STAY

At the design hotel Motel One Amsterdam-Waterlooplein (Valkenburgerstraat 72-106, motel-one.com), rooms are small, but stylish, and the quirky, but chic lounge is outfitted with antiques and upcycled items. The city’s most important sites are within walking distance. Doubles from $142.

Overlooking a canal (request a room with a view!), The Hoxton, Amsterdam (Herengracht 255, thehoxton.com) is centrally located near Anne Frank’s House and the Royal Palace of Amsterdam. Stylish interiors live up to the hotel’s grand façade. Doubles from $208.

The Hotel Pulitzer (Prinsengracht 315-331, pulitzeramsterdam.com) in Jordaan is one of the most famous and luxurious hotels in the city. Made up of converted 17th century canal houses, it combines elegance and charm with an authentic Dutch feel. Amenities include an art gallery and the hotel’s own wooden salon boat for cruising the canals. Doubles from $490.

EAT & DRINK

From casual to Michelin-starred, Amsterdam is abundant with first-rate, locally sourced eateries. Standouts include: Wilde Zwijnen (Javaplein 23, wildezwijnen.com), a neighborhood restaurant exclusively using ingredients grown or bred in the Netherlands—adventurous eaters can try the chef’s surprise four-course tasting menu; De Kas (Kamerlingh Onneslaan 3, restaurantdekas.nl), which grows its own vegetables and herbs, with the chef designing the menu daily based on the harvest; Restaurant Greetje (Pepperstraat 23-25, restaurantgreetje.nl) offering a fresh take old-fashioned Dutch cuisine, such as traditional Dutch stamppot (potatoes mashed with seasonal vegetables and meat) or slow-cooked mackerel, served together with candied artichoke; and the two-star Ciel Bleu at the Hotel Okura (Ferdinand Bolstraat, okura.nl), overseen by Dutch chefs who offer a ‘gastronomic tour of the world’.

Brown cafés are the Dutch version of pubs, named for their dark wood décor. Perfect for a restorative drink after a busy day of sight-seeing, brown cafés typically serve beer, wine and a juniper-based alcohol called jenever, along with snacks such as bitterballen. Café Chris (Bloemstraat 42, cafechris.nl) and Café Hoppe (Spui 18-20, cafehoppe.com) are two local institutions, both dating from the 17th century.

Heineken may be the Netherlands’ most famous brewery, but there are others worth sampling as well. Browerij ‘t IJ brewery (Funenkade 7, brouwerijhetij.nl) is adjacent to a windmill overlooking a canal, and has been producing organic beers since 1985. The brewery typically offers several varieties on tap, along with a small selection of bar snacks.

Also noteworthy is Browerij de Prael (Oudezijds Armsteeg 26, deprael.nl), which employs people who normally face obstacles to employment, and produces good beer to boot.