Shops

Guys, stop reading now. Girls, you’ll find all your shopping-needs fulfilled on the Kalverstraat & Nieuwendijk, two pedestrian streets running from Central station to Muntplein. Close to Muntplein is also the Kalvertoren, a big shopping mall.

A great alternative are the 9 little parallel streets that cross the city canals, or the Haarlemmerstraat, with plenty of trendy clothing shops. Comparable to the last one is the Utrechtse straat.

Also interesting: the Leidsestraat or the Magna Plaza mall with all the brands. The PC Hooftstraat is where the designer clothes are, the haute couture boutiques. The biggest department store of Amsterdam is the Bijenkorf on Dam Square and if you want to buy some typical Dutch every day stuff, visit one of the many Hema stores.

In general, shops are open from 1pm-6pm on Mondays, 9/10am-6pm Tuesday to Friday, Saturdays some close already at 5pm. On Sunday, the shops in the city center are open from 12am-5/6pm. Supermarkets, like Albert Heijn, stay open till 8/10pm.

Markets
The Waterlooplein flea market is Amsterdam largest, offering anything from bric-a-brac and 2nd hand clothes to old records & DVD’s.

The Albert Cuyp market is the busiest and most famous day market, located in the charming student area ‘De Pijp’. Booths are lined up on both sides of the street, selling fruit, exotic foods, fish, general goods and cheap clothing. A great place to get a taste of multicultural Amsterdam!

The Bloemenmarkt is the worlds only floating flower market, and is located right in the city centre. In the old days flowers & plants were shipped in, which is why all the floral merchandise is still displayed on barges today. Nowadays everything is shipped in by vans straight from the flower auction.

On Monday morning there’s a great flea market in the famous Jordaan quarter. The Noordermarkt has antiques, records and piles of trendy 2nd hand clothes, while on Saturday morning there’s biological food on offer. So if you want to take some nice bread and cheese with you back home, this is the place to go. Although if you’re not in Amsterdam on a Saturday morning, no worries since there are loads of little shops where you can get the best cheese; just go to a ‘kaasboer’ (‘cheesefarmer’).

Supermarkets
You can do your grocery shopping in Amsterdam at one of the different supermarkets in the city centre. One you will find on every other corner is the Albert Heijn supermarket. The AH is the more expensive and luxurious of the lot. The huge AH Food Plaza behind Dam Square ( Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 226) is open every day, including Sundays, from 8am to 10pm.

A more affordable one is Dirk. Generally regarded as the cheaper supermarket, they also have a drugstore and an off-licence. Other good places are Aldi, or, for the real penny pincher, Lidl.