PJ Travel Savvy

Sleeping:

Extremes: the boutique hotel La Bergere 043/328-2525, and the restored Chateau St Gerlach 043/608-8888.

Eating:

Have lunch at the beautiful and one-star Chateau Neercanne, a short distance out of town. 043/325-1359. Drinks at the Loungebar at the Hotel Derlon. 043/321-6770. And a posh dinner at Beluga. 043/321-3364.

Shopping:

Kiki Niesten stocks a host of designers. Stokstraat 28-32 043/321-6432.

You can make an appointment for a fitting at Christian Lagerwaard, or visit the atelier when it is open to the public on Saturdays. Wilhelminasingel64 043/326-4440. His ready-to-wear collection is carried at the Chateau Gronsveld. 043/408-5504.

Jules and Co carries accessories and watches. Plattielstraat 3 043/358-1797.

Find beautiful, and beautifully restored, antiques at Zenith Oriental Art. Lenculenstraat 29 and St Pieterstraat 2 043/321-4961.

Sleeping:

Rest your weary bones at either 717 Prinsengracht 717 020/427-0717, or at the Dylan Hotel Keizergracht 384 020/530-2010.

Eating:

For a good cafe, go for Cafe Luxembourg at Spuistraat 22-24 020/620-6264. Lunch-wise, try Pompadour Cafe at Kerkstraat 148 020/330-0981. For baked goods and afternoon tea, there’s De Bakkerswinkel. Multiple locations.

Jamie Oliver has a restaurant here, in which he employs disadvantaged students. Fifteen Jollemanhof 9 010/711-1567.

The Mansionis an eclectic restaurant that also features a great nightlife scene. Hobbemastraat 2 020/616-6664.

Cinema Paradisooffers, you guessed it, Italian cuisine. Westerstraat 184-186 020/623-7344.

De Kas is a pretty restaurant located inside a defunct greenhouse. Kameringh Onneslaan 3 020/462-4562. Bordewijk is a boisterous restaurant featurning hearty food. Noordermarkt 7 020/624-3899.

Beddington’sis one of the best restaurants in Amsterdam. Utrechtsedwarstraat 141 020/620-7393. Zuid Zeeland also serves very nice food. Herengracht 413 020/624-3154.

Enjoy Envy, a hot wine bar and deli. Prinsengracht 381 020/344-6407. Trendy, restaurant-wise, try Inez IPSC where you will not get in the door without a reservation. Amstel 2 020/639-2899. Panama for a late dinner and international cuisine. Oostelijke Handelskade 4 020/311-8686.

Finally (but not least), Amsterdam is known for its marvelous Indonesian restaurants. Two that stand out are Tempo Doeloe, for traditional fare, Ultrechtsestraat 75 020/625-6718, or for a more coreative twist, Blue Pepper. Nassaukade 366 020/489-7039.

Shopping:

First, a number of nifty design destinations, most of them contemporary:

Frozen Fountain. Prinsengracht 645 020/622-9375.

Droog Design. Staalstraat 7a-7b 020/523-5050.

Pols Potters (tableware). Knsmlaan 39 020/419-3541.

Keetin Huis(children). Knsmlaan 297 020/419-5958.

Royal Tichelaar(porcelain). Turfmarkt 65 0515-23-13-41.

Hema (Amsterdam’s answer to Target). Kalverstraat 212 020/626-8720.

Now, everything else:

Van Ravenstein (great clothing boutique, featuring Dutch designers). Keizergracht 359 020/639-0067.

Eva Damave (sweaters and other knitwear). Lauriersdwarsstraat 51c 020/627-7325.

Orson + Bodil (beautiful separates, by appointment only). Herengracht 280 020/707-6224.

Miauw (alternates between being a clothing store and a gallery space). Hartenstraat 36.

Hester Van Eeghen (purses and shoes that are carried in the Museum of Modern Art shop in NYC). Hartenstraat nr 1 and nr 37 020/626-9212.

Shoebaloo (guess what they sell). Multiple locations.

BLGK (lovely modern jewelry). Harentstraat 28 020/624-8154.

Goldstrasse (and more jewelry). Elandsgracht 89 020/420-2095.

Richard Walraven(yet more jewelry, with some silver thrown in). Hazenstraat 70 020/622-5221.

Oilily(childrens’ clothing). Multiple locations.

De Kaaskamer (you’re in Holland; you need to buy cheese). Runstraat 7 020/623-3483.