Go Shopping – Albert Cuyp Market

Probably the most famous market in the Netherlands, this market twists most of the way down the pedestrian Albert Cuyp Straat in De Pijp area of Amsterdam near the Heineken Brewery. It receives over 20,000 visitors a day and almost twice of that on Saturday. The range of stuff here is amazing from wild game to furniture. It’s definitely worth a visit if one wants to pick up some bargains and great gifts.

Albert Cuyp is a mile-long, no-nonsense, 100-year-old street market. It is the place where locals stock up on food, flowers, clothes and philosophy six days a week. There is something very enjoyable about a market right in the middle of the street, where cars are banned and pedestrians rule. The market has nearly 300 vendors on both sides of the street facing a central aisle that runs down the middle of four blocks of Albert Cuypstraat. One can see – Kurds, Serbs and Cambodians alongside the ruddy old-timers selling and buying, it is a market as which is used for everyday larder, choosing from fruits and vegetables, fresh chickens on ice, and smoked and fresh fish. One can walk through Albert Cuyp and see a tourist, feeling, for just a moment, what it must be like to be a native. There is no pretension here, but value is everywhere.

Most of the stores on Albert Cuypstraat display their wares on the sidewalk and some even have market stalls. There are a lot of flower and plant merchants and clothing stores whose prices attract a regular following, and little cafes along the street selling local specialties. This is a good neighborhood to scout out the numerous cheap ethnic restaurants operated by recent immigrants.

Behind the Albert Cuyp street there are other shops with good deals on computers, pets, furniture, haircuts, and more. The Albert Cuypmarket has more then 400 stalls selling local and exotic foodstuffs, spices and teas, clothing new and second hand and thousands of different odds and ends. One can wander around, sampling the offerings, or look at the public. On this market you notice how international Amsterdam is – People from half of all countries shop and sell here.