The Hand’s Amsterdam: Places Worth Your Time
The Hand’s Amsterdam: Places Worth Your Time
Clients visiting our boutique often ask us the same question: where should we eat, stay and spend our time in Amsterdam?
Our answer is never an exhaustive list. We usually recommend a few places around the Museum Quarter, restaurants we return to ourselves and experiences that show a more personal side of the city.
Many of these recommendations are within walking distance of The Hand. Others are worth crossing the city for. Together, they offer more than enough for a well-spent day or a relaxed weekend.
This is not a definitive guide to Amsterdam. It is simply the list we share most often across the counter.
Close to The Hand
Coffee District
Coffee District on Willemsparkweg is our choice for coffee before or after an appointment. It is close to the boutique, relaxed and an easy place to begin the morning before walking toward Museumplein.
Best for: Coffee near The Hand.
Ottolenghi Amsterdam
Ottolenghi is directly opposite our boutique, inside Mandarin Oriental Conservatorium. That makes it a natural choice for lunch before a fitting, or for a relaxed meal after exploring our collection.
The light-filled restaurant brings generous flavors, vegetables, ferments and spices to the heart of Amsterdam’s Museum Quarter.
Best for: A colorful lunch directly opposite The Hand.
George W.P.A.
George W.P.A. is another useful lunch address near the boutique. Its all-day brasserie setting works equally well for a quick plate between appointments or a longer lunch with friends.
It is relaxed, familiar and easy to combine with a visit to Museumplein or a walk through Oud-Zuid.
Best for: An easy lunch close to the Museum Quarter.
Our Museum Quarter neighbors
Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum and Stedelijk Museum
We are fortunate to have three of Amsterdam’s most important museums as neighbors. Each offers a very different reason to visit.
The Rijksmuseum is the essential introduction to Dutch art and history. The Van Gogh Museum offers a more personal and concentrated view of one artist’s life and development. The Stedelijk Museum is our recommendation for modern and contemporary art and design.
All three are only a short walk from The Hand. You could spend a full day among them, although we usually suggest choosing one and giving it the time it deserves.
Best for: Art, design and a few hours close to the boutique.
Vondelpark and The Coffee Vondelpark
A walk through Vondelpark is one of the simplest pleasures in this part of Amsterdam. The park offers a welcome pause between the museums, the boutique and lunch.
Stop at The Coffee Vondelpark along the way, or take your coffee with you and continue beneath the trees. This is an especially pleasant way to begin a quiet morning or reset after an afternoon at Museumplein.
Best for: A slower hour between appointments and museums.
Where we like to have dinner
Kaagman & Kortekaas
Kaagman & Kortekaas is one of the restaurants we return to often. The cooking is bold and seasonal, the atmosphere is warm, and founders Bram Kortekaas and Chiel Kaagman have a way of making you feel at home in Amsterdam.
The food is serious without making the evening feel formal. Ingredients lead the menu, and the plates often balance familiar flavors with something unexpected. It is the kind of restaurant we recommend with complete confidence and continue to enjoy ourselves.
Best for: A memorable dinner with warmth and character.
De Kas
De Kas is set in a beautiful former greenhouse and builds its menus around the seasons and what is being grown and harvested.
Its focus on provenance, patience and working closely with the raw material resonates with us. There is a clear point of view, but the experience remains welcoming. Come here when dinner is one of the main events of your visit rather than simply the end of the day.
Best for: A special, ingredient-led evening.
Buffet van Odette
Buffet van Odette is a longstanding favorite beside the Prinsengracht. It feels intimate and unmistakably Amsterdam: compact, lively and closely connected to its canal-side setting.
We particularly like it for an unhurried lunch or dinner when you want good food without the ceremony of a grand dining room. Its location also makes it easy to combine with a walk through the canal district.
Best for: An intimate dinner beside the canals.
La Parole
For a lower-key evening, we recommend La Parole on Kwakersstraat in Amsterdam-West.
