The Amsterdam issue
Eating and walking Amsterdam's Haarlemmerbuurt
Herring since 1903, a Cuypers church that opens two days a month and a gasworks park through the city gate. The hours and prices for each are below.
By Robin HaasThe slow way through Amsterdam's canals, courtyards and back streets
Stubbe's Haring (Singel 8n) has sold herring from a wooden kiosk on the Haarlemmersluis bridge since 1903, and it closes on Sundays and Mondays. Walk west from that bridge and Haarlemmerstraat becomes Haarlemmerdijk, ending under the Haarlemmerpoort (Haarlemmerplein), a stone gate on four Corinthian columns. Brouwersgracht runs one street south.
Breakfast and pastry on Haarlemmerstraat
Vinnies Deli (Haarlemmerstraat 46) opens at 07:30 on weekdays, before the shops on the street. Breakfast is organic sandwiches and soups off a blackboard, eaten at a long communal table or in mismatched vintage furniture. Every piece of that furniture carries a price tag, so the chair you sat in is also for sale. Prices are €€.
Stubbe's Haring stands where Haarlemmerstraat meets the Singel. The herring comes fanned on a paper tray with chopped raw onion and pickles, at €. The counter has no seats and a queue is normal. Gulls patrol the bridge over the water.
Petit Gâteau (Haarlemmerstraat 80) opens daily from 10:00 to 18:00. A Franco-Dutch couple with French pastry training run it, and the kitchen is open at the back of a bright room with a handful of tables. The glass case holds individual glazed tarts in lemon, caramel, praline and raspberry, at €. They are the best thing to eat on the street. Hands-on pastry workshops run on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, and they fill a wet afternoon.
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Posthoornkerk open days
Posthoornkerk (Haarlemmerstraat 124-126) was designed by Cuypers, the architect of the Rijksmuseum, and its twin spires stand 64m above a narrow shopping street. Inside there is striped brickwork, two stacked galleries and stained glass. The building was deconsecrated in 1963, and Stadsherstel has run it since 1986.
Entry is free (€0) on two open days a month. The first Wednesday runs 12:00 to 16:00. The third Sunday runs 13:00 to 16:00. Check the open-day calendar before you walk over, because the church is also hired out for concerts.
Het West-Indisch Huis and the Herenmarkt
Het West-Indisch Huis (Haarlemmerstraat 75 / Herenmarkt) is the building where the Dutch West India Company ordered a fort built on Manhattan in 1625. The facade dates from 1617, red brick banded with white stone, and it faces a small tree-lined square.
The building holds offices now, including the John Adams Institute and an events venue, and it is not a museum. Walk through the ground-floor café to reach the hidden inner courtyard, where a bronze Peter Stuyvesant stands on a fountain. The square and the facade cost nothing.
Shops and a cinema on Haarlemmerdijk
De Kookboekhandel (Haarlemmerdijk 133) has sold cookbooks since 1977, stacked floor to ceiling in a dozen languages, with new arrivals laid out on tables in the middle. Shipments land weekly from abroad, which is why food people make the trip. The space is tiny. Browse in twos and threes rather than as a coach party. Prices are €€.
The Movies (Haarlemmerdijk) is Amsterdam's oldest cinema still showing films, reopened in March 2023 after a full renovation. The art-deco frontage dates from 1912 and carries a lit marquee, and the original Monumental auditorium inside is wood-panelled. Programming is arthouse and subtitled originals, at €€, and the bar is open before screenings. They take Cineville cards. You can hire a whole screen by email to [email protected].
Haarlemmerpoort and the Westergas grounds
The Haarlemmerpoort, also called the Willemspoort, went up between 1838 and 1840 as a triumphal arch for Willem II, and it has been a Rijksmonument since 1970. Three arched passages carry trams and cyclists through the stone, with the treetops of Westerpark behind. The restored flats upstairs are private, and the De Willem café-restaurant has occupied the base since the summer of 2023, so you can drink inside the gate. Standing under the arch is free.
Culture Park Westergas (Polonceaukade) begins on the far side: 13.5 hectares of 1885 gasworks turned into galleries, theatres, bars and festival ground. The grounds are free and open day and night. Events cost €€. Red-brick halls stand behind tall arched industrial windows, a circular gasholder among them, and the cobbled Polonceaukade is lined with terraces under festoon lighting, with lawns beyond. Museum Het Schip, for Amsterdam School architecture, is another 10 minutes north.
