Coffeeshops, Amsterdam

Pretty good-sized coffeeshop that also sells alcohol and has a real good vibe. Cool place to meet people with lots of tables and one pool table however it is usually so crowded you can never get on it and sometimes it is hard to find an empty table.

Dress Code: Casual

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Intro:

Note: This tip is for older, first-time visitors who may be curious but possibly apprehensive about coffeeshops.
Greenhouse Tolstraat is more expensive and a little more "formal" than most, so if you're a hardcore channelite, etc. you know to skip this tip entirely. Audience for this tip is for the uninitiated.

October 12 2001

For a more laid-back, mellow, "upscale" coffeehouse experience (best for 1rst-time "mature" travellers), take a cab or tram from Amsterdam Centrum to the "old south" (Oud Zuid) section of Amsterdam to the Original Greenhouse on Tolstraat.
There are 2 other Greenhouse locations that are closer to city center, but this is the original and (imho) the best.... worth the cab ride.

Here's a MAP of the Oud Sud Greenhouse (my fave).

Excellent atmosphere/ambience with good music (mellow yet cool funk/jazz, but not elevator music), top quality cannibis products, served by a helpful staff.

The dealer and waitress make good recommendations, provide efficient yet inexpensive glass pipes & round up screens;

as well as bring drinks to the table in the very cool and comfortable lounge (they serve alcohol as well), chat customers up with friendly conversation, yet allow privacy.
They will even call a cab (a friendly/helpful driver they know personally) for a ride back to your hotel.
A perfect, first-time night out at a Dam coffeehouse.

Dress Code: As always in Amsterdam, clothing is sometimes optional but usually recommended.

Seriously, the more "local" you appear, & the less brash & touristy you behave, the friendlier the service.

Recommendations:

Haven't been there in a couple of years, but back then some highlights were:

Hashish: King Hassan Supreme, Manali Creme - Greenhouse Ice
Weed: Kali or Super Kali Mist (good sativa), Great White Shark; AK47 Super Lemon Haze
Greenhouse Tolstraat is a little more expensive than most coffeeshops, but for first-time, more mature travellers, it is (imho) one of the larger (most coffeeshops are tiny) cleaner, classier shops and a great introduction to the Amsterdam coffeehouse scene. (Later on you can do Picasso, grey area, Anyday, Siberie, Dampkrig/Dutch Flowers/Tweede Kamer (the big 3 in the Spui) etc. etc. ad infinitum if coffeeshops are your scene... (I find them tedious after a while).

Hundreds of coffeeshops - bound to be one you like. Struggled a bit this time. Went to recommended ones and won't again. Abraxas looked cool until the music got loud and bouncy. Not conducive to chilling. Global chillage was shut at 5pm on Sunday! De Dampkring was packed. Please send me a quiet, safe dimly lit place to get quietly stoned and switch off. 1 year ago was impressed by the Greenhouse just over the first canal on Damstraat. Still - a few yet to explore. PS I recommend being a lightweight - off my trolley on 2 euro worth of smoke.

This coffee shop rocks dude! The have great coffees, teas, brownies, muffins, hash.... can I say that? This should be a daily stop on the circuit. You'll find a great mix of smart guys and girls to converse with. We usally bring our own stuff, buy a water or a red bull, and discuss what's interesting. Gain global perspectives from cool people around the world.

Dress Code: no.

I came to this cafe/bar purely for one reason. To have a smoke. No, not cigarette smoking, but to relax and puff on some marijuana joint. I haven't had marijuana for many many years, and since I was in Amsterdam, well, I time to try some!

I approached the bar and asked for some marijuana (the lady behind the bar was very helpful and knew how to speak English), and I insisted I got some of the weaker stuff as I am not used to marijuana. She gave me a very well packaged joint for Euro 3.50. I also bought a pint of some local beer.

I relaxed by the window on the cold winter's night, started smoking away, sipping on the beer, and after having 3/4 of the joint, I was in a nice state of mind and very relaxed. I could not finish off the entire joint!

Later, I went for a walk around, looking at the beautiful ladies in the windows, seeing a peep show for fun and had another beer. It was a nice, peaceful evening. ;)

Dress Code: I wore jeans, a jumper and jacket. I gather you have to wear jeans at the very least if you're a guy, and a for females, whatever you are comfortable with depending on the weather.

Open 10:00am until 1:00am and on weekends it closes at 2:00am.

OK, in case you don't know what a coffeeshop is in Amsterdam it is, well, where you can buy marijuana legally. To have coffee please walk by and go to a 'cafe' or 'coffee house' instead :)

Rokerij at Leidseplein is a very good looking coffeeshop. It looks more like a nice jazz lounge, different than other places that look more like a bar.
Dark wood, dim lights, chill lounge music all helps to make this place a really cool place to just mellow down and relax.

The patrons are a mix of different types of people, tourists, students, people coming here after work, overall a nice mix.

Just some general info for anyone going to Amsterdam who likes a smoke and a drink.

The newest law that has been implemented in the Netherlands means that you will no longer be able to buy cannabis in the same place as alcohol. Places such as Hill Street Blues and The Dampkring (who used to sell both) have now opened a second shop which serves alcohol and left there original shop selling cannabis and soft drinks. However, there way around this new law is to allow you to smoke cannabis in there 2nd shop, so basically you go to their original shop to buy your green, then walk over to there 2nd place where you can buy a beer. Places like the grasshopper who have several floors are still allowed to serve alcohol and cannabis on the same premises. In the basement you can buy food, soft drinks and cannabis. Then on their ground level floor upwards, you can buy alcohol and you are allowed to smoke on these floors.

Have fun.

Dress Code: No real dress code in coffeeshops at all. Just casual - whatever you want to wear - chill out!

Putting a brief bit here about the Amsterdam coffeeshop scene, though it's not limited to the "Nightlife" category. As for other evening adventures -- bars, clubs, and so forth, we can't say much on that subject since my wife and I got most of that our of our systems years ago when a little (LOT) younger. Partly due also to the short Winter days, fairly cold weather, and wearing ourselves out during the day running around.

I won't go into a lot of detail about the coffeeshops here, on the grounds it may tend to incriminate me as they say in the U.S., LOL. Just kidding. They are, however, a distinct part of the uniqueness of Amsterdam from any city in the World, and that's no small thing. For some it's the prime reason for going there, typically for more of a younger crowd. If you venture into one you don't necessarily have to purchase their primary wares, with all selling at least juice or other beverages, some selling beer (but not all), and some with a food menu. We popped into one near the Dam (The Abraxas) due to its 30-minutes of free Internet use with the purchase of any drink or other item, and I was suffering from E-mail withdrawal.

Interesting tidbit to note is that The Dampkring, one of the more famous ones and with a photo included here, was used as a location for filming a scene from the movie Ocean's Twelve, the sequel to the modern remake of the original Ocean's Eleven. Also, that selling/smoking cannabis is technically not "legal", but termed "tolerated". A strange, linguistic distinction since all shops are tightly licensed, periodically inspected, and controlled as to the amount they are supposed to have on premises at a given time.

There are quite a few Websites, some very extensive and fanatical, devoted to the coffeeshop subject that are easily found with any 'Net search.

Dress Code: You're kidding, right?