The mood is relaxed, with French cooking, good wine and the comfortable atmosphere of a neighborhood restaurant. It is a useful contrast to the larger dining rooms and destination restaurants elsewhere in the city.
Best for: French food and an easy evening in West.
A Saturday in Amsterdam
Noordermarkt and Winkel 43
On Saturday morning, head to Noordermarkt in the Jordaan. Browse the organic produce, flowers, antiques, textiles and vintage finds before stopping at Winkel 43 for Dutch appeltaart.
It is a well-known combination, so an earlier start is wise if you prefer a quieter table. The surrounding Jordaan streets are made for wandering, so leave some room in your schedule rather than rushing directly to the next reservation.
Best for: A distinctly Amsterdam Saturday morning.
Shopping with a point of view
Tenue de Nîmes
For denim and considered casualwear, visit Tenue de Nîmes.
Its approach to clothing shares something with our own: an appreciation for specialists, makers, good materials and pieces that develop character through wear. Expect denim alongside workwear, knitwear, accessories and carefully selected international labels.
It is the place we suggest when a client asks where to shop for something more relaxed after visiting The Hand.
Best for: Denim, casualwear and pieces made to be worn well.
MENDO
For art, photography, architecture and beautifully made books, visit MENDO.
Its selection rewards slow browsing, and many of the books feel as considered as the subjects they document. It is a natural recommendation for anyone who values visual culture, print and objects chosen with care.
Best for: Books you will want to keep.
The Archive Store
For children, grandchildren or a thoughtful gift to take home, The Archive Store is well worth a visit.
The collection brings together beautifully designed toys, clothing and nursery objects with a clear eye for materials, form and longevity. It feels playful, practical and carefully edited.
Best for: Gifts for children and grandchildren.
See Amsterdam from the water
Hire or charter a private boat
Amsterdam changes when you see it from the water.
Dennis and Eveline love taking their own small boat through the canals, particularly when the city becomes quieter toward the end of the day. From the water, you notice the proportions of the canal houses, the old bridges and the small details that are easily missed on foot.
We warmly recommend renting or chartering a private boat and allowing enough time to enjoy the experience slowly. A skipper is a good choice when you would rather look at the city than navigate it yourself.
It need not be a formal sightseeing tour. Bring something to drink, ask for a route through the quieter canals and let Amsterdam unfold at the pace of the water.
Best for: Seeing the city as Dennis and Eveline enjoy it themselves.
Where we suggest staying
Mandarin Oriental Conservatorium
Mandarin Oriental Conservatorium is the most convenient choice for clients visiting The Hand. It sits in the Museum Quarter, moments from our boutique, Vondelpark and the three museums.
Choose it when you want to spend much of your visit in Oud-Zuid and prefer to have culture, restaurants and the boutique immediately around you.
Rosewood Amsterdam
Rosewood Amsterdam offers a different perspective. The hotel occupies the former Palace of Justice in the canal district and combines historic architecture with contemporary Dutch design and art.
Choose Rosewood when you want the canals to be at the center of your stay while remaining within easy reach of the Museum Quarter.
If you have one day
Begin with coffee at Coffee District, followed by a visit to The Hand. Spend the late morning at the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum or Stedelijk, then have lunch at Ottolenghi or George W.P.A.
Walk through Vondelpark in the afternoon before heading into the center for dinner at Kaagman & Kortekaas.
If you have two days
Spend your first day around the Museum Quarter: Coffee District, The Hand, one museum, lunch at Ottolenghi and a walk through Vondelpark. Reserve De Kas for the evening.
On Saturday, begin at Noordermarkt, have appeltaart at Winkel 43 and browse the Jordaan. Continue to Tenue de Nîmes or MENDO, then see the city from a private boat before dinner at Buffet van Odette or La Parole.
Visit The Hand in Amsterdam
Our boutique is located in the Shopping Gallery of Mandarin Oriental Conservatorium, at Van Baerlestraat 27.
Come by to explore our collection, discuss fit and discover the work of the shoemakers we represent. We will gladly help you shape the rest of your Amsterdam visit while you are here.
