I've just spend three nights in De Pijp, Amsterdam with my best friend, psycho analyst and personal shopper. De Pijp is a creative suburb of Amsterdam just five tram-stops from Centraal and full of great bars, independent shops, cafes and restaurants. We stayed in a beautiful Airbnb just off the main Van Woostraat, which gave us the perfect opportunity to explore what De Pijp had to offer. Here are our three favourite De Pijp places.
Gathershop is a beautifully curated design store based on Van Woustraat, the main drag through De Pijp. Run by Jessica, who escaped from Sheffield a few years ago to do a five week internship and never went back, Gathershop is a tempting mix of craft, design and vintage; woven wallhangings, tiny succulents, eighties silk blouses, super-minimal jewellery and hand-thrown ceramics.
To shop online you can visit Gathershop here.
Also on Van Woustraat is Fa. Pekelhaaring, a minimal open plan Italian bistro with G-Plan bar, mix and match seating, pegboard walls and a bare bulbs. The menu is simple and the flavour combinations promised by each dish make it pretty hard to choose. We had a salad of warm beetroot, spinach, walnuts and green lentils with an Italian cheese cream, and pappardelle with stewed rabbit and Parmesan, then managed to squeeze in a sgroppino - a lemon sorbet with vodka and proscecco - like a really good grown up Slush Puppy, and pistachio frangipane with stewed rhubarb and baked strawberries (a pudding your gran might make if she was an amazing Italian chef!).
This place is often busy so it's worth booking in advance.
Visit Fa Pekelhaaring here.
Fest Amsterdam is an interiors brand established in 2013 by Femke Furnée. Their De Pijp store is a showcase of Fest furniture, textiles and accessories. We were lured in off the street by the dusty pink sofa and linen print cushions, to find a simple colourblock furniture, mid-century style textiles and graphic ceramics.
Visit Fest here.
Beyond De Pijp, Amsterdam offers a world of shopping, art and house envy. I'd suggest you walk everywhere (or hire a bike or pedalo), explore the labyrinth of canals, visit a flea market, eat waffles and drink Aperol Spritz.