Souvenirs, Amsterdam

In Amsterdam center there are several Henri Willig cheese shops, specialised in selling Dutch cheese and traditional food like stroopwafels, cranberries and liquorice.

The center city shops are located at:
Singel 516/SOU
Reguliersbreestraat 24.
Haringpakkerssteeg 10/18

What to buy: Cheese

I think Amsterdam probably has the best selection of fridge magnets of anywhere I've visited. Possibly because there are so many 'iconic' symbols of the city, and the Netherlands: tulips, cheese, clogs, gables, window ladies, cannabis, windmills, works of art....

If you collect magnets you'll be spoilt for choice, and they make excellent, cheap souvenirs to take home for friends and family. Prices are very reasonable indeed, from one euro upwards.

You'll find them at every shop which sells souvenirs, on markets, in museum and site-specific shops.....

What to buy: I always bring souvenirs from my trips : magnet for the refrigerator ans special plats for wall in my kitchen. In Holland so many interesting souvenirs and possible buy many for yourself and of course friends.

Where can you buy a typical Dutch souvenir best?

In general the Flower Market area offers the most for reasonable prices. From tulips bulps to clog-like slippers.

The Waterlooplein has some very good T-shirt offers and other crazy stuff at low prices. Also for postcards this is the place to buy those.

If you have time enough visit the Albert Cuyp street market for the lowest priced items, including caps with Amsterdam written on them.

If you have no time enough, you can limit your shopping to the transfer area of the Schiphol Airport, but at price.

What to buy: Souvenirs

What to pay: Up to Euro 10,--

It's a souvenir shop, just like others. Plenty of souvenirs sold here. Prices are not much different from others. However, I've looked for a nice t-shirts elsewhere but I was disappointed...they were either too expensive or not that nice looking. This shop however, has a quite good designs of t-shirts. I bought a few for myself and my little brother. The t-shirts I've bought were around 10-12 euro. The quality is not bad at all. I've been wearing the t-shirt till today (26th Dis 2011), the colour and shape are still the same. People say it's a bit risky buying a 10 euro t-shirt...it usually go out of shape after the wash, but I was lucky to get a good 10 euro t-shirt :)

Amsterdam has lots to offer in their SOUVENIR SHOPS. You will find everything from wooden shoes (klompen), cheeses, windmills, Delft Blue ceramic items, souvenir t-shirts, towels and table cloths. Over the years, I have a nice little collection of real and fake Delft Blue items which I display in my China cabinet. Also have tons of souvenir Dutch spoons.

The Heineken The City shop has 250 Heineken merchandise products. The interior of the shop is rather green, the colour Heineken uses for its beer bottles.

Business hours:
Mo: Noon - 6PM
Tu-Sa: 10AM - 6PM
Su: Closed

What to buy: Heineken stuff.

I have not seen the benefit of clogs for tourists---maybe to hang on their wall for a bit until relocating to the closet? There are plenty of cool items to buy in the Netherlands (Jenever, cheese, art) that clogs for tourists should be discontinued...in my opinion.....

Dutch ceramic tiles make good souvenirs to bring home for others or yourself. We have seen attractive ones in only a few countries in our travels, but the Dutch Blue figured ones are the most appealing and are seen in souvenir shops all over the Netherlands. The less expensive ones are very thin and must be backed and mounted for display. The heavier (thicker) ones can be incorporated into tile walls like those seen on our sink’s splash-board which sport two Dutch and one Portuguese tile in a blue Belgian tilw border bought commercially at home. We have these memories every day.

We didn't do a whole lot of shopping but couldn't resist stopping when we saw some goofy hats for my niece and nephew, David is modeling the lovely hat with the orange braids, my nephew got one with a giant beer mug on top, 3.95E each at Helemaal van Haren, Nieuwendijk 213-215.

We also couldn't resist picking up some cookies for the plane ride home at Hema, Nieuwendijk 174-176. The Roomboter stroopwafels looked light and airy but when we picked them up they weighed a ton thanks to the sugary, caramel middle. Those cookies were awesome as were the koggetjes, a thin buttery sugary cookie. I was too busy eating them to take a picture but if you find yourself in Amsterdam and have a sweet tooth, I'd highly recommend trying both of these!

During my short stay at Amsterdam, found out that some of the shops near the flower market are cheaper than the souvenir shops at Damrak & Dam Square, since these are the most frequently visited by the tourist. May be you check first & compare and then buy.

What to buy: Souvnier things!!!

Shopping in this city is brilliant. We came across a shop just off Dam Square which had three life size model cows hung upside down as if walking on the ceiling and sold the characteristic cow ornaments painted with a psychadelic sixties print! Cheese shops are everywhere and make sure to stay clear if you have a weak stomach, we went in one for a look and the smell is unbelievably strong- we couldn't believe how the woman behind the counter could stand to work there! Also some lovely chocolate shops and vintage clothes shops. We noticed that there are more and more chain stores cropping up in Amsterdam as it opens up as a more mainstream destination, I don't know whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, make up your own mind when you get there, but the privatley owned quirky and eccentric shops are fabulous!

No better souvenirs from Amsterdam than clogs. Keychains, flowerpots, postcards, coasters - you'll never be far from them in the city. They are especially pretty when lined up in colourful rows.

Well painted ones come at a price though.

There's a few shops close to the red light district which sell some really original pipes... i bought the one inthe picture for 11 euros... unfortunately they are rather fragile, and it lasted about an hour before someone knocked it off the table and it broke in 2 :-(

What to buy: My next pipe was a standard issue, metal and plastic one, which still looked pretty cool, and cost 8 euros... can be taken apart for cleaning too.

What to pay: from 4 euros to about 20 euros

Well, this tip is specific to all the souvenir shops in the Dam Square area and leading along to the red light district... there are dozens of them, all with kinda the same offering, at about the same prices... its still fun to wander along the street, cause you never know what you might find!

What to buy: Some of the shops have a nice selection of T-Shirts, and most of them sell the standard tourist souvenir - Ashtrays (with Marijuana stamps - bought one of them for my future mother and father in law :-p), mugs, lighters, postcards, etc... the smaller ones have a nice selection of pipes too.

What to pay: Anything from 1 euro to 25 euros