Amsterdam keeps an unusual number of serious bookshops for a city of its size, and four of the biggest stand within ten minutes’ walk of each other in the centre.
This is where they are, which days they open, and where to buy secondhand.
Bookstores to try first
Four of these stand within ten minutes’ walk of one another in the centre, so an afternoon can take in all four without a tram.
What separates them is purpose rather than size: sheer scale, English-language stock, second-hand trading, children’s books, or a neighbourhood shop that opens earliest and shuts latest.
Scheltema
Trading since 1853 and carrying more than 2.5 million titles across new and second-hand, Scheltema on the Rokin is where you go for sheer scale rather than a curated shelf.
It opens ten to seven every day of the week, delivers new Dutch-language books free, and holds 4.7 from 3,649 reviews.
The American Book Center
Independent and family-owned since 1972, the ABC on the Spui has been the city centre’s English-language mainstay for over fifty years.
It opens seven days, until seven from Thursday to Saturday, and its 4,588 reviews are the most of any bookshop in the city.
The Book Exchange
Second-hand only, going since 1978 on the Kloveniersburgwal, and reckoned among the largest used bookshops in Europe - you can sell and trade here, not only buy.
The hours are narrow, half past eleven to half past five, every day, so it rewards an unhurried afternoon rather than a dash between errands.
De Kinderboekwinkel
Opened in 1975 as the first children’s bookshop in the Netherlands, De Kinderboekwinkel on the Rozengracht runs from crinkle books for babies through to young adult fiction, with advice offered rather than left to chance.
It keeps ten to six six days a week and a short Sunday afternoon from noon, on 146 reviews at 4.8.
Hoogstins
Out on the Kinkerstraat in Oud-West, Hoogstins is the neighbourhood shop of the six, built on contemporary literature with children’s books, cookbooks, pens, bags and gifts around it.
It also keeps the longest day of any of them, nine to seven on weekdays and noon to six on Sunday, and 321 reviews put it at 4.6.
Athenaeum Boekhandel
Athenaeum stands immediately next door to the American Book Center at Spui 14-16, which turns the two into one stop rather than two errands.
It runs ten to seven six days a week and from eleven on Sunday, on 872 reviews at 4.7.
Reading in English is not a problem here
Amsterdam is one of the easiest cities in continental Europe to be an English-language reader in, and you will not be reduced to the airport shelf.
The American Book Center on the Spui has been the dedicated English shop since 1972, Waterstones covers the mainstream from the Kalverstraat, and Athenaeum and Scheltema both carry substantial English sections alongside the Dutch.
The practical consequence is that you can walk between four serious English selections in about ten minutes, all of them within the Spui, Rokin and Kalverstraat triangle.
Compare the same title in two of them before you buy, because import pricing on English paperbacks varies more than you would expect.
Buying secondhand
The Book Exchange on the Kloveniersburgwal has been trading used English-language books since 1978 and is reckoned among the largest secondhand bookshops in Europe.
It buys and trades as well as sells, which is the part most people miss.
That matters if you are moving on, moving country, or simply out of shelf space, since a box of read paperbacks is worth credit rather than a trip to the recycling.
Its hours are narrow - half past eleven to half past five, every day - so it needs an unhurried afternoon rather than a dash between errands.
Scheltema also carries secondhand stock alongside its new books, so the two categories sit under one roof there if you would rather not make a separate trip.
The book markets, and which days they run
Two open-air book markets run on fixed schedules in the centre, and both are cheaper than any shop.
The Spui hosts a book market on Fridays, on the same square as the ABC and Athenaeum, with secondhand and antiquarian stalls.
The Oudemanhuispoort, the covered passage running between the Oudezijds Achterburgwal and the Kloveniersburgwal, has secondhand book stalls on weekdays and is a useful stop out of the rain.
Bring cash for both, and expect academic and Dutch-language stock to outnumber English fiction.
Sunday, and the other awkward hours
Sunday is the day that catches newcomers out across Dutch retail, and bookshops are the pleasant exception in the centre.
Scheltema, the ABC, Waterstones and The Book Exchange all open on Sundays, and Athenaeum from eleven.
Late evenings are the harder problem, since the centre’s bookshops close at six or seven rather than eight.
Thursday to Saturday is when the ABC and Waterstones run latest, which is worth knowing if you are buying a present after work.
Outside the centre
The centre’s cluster is convenient enough that it can be hard to justify a trip anywhere else, but the city does not end at the Singelgracht.
ILM Books on Pieter Calandlaan serves Nieuw-West and rates 4.9, though it publishes no opening hours, so ring +31 20 618 3242 before crossing the city for it.
Buying Dutch books while you are learning
Reading in the language is one of the few methods that works without a timetable, and children’s books are the honest starting point rather than a compromise.
Every general bookshop here has that section, and nobody is going to comment on what you carry to the till.
Scheltema delivers new Dutch-language titles free, which is a small practical advantage if you are building up a shelf rather than buying one book at a time.
Finding your shop
The single most useful thing is to pick one shop and go back to it, because the recommendations only start once the staff know what you read.
Independent booksellers here genuinely read their own sections, and five minutes at the counter beats an hour of scrolling.
Many run readings and signings worth following as well, which is a cheap way into a room full of people who read what you read.
Browse the full range of Amsterdam bookstores to find one near you.
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