Weekend tips: September 4-6 (and more)
Weekend Incoming? Yes, please! And when we do it, we do it right. The summer months are the most fun, which is why we have another list full of the very best and most enjoyable weekend tips ready for you. With cultural outings, culinary pop-ups, new openings, festivals and everything that adds zest to your weekend.
Not only in Amsterdam by the way (our home base), but also definitely outside. And handy: not only for this weekend, but also for the coming weekends. That way you are always prepared. With this list you ensure that your weekend becomes one that you would like to extend for a few more days. Let's go!
We are staying in the holiday spirit a little longer. On Saturday, September 5, Le French Café is coming to 't Blauwe Theehuis for an evening full of French coziness and delicious treats. For just 42,50 euros, you can enjoy a three-course menu (including amuse-bouche, bread, and table water), good (French) wine, live music, and, of course, the lovely view over the Vondelpark.
Oh, and psst: the doors of Le French Café on Javastraat in Amsterdam are open again too, just in case September 5th doesn't quite work for you.
You make a reservation for the pop-up here.
The mussel season is officially reason enough to clear your schedule. 30 August At BAUT, it is all about the Mussel Fest, with unlimited Zeeland mussels in four preparations. Of course, one round is not enough. Reserve here.
Op September 5 & 6 it goes a step further with the The Mussel Walk: five restaurants, five mussel dishes, and one culinary walk through Amsterdam. Put on comfortable shoes and, above all: come hungry. Buy your tickets here.
Mark it in bold in your calendar again: Cinema Culinair is back! The traveling festival where watching movies and delicious food come together. You watch an awesome film, and the chefs at Cinema Culinair ensure that all meals complement it perfectly. See someone take a bite in the movie? Chances are you’ll get something tasty in front of you at that very moment. What you see is what you eat.
In September, the festival descends on Amsterdam (September 1 to 13). After that, it moves to Ghent (September 26 to October 4). Our tip: make a whole weekend of it. Both Amsterdam and Ghent are, of course, perfect for this.
View here check the agenda and book your tickets.
As far as we are concerned, the fastest riser when it comes to favorite spots on the beach? That has to be Petit Péché at Outpost. Rutger Boukamp and Wes ten Kleij, the men behind this place (and behind Café Beurre), are closing the restaurant in Amsterdam for five months again this summer and moving with all their belongings to Outpost in Zandvoort. Fine dining With the sun on your head and the sand between your toes? Phew, yes!
And every Sunday, a different restaurant sets up shop at Outpost, each in its own way. All summer long, one Amsterdam establishment after another joins in: from Bottleshop, Bon Burger Bar, Trees en Café Beurre x Wine Shop, tot Boonen de Koot, Balthazar's Kitchen, Café Cenc, Gertrude en Alba† And also Badcuyp: the beloved Amsterdam neighborhood spot is moving to the coast for two Sundays on August 9 and 16.
WWe're not going home yet. Not for a long time yet, because we're playing out the Dutch summer! Twenty-eight percent of the Dutch are staying home this summer. Well, not exactly home. In their own country. The Netherlands is full of place names and hotspots that carry a color within them. Groenlo. De Gele Kanarie. Witteveen. Zoutelande. And let's immediately link those places to a flavor or color of the Tony's bars.
So we did the opposite of what you normally do: we started at the chocolate aisle. Ten bars, ten colors, and for each color, we looked for a place in the Netherlands where that same color is in the name. A village, a hotel, a beach bar, a two-star restaurant—if the name fits, it counts. Then we turned it into a route you can drive in a single loop, with the addresses you need to visit at every stop. Sleeping, eating, coffee, and at a few stops, a very good reason to stick around a bit longer.
Are you a tourist in Amsterdam? Or do you have friends or family from abroad visiting the Netherlands and want to give them the Dutch food experience? Let's go Dutch ExperiencesFor anyone who claims that the Netherlands has “no cuisine of its own” will probably think differently after these twelve courses. Okay, there are countries that do it better, but we do have a story behind almost everything that ends up on your plate.
In an hour, you get a dive into Dutch history with twelve Dutch specialties to taste. Naturally, with a jenever (or beer, wine, or soft drink, that's fine too). You sit at a table, and the history is explained through the lens of dishes. That way, you suddenly understand why the Dutch eat what they eat. It turns out, for example, that this has to do with trade routes, interesting!
And even as a Dutch person, you learn a lot from it!
Fine dining is great, but the price tag is usually not very twenty-something-friendly… That is why the JRE Youth Week exists, this year for the eighth time. From September 28 to October 4, everyone aged 27 and under receives a 50% discount on the menu price at all participating JRE restaurants in the Netherlands. No fine print, just half the menu price. JRE-Netherlands is doing this together with illycaffè (the coffee company), with the idea that this lowers the threshold for 'high-threshold restaurants'.
