The evening sun glints across the quiet marina, and the wooden gable ends of the houses lean gently into a street whose silence is broken only by the trundle of an occasional bicycle. I’m having a glass of inexpensive, decent wine in a waterside bar: and even on this picture-perfect night it’s quiet, with every customer around me speaking Dutch.
This can’t be Amsterdam, can it? A city that’s overpriced, heaves with tourists, and is awash with busy canals and traffic. It feels a million miles away. In fact, the city centre is just 20 minutes up the road, because this is Nieuwendam, whose houses date from as long ago as the 16th century, built atop the dyke that kept the sea at bay from the pasture land that grew the crops to feed the city. I’m drinking in Cafe ’t Sluisje, which for the last decade has been run by local residents. This is the most scenic quarter of Noord, the Amsterdam on the other side of the water from Centraal station.
Noord is my home for the summer: my daughter and her Dutch partner live in Nieuwendam and I’m here to help with their baby, my first grandson. My childcare days are spent in leafy Noorderpark, or pushing the buggy through the shady woodland of Vliegenbos to the canal.
A century ago this was Amsterdam’s industrial heartland, and the streets are lined with the uniform, steep-roofed houses built for the workers. Today, almost in response to the excesses on display down the road, the area is flexing its hippy, alternative, laid-back side: my walks take me past floating homes, the occupants of one of which keep goats and chickens in a repurposed fire engine. In summer, lives spill out onto the pavements: most houses have tables, chairs, even sofas outside their front doors, and a sunny evening quickly becomes a convivial street party. Down by the water, sculptures by local artists peek through the long grass, and you can jump into the canal for a swim.
Pllek, on the north bank of the IJ river. Photograph: Frans Lemmens/Alamy
For visitors, nowhere sums up the vibe of Noord better than Cafe de Ceuvel, a former shipyard, now a collection of shabby-chic vintage houseboats permanently moored around a meandering boardwalk; they’re now artists’ workshops and a yoga studio. The cafe is a glorious, colourful hotchpotch of recycled furniture, with some tables right at the water’s edge – it’s the perfect place to while away an afternoon drinking organic beers and wine. And if you need somewhere to stay, the Ceuvel has rooms in moored boats – its Hotel Asile Flottant has doubles from about €150 a night.
Today, almost in response to the excesses down the road, the area is flexing its hippy, alternative side
Noord’s best-known area is another shipyard called NDSM, an open space larger than 10 football pitches that is home to myriad art galleries, museums and outdoor sculptures and installations. A free ferry transports you there in 15 minutes from Centraal Station – on the way, you get a good view of the futuristic, swan-like Eye Filmmuseum. This, along with the Nxt Museum of technology, are among the most-visited attractions in Noord. Also popular is Pllek, a collection of repurposed shipping containers where you can eat anything from a laid-back brunch to dinner, with meditation and yoga sessions and live music also on the menu. Movies are screened on its beach, which has stunning views over to the city.
The Nieuwendam district, Noord. Photograph: Ian Dagnall/Alamy
My advice, though, would be to venture a little further afield, to a street such as Johan van Hasseltweg, which stretches across the peninsula in the opposite direction from NDSM. This is the locals’ Noord, with its corrugated iron warehouses. Tourism is beginning to make its mark here, but only just: wedged between the long-established family businesses and garages are places such as Oedipus brewery, where you can try the citrusy, bestselling Bride, or the Pais Tropical, and which serves a melt-in-the-mouth smash burger. Nearby is Chateau Amsterdam, an urban winery and restaurant (open Wednesday to Saturday) where grapes from across Europe are used to make sauvignons and chardonnays, pinots and fizz. And at the very end of the street, where you’re again at the water’s edge, is another beach restaurant – De VerbroederIJ, with its own food garden and pigsty.
If you want to push the boat out, you won’t need a boat at all: it’s a few minutes’ walk to Hangar, my favourite Noord restaurant. The food – mostly burgers and salad – and the wine are great. But it’s the ambience that makes it spectacular, with tables right by the water, and meals punctuated by giant barges cruising slowly by. Best of all, unlike many of the eateries in the “centrum”, it’s never packed.
And beyond the area’s cool restaurants and vibe is the countryside – surprisingly close since 2018, when the metro’s line 52 expanded, making Noord station just a four-minute journey from Centraal. Take your bike (you can do this at off-peak times) and within a few minutes of arriving, you’ll be pedalling through lush fields and picturesque villages. Pack a picnic, because there isn’t much in the way of bars and cafes out here. But as an antidote to the overcrowded city, it’s unbeatable.