What’s the difference between a cafe and a coffee shop in Amsterdam?
What are coffeeshops? In the Netherlands, a café is the equivalent of a full bar, and sells liquor, cocktails, wine, and beer. A ‘koffiehuis’ serves coffee, while a ‘coffee shop’ (using the English term) sells soft drugs (cannabis and hashish) and is not allowed to sell alcoholic beverages or other drugs. Coffeeshops are not allowed to serve alcohol or other drugs, and risk closure if they are found to be selling soft drugs to minors, hard drugs or selling alcohol.Especially if you consume your weed or hash on the spot, it’s polite to buy a drink. In addition to cannabis, you can actually get coffee at a coffeeshop, as well as juices and soft drinks. Some coffee shops also sell food, such as sandwiches and sweets. Alcohol isn’t sold in coffeeshops.
Are Amsterdam coffee shops strict?
Amsterdam Coffeeshop Rules and Etiquette To enter a cannabis coffee shop, visitors must be 18+ and show a valid ID, with some locations requiring proof of residency. Under Dutch law, personal cannabis use is tolerated but not fully legal, and selling alcohol in coffee shops is prohibited. A “coffeeshop” in Amsterdam (and the Netherlands in general) is not your typical coffee house where one goes to buy coffee or tea but is something else. It is a place that’s licensed to sell cannabis products to its visitors.Soft drugs are things like cannabis, hash and magic truffles. Hard drugs are pretty much all the other recreational drugs such as cocaine, LSD, speed, heroin and ecstasy. Whilst soft drugs such as cannabis and truffles are tolerated under Dutch law, they are not technically legal.Although the Dutch Opium Act states that personal possession of small amounts of cannabis (‘soft drugs’) up to 5 grams is a punishable offence, this law is not enforced. The sale of soft drugs and the use of small amounts of marijuana and hashish are allowed in licensed coffeeshops.As such, tourists are still welcome to buy weed in Amsterdam’s coffeeshops, but you’ll need to be over 18, in possession of a valid ID (passport or driving licence), and be prepared to follow the rules.
Can foreigners go to coffee shops in Amsterdam?
Anyone who is at least 18 years of age is allowed to buy and consume cannabis in coffee shops in Amsterdam. Sale of cannabis to persons under 18 is prohibited. To even step inside a coffee shop you must be at least 18 years of age. Also tourists can still visit coffee shops in Amsterdam. As such, tourists are still welcome to buy weed in Amsterdam’s coffeeshops, but you’ll need to be over 18, in possession of a valid ID (passport or driving licence), and be prepared to follow the rules.To even step inside a coffee shop you must be at least 18 years of age. Also tourists can still visit coffee shops in Amsterdam. You have to be able to show I. D.
Is Amsterdam known for its coffee?
Amsterdam isn’t particularly well-renowned as a great coffee city. It’s known for lots of things (namely the green plants found in the “coffeeshops” that dot the city), but not coffee. And yet, every time I visit, I’m surprised by the quality of the cafés that call the city home. Yes, I’ve lived all over Europe and Amsterdam feels just about the safest place. Of course, walking at night, just be sensible! We never go out past 10 or 11. You can literally see the trouble lurking on corners in groups.Neighborhoods to avoid Given its relative distance from the center of the city, you may never even come across it on your vacation. Amsterdam Zuidoost, or Amsterdam Southeast, is the city’s most poverty-stricken area.