JRE? That stands for Jeunes Restaurateurs: an international club of young restaurateurs and chefs, founded in 1974, now boasting over 420 restaurants in twenty countries. In the Netherlands, there are quite a few among them that you would normally save up for. Every guest receives a afterwards goodie bag join in. And anyone who shares a photo or video of the lunch or dinner on Instagram or Facebook (with the hashtags #LiveHappilly, #JREJongerenweek and #JRENederland) stands a chance to win an illy coffee machine, a €225 JRE Giftcard, or an illy Art Collection. The three most original entries win.
You make reservations as always: on time. A promotional week with half-price at restaurants that are normally fully booked months in advance doesn't organize itself. The full overview of participating restaurants can be found at jre.eu/nl/jre-jongerenweek.
2026 excels in wonderfully fun brand collaborations: Burberry at Hôtel Belles Rives in Antibes, Louis Vuitton and Pharrell, Rhode and Justin Bieber, and Erewhon (a smoothie brand) and Barbie: a real treat. The trend has now reached Amsterdam as well: kick off the weekend with a moment for yourself, thanks to neighborhood restaurant Moos (Spaarndammerstraat) and the neighbors at feel-good studio NǓMA. The best ideas are simple: on the site of Moss Check when you would like to come for lunch or breakfast. There, you can immediately indicate which NǓMA class you would like to take (yoga, pilates, sauna, or an ice bath, for example), and Team Moos will take care of the rest. For €22, you can attend one of NǓMA's classes or enjoy a sauna session with an ice bath, and afterwards (or beforehand), join Moos for breakfast or lunch with a drink. The perfect start to your weekend.
With screeching tires to Museum Arnhem for the crème de la crème of Dutch art. In the exhibition Naked that Touches Through September 20, you can see how artists use the naked body to discuss themes such as freedom, identity, and inequality. Real people, with all the so-called imperfections that come with it, take center stage: from paintings to contemporary photography and performances. Mega interesting and beautiful.
Museum Arnhem is in any case one of the most beautifully situated museum buildings in the Netherlands, and that alone is worth a detour. It is situated on the high moraine with a picture perfect view over the Rhine. There is a free-to-access sculpture garden, and we haven't even mentioned Café Pierre yet.
Let's go Arnhem.
Nudity that moves | Museum Arnhem | Art & culture in Gelderland
From breakfast to cocktails and from coffee to dancing: you can hang around all day at Papa Zatarra in Oostenburg. The corner building with glass facades has a nice raw edge that fits well with this new neighborhood. During the day it is quiet, and you catch up with that friend you haven't seen in ages or head into a work meeting. Later in the day, you pull up a chair for dishes to share, cocktails, and drinks with a bit more substance. spice. And then there are the boozy brunches, salsa nights, oysters & bubbles and drag brunchesSo keep a close eye on the schedule. See you there?
Looking at art is one thing, but standing in it is next level. That is exactly what happens at Gustav Klimt: Gold and Colorful, which returns to Fabrique des Lumières at the Westergasterrein following previous success. Fabrique des Lumières is a digital and immersive art center located in the delightful rooms of the Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam and is also the largest immersive art center in the Netherlands. Klimt's most famous works, such as The Kiss and the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, are translated here into digital projections that extend from the floor to the ceiling. All of this surrounds you in 360 degrees, accompanied by music.
And there is another fantastic outing at Fabrique des Lumières: it is showing until August 22. Coldplay: A Film for the Future, the visual counterpart to the album Moon Music. More than 150 artists from 45 countries were each given a few music fragments and complete freedom, resulting in a 45-minute sequence of totally different visual worlds. This is projected around you, accompanied by spatial audio and light effects. The lyrics appear on the walls, so get singing along! You can witness this on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, between 18:30 and 20:30.
Fabrique des Lumières is the art outing where you'll want to hang out! Plus, it doesn't take up the whole day, so you can still take in all the fun things the Westergasterrein has to offer.
In the mood for a summer day without traveling far? At the Markthal, it starts the moment you enter: look upstairs, taste downstairs. While the gigantic ceiling artwork draws your gaze upwards, a world of flavors awaits below. Summer must triesGet a mango poke bowl, taste Vietnamese summer rolls, share a plate of Mediterranean mezze, have a tropical ice cream or cool off with a iced matcha. With 100+ food spots There really is something for everyone. Create your own route through various global flavors. Within 20 minutes, you can travel from Asia to the Mediterranean and back again. We like.
What started over 10 years ago as a craft beer festival in a single city has grown into *the* Drinks Festival of the Netherlands (yes, really, with 18 editions in 17 cities this summer). And TAPT is now much more than just beer. In addition to a still fantastic selection of beers, you can also enjoy wines, cocktails, 0.0% alcohol drinks, and food (from Mexican to full charcuterie boards) that is finger-licking good. Add to that space to chill, raunchy singalongs (at the karaoke, which is new by the way!), disco bingo, board games in collaboration with 999 Games, and speed dating, and your weekend is guaranteed to be a success. Speed dating? Yes, singles take note! TAPT is partnering with love partner Festiflirt, who will help you find a new romance through speed dating during the party, among other things.
