Essentially Amsterdam is a daily guide to life in this city for the people who live here: internationals, locals, new arrivals, and residents of many decades. What started as a morning email has grown into a small publication with several parts, all built on one idea: everything you need to know about Amsterdam in one place, without the tourist gloss.
The free daily briefing arrives before your first coffee, with the day’s news, what is on tonight, the places that have just opened, and the practical details you would otherwise go hunting for - the forecast, whether it is a good day to cycle, what the trains are doing, and where the week’s supermarket deals are.
On the site you will find our own reporting on the city, an events calendar covering every day of the week from concerts and festivals to what to do with the children on a wet Sunday, cinema listings showing what is playing and when, and a directory of Amsterdam businesses with ratings, contact details and a map.
Alongside that sit hundreds of guides answering the questions people actually ask while working out how this city functions - schools, healthcare, housing, transport, where to eat, where to swim, how any of it works.
All of it is free, all of it is written for residents rather than visitors, and all of it is made here.
The Essentially Amsterdam newsletter
Every morning our free newsletter rounds up the local news, weather, events, and openings that matter, written to be read in a few minutes over coffee. The What’s On guide keeps a running calendar of concerts, exhibitions, workshops, family activities, and business events across Amsterdam, updated daily. And the directory helps you find local businesses across dozens of categories - from restaurants, hotels, and museums to lawyers, contractors, dentists, and driving schools - with practical details for each.
The newsletter, the events guide, and the directory are all free to use. We aim to be practical rather than promotional: plain information about what is happening and who does what, so you can get the most out of living in Amsterdam.
Contact
Essentially Amsterdam is published by PND Media (KVK 854 488 26).
Oudezijds Voorburgwal 129-ii, 1012 EP Amsterdam
Email: info(at)essentiallyamsterdam.com · Phone: 06 34 45 68 79