without Paying Tourist Prices
The Jordaan is beautiful and expensive. De Pijp is lively and less so. Noord is cheapest of all and further than you think. How to choose.
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Cycling in Amsterdam: What Two Years Taught Me That Nobody Warns You About
I came from Tokyo. I had never owned a bike. Amsterdam turned me into a cyclist in six weeks and a confident one in about six months. Here’s the actual learning curve.
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Where to Stay in Amsterdam: Neighbourhoods the Guidebooks Underrate
The canal ring is beautiful and a bad base. Here is where people who live in Amsterdam would actually stay.
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Coffee in Amsterdam: The Actual Good Cafes, Not the Cannabis Ones
Amsterdam’s specialty coffee scene has grown significantly in the last five years. The cafes worth knowing about, and how the Dutch coffee culture differs from what I expected.
