3 Best Bars in Leidseplein, Amsterdam

Hear top-notch local ensembles in the jam-packed and ultra-intimate environment of one of Amsterdam's oldest jazz joints. Along with live jazz every night, a little Latin, funk, and salsa can also be enjoyed here.

The legendary "Milk Way" features live performances, DJs, and club nights covering everything from hip-hop to punk to world music. A former milk factory, this space began as a hippie squat in the 1960s. Today it's a slick multimedia center equipped with two concert halls, a theater, cinema, gallery, and café-restaurant.

This former church—vaulted ceilings and stained glass still intact—has become the country's most famous "pop temple," an epic venue for legendary musicians, new bands, and club nights. Paradiso also has a sister location, Tolhuistin, in Amsterdam Noord, just across the river from Centraal Station.