So, TAPT is coming to 17 cities this summer, and Rotterdam is on the schedule this weekend (September 5 & 6). You can still get them starting from 20,90 euros. last minute your tickets. Please note: this festival is 18+!
Heard it a lot, a whole lot this summer (holiday): we’re staying close to home! And we understand that all too well. There is still so much to discover in our own beautiful country (where it is at its most beautiful in the summer, too). To celebrate that – our beautiful country in the summer – book your city trip with WestCord Hotels this summer with extra benefits: The longer you stay, the higher the discount! And that’s not all. You also get amazing extras such as free late check-out, a welcome drink, or a cocktail at the bar of the hotel of your choice. For example, you could go to Hotel New York in Rotterdam, the Arsenaal in Delft, or Hotel Jakarta in Amsterdam, to name just a few absolute top picks. Where to book? You can do so below.
Head to Hilversum with screeching tires this September, because for four weekends, everything here revolves around delicious food. During the Smaakmakersroutes, you’ll stroll past the city’s finest spots, and something culinary awaits you at every stop. And the best part? Each weekend has its own theme. Here it is:
- Sunday September 6 is for the city center. Five restaurants are participating, and at every stop you get their signature dish with a drink (you choose meat, fish, or vegetarian in advance, and with or without alcohol). From 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM, €39,50.
- New this year is the route through the Havenstraat op Sunday 13 SeptemberThe route consists of three restaurants, and you finish the evening with something sweet. You sample international cuisines from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM for €34,95.
- And then the Drinks bag route along the Gijsbrecht, op Saturday, September 19 and 26You start with an empty bag and a stamp card, walk past the specialty shops on the street, and at every stop, something goes into that bag. At the end, you cycle/ride/walk home with a drinks bag worth nearly sixty euros, for €29,95. The two Saturdays have different routes and different shops, so you can do both!
And it's guaranteed to be a great time too! Get your ticket via smaakmakersroute-hilversum.nl
If we could, we would hop on a plane to the Caribbean right now. Endless sunshine, good vibes, and delicious food. Unfortunately, that isn't always possible. Luckily, Mondi has come up with a solution. At both Mondi Nieuw-West and Mondi Skybar, you can attend Mondi Weekends every Friday and Saturday. Sultry evenings with flavorful Caribbean à la carte dishes, Mondi DJs behind the turntables, and a special Mondi Moment as the cherry on top. So, food, drinks, and dancing! Always a good choice. It is also highly recommended for a birthday or other special occasion. There is even a balloon decoration service for that (yes, really!).
Book now here.
If there is a reservation you make for the warm days, it should be a reservation at Erloom.
After all, you might just know Hilvarenbeek from Safaripark Beekse Bergen… But there is more to the Brabant village just outside Tilburg! And how… Hilvarenbeek is charming, welcoming, and it is the home of restaurant ErloomThe owners run the business under that name all summer long – from early May to late September. restaurant Erloom so, one of the Netherlands' most fun pop-up restaurants. Every weekend is a party during those months, and it's a success.
Attention all seasoned oyster fans and 'I'm-finally-starting-to-appreciate-it' slurpers: on September 12 (from 12 to 17 pm), Koester je Oester is organizing the very first Oyster Walk XXL. And for this, you don't need to put on Wellington boots and trudge along the Zeeland coast. You'll simply enjoy a leisurely stroll through the heart of Amsterdam. No fewer than 15 top restaurants are participating in this slurping route, where you can sample one fresh oyster at each participating restaurant using a stamp card. Yum. Tired of oysters, but haven't collected all 15 stamps yet? Don't panic. You determine your own route and pace, so stopping early is no problem either. During the walk, you will discover the very best oysters in Amsterdam, from classic brasseries to modern seafood restaurants.
Here you score your tickets for 58 euros per person.
Handy, aren't those weekend tips from Bart? Are there never enough and do you want even more inspiration? things to do and good ideas for the weekend (and the rest of the week)? Of course we also have something for that, namely the Barts Boekje Newsletter. No endless spam, we hate that too. Just an email once a week with tips for your holiday (or just a... staycation), for your interior, countries you want to go to now that the weather is possible, the most beautiful tree houses, the tastiest coffee, tips for your offspring and so on. Lots of good ideas in a small email – we can't make it any easier, but we certainly can make it more fun.
More tips
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These are the best wine bars in Eindhoven
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The best wine bars in Nijmegen
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Move Lab Kids Expo: the most fun interactive family outing in Amsterdam South
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New restaurants in Amsterdam: This is the Barts Boekje list
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All together in nature: our favorite Dutch sleeping places in the middle of the greenery
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Shared dining at Jadda in Nijmegen
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The best sports classes in Amsterdam according to the Barts Boekje team
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Het Roode Koper Estate (a Relais & Chateaux)
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New in Amsterdam: Restaurant Satkara brings India and Nepal together at the table