In a city where locals treat every dry spell as a cause for celebration, terraces fill fast at the first hint of sunshine. With twilight lingering as late as 11pm on the longest day, summer evenings stretch lazily beside canals, in leafy parks, high above the skyline and along waterfronts beside the Amstel and IJ rivers. Amsterdam’s most scenic terraces elevate every sunny day. These are the terraces worth claiming a table at before everyone else has the same idea – so get reading, get booking, and thank us later. Here are our favourite restaurants with fantastic views of the city.
➡️ READ MORE: Our ultimate guide to Amsterdam
The best terrace restaurants in Amsterdam, at a glance:
🌇 Best city views: LuminAir
🌊 Best waterside views: Brasserie Marie
🦩 Most unique: Café-Restaurant de Plantage
💗 Most romantic: Restaurant de Belhamel
Karin Engelbrecht is a food critic based in Amsterdam. At Time Out, all of our travel guides are written by experts across Europe. For more about how we curate, see our editorial guidelines. This guide includes affiliate links, which have no influence on our editorial content. For more information, see our affiliate guidelines.