Brouwerij Troost Westergas (Pazzanistraat 25-27) brews inside one of the halls, copper-and-steel tanks visible behind glass, long wooden benches on a big terrace under the brick chimney. It is a five-minute walk through the Haarlemmerpoort, and the beer is €€. Brewery tours run on Saturdays at €10. Groups of eight or more can book a tour on another day with one week's notice, by email to [email protected]. The taproom closes on Mondays, and the pub quizzes fill up.
Brouwersgracht at the southern edge
Brouwersgracht is the southern boundary of the Haarlemmerbuurt, and Het Parool readers voted it the most beautiful street in the city. Stepped-gable 17th-century brewery warehouses line the water, white-painted shutters above a black-and-white wooden drawbridge, houseboats carrying potted gardens. The Noorderkerk and the Jordaan sit one bridge across. Photographers crowd the bridges at golden hour, so come earlier if you want the reflections on still water to yourself.
Café Tabac (Brouwersgracht at Prinsengracht) holds the corner where the two canals meet, with tall windows looking down both. No café in Amsterdam has a better position. The interior is dark and worn, the outside tables are on the canal, and an Indonesian kitchen behind the brown-café front turns out soto, rendang and a house rijsttafel at €€. Reserve, because the place now runs largely on bookings.
Dinner on Haarlemmerstraat
Satay Club (Haarlemmerstraat 47) grills skewers of chicken and lamb over charcoal until they blacken, then serves them with peanut sauce and pickled atjar on the side. It opens daily from 11:30 to 21:00. The room is compact and turns over fast, at €€. Takeaway and delivery run from the same kitchen. Satay is the Dutch-Indonesian dish to eat here, and this is where it is done properly.
Café Nieuw Amsterdam (Haarlemmerstraat 75) is the bistro inside the West-Indisch Huis. The reason to book is the walled cobbled courtyard garden, with the Stuyvesant fountain, parasols and climbing greenery. The menu leans French and the wine is good, at €€€. They hold some tables back for walk-ins.
Bistrot Neuf (Haarlemmerstraat 9) is the grown-up dinner on the street: dark wood, mirrored walls, a marble-topped bar and tiered shellfish platters on ice. It is strong on seafood and open seven days a week. Lunch starts at 12:00 and dinner at 17:30. Prices are €€€. The old bistrotneuf.nl address now redirects to neuf.amsterdam.
Where to stay in the Haarlemmerbuurt
The Bank Hotel (Haarlemmerstraat 120) occupies a 1900s bank mid-street, its ground floor stone-framed under tall windows. It is the best-placed base for this walk, with Centraal 10 minutes away on foot and the shopping street, Brouwersgracht and Westerpark all reachable without transport. The 20 rooms are pale and contemporary, with extra-long beds and rooftop views over the canal district, and they include family and triple rooms. Rates are €€€.
Days, closures and bookings
Stubbe's Haring shuts on Sundays and Mondays, Brouwerij Troost on Mondays, and the Posthoornkerk opens only on its two days each month. Reserve Café Tabac before you arrive, and book Café Nieuw Amsterdam if you want a courtyard table. See the Amsterdam guide and the Amsterdam hotel search.
Before you go
When can you get inside the Posthoornkerk?
On two free open days a month: the first Wednesday from 12:00 to 16:00 and the third Sunday from 13:00 to 16:00. Stadsherstel also hires the church out for concerts, so check the open-day calendar before you walk over.
Is Stubbe's Haring open every day?
No. The stall at Singel 8n, where Haarlemmerstraat meets the Singel, is closed on Sundays and Mondays. It is a pavement counter at €, with nowhere to sit, and there is usually a queue.
Can you see inside Het West-Indisch Huis?
The facade and the Herenmarkt are free and open, and you can reach the inner courtyard and its bronze Peter Stuyvesant fountain through the ground-floor café. The building is not a museum: it holds offices, the John Adams Institute and an events venue.
Where should you stay in the Haarlemmerbuurt?
The Bank Hotel at Haarlemmerstraat 120, halfway along the street in a 1900s bank, at €€€. It has 20 rooms, including family and triple rooms, and Centraal is 10 minutes on foot.
Is there a brewery tour near the Haarlemmerbuurt?
Brouwerij Troost Westergas at Pazzanistraat 25-27, five minutes' walk through the Haarlemmerpoort, runs tours on Saturdays at €10. Groups of eight or more can book another day with one week's notice by email at [email protected]. The taproom is closed on Mondays.
