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Up all night in Amsterdam

Do you smoke cigarettes like they’re going out of style? (They are, by the way). Like partying into the early hours? Can you still cycle after a few drinks? If you answered yes to all the above, then Amsterdam’s nightlife will be your scene. Join us on a bar crawl from eight till late

8PM_Diep

Situated in Amsterdam’s New Side neighbourhood, close to its sister bar Bep, Diep is a hipper-than-average local watering hole where patrons sink pints of tasty Brand beer. The long rectangular interior is painted in warm browns and yellows, complete with oddball finishing touches including a three-dimensional plastic shark that looks like it’s leaping through one of the walls, and a few chandeliers to softly illuminate everything. The air is thick with smoke, but that’s the quintessential Amsterdam drinking experience for you. The pick-up scene in Diep can verge on the sleazy, so unless you’ve caught the eye of someone particularly special (like one of the attractive bar staff), break some hearts and continue on your way. If one of Amsterdam’s communal borrow-a-bikes is outside, you can hop on and cycle to Absinthe. » Diep – Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 256, +31 (0)20 420 2020

9PM_ Absinthe

This bijou basement bar serves a varied menu of the green stuff that, legend has it, contributed heavily to Vincent Van Gogh’s notion that cutting his own ear off sounded like a plan. Once inside, rather than a dank underground grotto you’ll find the small interior is surprisingly light and bright, with a coffee-shop vibe. As far as Absinthe consumption goes, in truth most of the punters are just contentedly sipping a beer or five. You’re more likely to meet a British tourist than a tortured artist, but what it lacks in mystery this popular haunt makes up for in easy-going atmosphere. A friendly and – depending on what you drink – memorable stop on your Amsterdam bar crawl. » Absinthe – Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 171, www.absinthe.nl

Colin & Majella – Absinthe Colin: “The best thing about the nightlife in Amsterdam is the beer; it definitely isn’t the service!” Majella: “This is my first visit to Absinthe but I’ll definitely be coming back here the next time I’m out bar-hopping. It’s a great place to just chill out and have a beer with friends”

10PM_Lux

The city’s photo galleries and record stores may plaster black and white posters of the Rolling Stones everywhere as though it were 1968, but come nightfall, in most A’dam bars the DJs spin ambient or house music. Cue Lux and its sister bar Weber, where on any given night late 20th-century rock, new-wave and electro tracks by bands including Blondie, The Smiths and Le Tigre provide the soundtrack. In Lux, rows of metal brassières and the lower halves of mannequins adorn the walls as a kind of decorative ice-breaker. It must be working: you’d be hard-pressed to find a bar this cool and this friendly in many other European cities. » Lux – Marnixstraat 403, +31 (0)20 422 1412

12PM_Chocolate Bar

If you’re too tipsy to keep cycling, leave the borrowed bike where someone else can find it and hop in a cab to De Pjip. The Chocolate Bar is certainly reason enough to visit this neighbourhood. De Pjip is Amsterdam’s global village and the lively crowd here reflects the area’s multi-ethnic mix. With slab-of-chocolate-like sofas and sweet-talking locals, the bar lives up to its name. It’s jam-packed with revellers sipping their pints of Jupiler beer, but there is a quieter back room for those who want to chill. As in so many Amsterdam haunts, it’s hard to know whether the walls were deliberately painted the colour of nicotine, or whether nicotine painted the walls. Probably a bit of both. » Chocolate Bar – 1e van der Helststraat 62a, +31 (0)20 675 7672

Lisa – Chocolate Bar “I come to Chocolate Bar to get away from the tourists. They tend to drink around Rembrandt Square and not to know about this place”

1AM_Bar Rouge at Supperclub

Supperclub’s ground-level restaurant (pictured above), with its famously decadent beds and pillows for diners to recline on, may be a dazzling bright white, but if you’re skipping dinner and heading straight to the basement bar you’ll discover a place designed to look like a strangely appealing torture chamber (pictured page 34). All surfaces are covered with soft red leather cushioning or a lick of black paint. There are some shackles hanging on the walls, but you can leave your rubber gimp suit at home – this isn’t an S&M club, although it’s certainly different. The novel division of bathrooms into heterosexual and homosexual, rather than male and female, is very Amsterdam. » Bar Rouge at Supperclub – Jonge Roelensteeg 21, +31 (0)20 344 6400, www.supperclub.nl

2AM_Stereo Bar

Don’t be too busy looking for the entrance to Supperclub to notice the smaller, cuter and hipper Stereo Bar in a nearby alley. The private party atmosphere will draw you in. Like a few other Amsterdam bars (Absinthe, for example), some of the seating is provided by flights of stairs that lead nowhere and are designed simply to perch on. It’s a surprisingly comfortable arrangement, especially as Stereo’s steps are upholstered in fake grass. The upstairs level, where the DJs spin dance tracks, is more like a large balcony than another floor. Here you can lounge on reindeer-print cushions or make use of the vantage point to gossip about the people ordering drinks at the bar below. » Stereo Bar – Jonge Roelensteeg 4

Zoe & Melanie – Bar Rouge Zoe: “Earlier tonight I had my birthday meal in the upstairs restaurant, which I love. Now it’s time for some celebratory drinks downstairs” Melanie: “It’s my friend’s 30th birthday tonight, so I brought her here to show her a good time! It’s somewhere a bit different from the norm”

3AM_Jimmy Woo

This Oriental-themed night club is a local institution and offers you the choice of hitting the dance floor, propping yourself up at the bar (the expert mixologists make this an appealing option) or, best of all, slumping onto a sofa that’s right down at floor level, Japanese-style. Mesh drapes and red crushed velvet give the lounge area a VIP feel, and there’s a notoriously bitchy door policy at Jimmy Woo that means braving the entrance is something of a rite of passage for visiting clubbers. Some of the city’s hotels can put their guests on the guest list, but the club staff still reserve the right to make the final decision. Despite this, the patrons here aren’t generally the aloof ‘beautiful people’ you might expect, although celebs including George Clooney, Britney Spears and Amsterdam favourites the Red Hot Chili Peppers (try taking a taxi without hearing them on the radio) have passed through. » Jimmy Woo – Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 18, +31 (0)20 626 3150, www.jimmywoo.com

Stefan – Lux “ Lux is cool – we tend to stay here a bit longer than at some other bars; we don’t just leave after a beer or two. It’s where I arrange to meet friends”

Sara – Jimmy Woo “If my friends and I have ended up in any of the bars around the Leidseplein, then I always think a visit to Jimmy Woo’s is a good way to end the night. You can have some cocktails and dance if you feel like it”

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