Nightlife & the Arts in Amsterdam

Amsterdam Nightlife

Amsterdam's nightlife can have you careening between smoky coffee shops, chic wine bars, mellow jazz joints, laid-back lounges, and clubs either intimate or raucous. The Dutch are extremely sociable people who enjoy going out, so don't hesitate to join the revelry. It will definitely make for a memorable trip.

The bona fide local flavor can perhaps best be tasted in one of the city's ubiquitous brown café-bars—called "brown" because of their woody walls and nicotine-stained ceilings. Here, both young and old, the mohawked and the merely balding, come to relax, rave, and revel in every variety of coffee and alcohol.

Thankfully, the city's club scene has been picking up after a long lull that began in the '90s, when some of the most established venues like RoXY, Mazzo, and iT closed their doors for good.

New clubs such as Trouw, Studio 80, and Club Up and Air are programming cutting-edge acts and DJs, and old standbys like Paradiso, Melkweg, and Bitterzoet still pull in big names on a weekly basis. Amsterdam is also home to several important electronic music festivals: the Amsterdam Dance Event (www.amsterdam-dance-event.nl) and 5 Days Off (www.5daysoff.nl) are the biggest.

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