Dog Friendly City Guide: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Amsterdam treats a dog the way it treats a bicycle: as a normal part of getting through the day. A great many of its cafés and restaurants say yes to dogs, and say it in writing on their own websites. The centre is compact and flat, the parks are close to every neighbourhood, and on the far side of the IJ a free ferry ride away there is a whole quarter of waterside canteens and gardens where a dog under the table is the most ordinary thing in the room. This guide is built from the hotels we have assessed in the city and from places that state their welcome for dogs themselves, with every rule checked against the authority that sets it.

Getting There With a Dog

The Netherlands follows the European Union's rules for travelling pets, and the Dutch food and product safety authority, the NVWA, publishes them in English on its bringing pets into the Netherlands pages. Coming from another EU country, your dog needs a microchip, an EU pet passport issued by a vet and a valid rabies vaccination recorded in it. The first vaccination must be given at twelve weeks old or later and at least 21 days before you travel, and the chip has to go in before or on the same day as that first jab. Dutch owners get their passports from a vet, and the government's own page on the European pet passport explains how it works.

From outside the EU the paperwork depends on whether your home country counts as low or high risk for rabies, and the NVWA lists both. From a high risk country your dog also needs a blood test taken at least 30 days after its rabies vaccination and then a wait of 90 days from the day the sample is taken before it may travel, so start months ahead, not weeks. Arriving by train from Brussels or Paris, the international operator's pet rules let a small dog under six kilos travel free in a bag or basket no larger than 55 by 30 by 30 centimetres, while a bigger dog needs its own ticket and must be on a lead and wearing a muzzle. Eurostar from London carries only registered assistance dogs, so a pet dog cannot come that way.

Where to Stay

We have assessed three dog friendly hotels in Amsterdam. Two hold a B rank and meet the Roch Dog Friendly Standard, and they make an elegant pair. Sofitel Legend The Grand Amsterdam puts a dog in one of the city's grandest historic hotels with a proper welcome: every room takes dogs, up to two of them, with no weight limit, and a dog bed and food and water bowls are placed in the room before you arrive. Your dog can walk the lobby and the hallways with you and settle in the Library while you have a drink, and the hotel has a garden for the first and last outing of the day. The concierge will map out walking routes, with Wertheimpark about fifteen minutes away on foot and the Vondelpark a little further, and the team knows the vet, around fifteen minutes by car, should you ever need one. A well behaved dog may be left in the room for a short while.

Pulitzer Amsterdam, a five star hotel, takes dogs in most of its rooms with no weight limit and no damage deposit. A dog bed and bowls are laid on and the treats are free. There are public green spaces close by for walks, and the hotel welcomes cats as well as dogs.

Zoku Amsterdam, ranked D, is the relaxed option for an owner who travels with their own kit. A number of rooms take one dog, the fee is low, and your dog can join you in the bar, the lounge, the terrace and the garden, so it is with you for the whole evening. A settled dog may also be left in the room while you go out.

Eat and Drink

Start in the centre. Café de Klos has been serving spare ribs and lamb shoulder off the grill on a narrow street just off the Leidseplein since 1971, takes no reservations and states plainly that dogs are welcome as long as they are on a lead. Near the Dam, the beer hall In De Wildeman fills a former distillery on Kolksteeg with eighteen beers on tap and some 250 in bottles, and its own answer to the question is that leashed dogs are very welcome inside and on the terrace. For breakfast, the Dutch chain Bagels & Beans has three Amsterdam branches, on the IJdok, the Keizersgracht and the Roetersstraat, and says simply that all pets are welcome, large or small, with a bowl of water put down for them.

In the west, Foodhallen gathers street food stalls inside De Hallen, a converted tram depot on the Hannie Dankbaarpassage, and says dogs are more than welcome on a lead, which makes it the easiest place in town to feed a group with a dog in tow. In the east, Pompstation serves dinner and live jazz inside a monumental pumping station from 1912 on the Zeeburgerdijk, and when asked whether you can bring your dog it answers that it would love that, as long as your dog is calm.

Loetje, the steak café the city has made its own, has several Amsterdam branches, including Centraal on the Stationsplein, the café on the Johannes Vermeerstraat and Loetje aan 't IJ in Noord, and says your dog is welcome as long as it is on a lead and not bothering other guests. Near the Sarphatipark in De Pijp, Woof & Me is a café built for dogs, with brunch for you, birthday cakes for them, walk-ins only and regular meetups for dog owners. On the Java-eiland, the Hotel Jakarta welcomes dogs on its terrace, though not inside.

Then cross the IJ to Noord. The Tolhuistuin, a cultural garden a short ferry hop from Centraal Station, has a café-restaurant serving dishes to share and says dogs are welcome in the garden on a lead. Up at the NDSM wharf, Pllek is a restaurant looking out over the IJ, with live music on Friday and Saturday evenings, yoga on Sunday mornings and a run of events, and its answer is an enthusiastic yes: it loves dogs, as long as they are leashed. Nearby, Café de Ceuvel is the café of a creative community in Noord, and it warns you that other dogs, cats and rabbits roam the site, so bring yours on a lead if it minds the company.

Walks and Parks

The city runs its parks with clear zones for dogs, and the signs tell you where you stand. The Vondelpark, Amsterdam's best known park, lets dogs run off the lead in part of the park, and the city's page points to a map of exactly where. In the Westerpark, dogs may run free on the sloping field between the railway and the pond, must stay on a lead in the rest of the park and are kept out of some areas altogether, and owners must pick up everywhere, the off-lead field included. The city's online map has a layer showing off-lead and no-dog zones across Amsterdam.

The great walk is the Amsterdamse Bos, the city forest on the southern edge of town. Its managers say dogs are welcome in the forest and may run free in many places, with signs marking where they must be leashed or are not allowed. Where your dog is off the lead it must come back when called and stay out of the woodland plots, and cyclists, runners and riders share the paths.

A Day Out

Give a full day to the Amsterdamse Bos. Walk the long avenues and lakeside paths in the morning, then stop at Boerderij Meerzicht, a farmhouse café inside the forest on the Koenenkade that serves pancakes from eleven, open Wednesday to Sunday in season and Friday to Sunday from November. Dogs are welcome on the terrace and inside the building on a short lead, though not in the self-service buffet area. It makes a gentle loop for a dog that has spent the previous day on city pavements, and the forest's own map shows where your dog can run.

Good to Know

At the Grand, dogs are kept out of the restaurants and bars, the fee is EUR 100 a night and a card guarantee is taken on arrival. The Pulitzer charges EUR 50 a night, keeps dogs out of its restaurant and asks that dogs are not left alone in the room. Zoku charges EUR 15 a night, has a 44 lb weight limit and provides no dog kit, so pack bowls and a bed. Most cafés here expect a dog on a lead and settled under the table, and the supermarkets do not let dogs inside, so plan your shopping around your walks.