Description: Guys - and a few gals - dripping with designer gear head to this sprawling designer bar on the city's trendiest gay street for post-work cocktails and gentle hip action as DJs spin upbeat lounge and other dance music; the action spills out onto the street in the summer. Daily happy hour 5pm-7pm and all night on Wednesday. Staff here are particularly friendly and also purvey a palatable range in nibbles. Kitchen closes at 11pm.

 

Description: WATERFRONT. Since opening in 1973, Amsterdam's foremost jazz venue has had all the greats shuffle onto its stage - including Charles Mingus, Art Blakey and Chet Baker (who, in 1988, mysteriously fell to his death from the window of an Amsterdam hotel room). A few years ago, the Bimhuis left its Oude Schans address and moved to a stunning new waterfront location: a black shoebox structure which juts out one side of the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ. It stages around 300 concerts annually featuring both Dutch and international musicians and is widely regarded by those in the industry worldwide as one of the best places to catch all that jazz. Early in the week, open sessions take place; towards the end of the week, concerts are scheduled. No matter when you come, you'll be awed.

 

Description: CENTRAL CANAL RING. If you need a night of comic relief, there's no better place to get it than a Boom Chicago performance. Created by American expatriates, the shows take on Dutch life and foibles, inviting everyone to participate in a fast-paced world of wit, physical comedy and fun. Great production values, terrific food, and talented improv scenarios characterize the shows, addressing such topics as pop culture and American foreign policy and eliciting laughs galore!

 

Description: MUSEUM QUARTER / VONDELPARK. Said to be the busiest classical music venue in the world (it puts on over 800 concerts a year), this stately neo-classical building dates from 1889 and has an equally grand interior. The crème de la crème of international orchestras and conductors regularly appear in the main auditorium - renowned for its acoustics - while chamber music is performed within the intimate confines of the small upstairs hall. Free-entry concerts, held on Wednesdays from winter through spring, often afford the chance to see a top conductor rehearsing for the evening's performance (queue early: they're popular!), while concert prices are reduced in July and August. Audrey Hepburn owned a season ticket when she lived in Amsterdam and, alongside its classical and world music repertoire, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, Dionne Warwick and Frank Zappa have all appeared here.

 

Description: OLD CENTER / RED LIGHT DISTRICT. This is not the most attractive of buildings, in fact, its design looks positively ancient compared to some of the newest city developments. Located in a complex it shares with city hall, the opera house is home, since 1986, to De Nederlandse Opera and Het National Ballet. As well as first-rate performances from its resident companies (tickets for the opera here sell out almost as soon as they're announced), its inspired guest programming is a feast for contemporary culture vultures.

 

Description: CENTRAL CANAL RING. The city's most glamorous club is based around the concept of a fictional Chinese Triad tycoon who enjoys throwing extravagant parties in his opulent, Oriental-style lounge, akin to an 18th-century Chinese opium den. Its dance area has a state-of-the-art sound system and illuminated ceiling which contains no less than 12,000 tiny light bulbs. It probably comes as little surprise that it's popular with visiting celebs such as George Clooney and Pharrell Williams and that the door policy is strict (dress to impress!).

 

Description: CENTRAL CANAL RING. It's no coincidence that Melkweg's name, translated, is the tongue-in-cheek 'Milky Way,' given that the complex once operated as a dairy. The revamped center-city attraction is now an entertainment and nightlife magnet, offering patrons everything from dancing and live music to theater performances and film screenings. The large venue also houses a restaurant and gallery, and it sells alcohol and hosts parties as well. If you want to be surrounded by other revelers or just require a choice of entertainments before you make a decision, Melkweg should be your first (and perhaps only) destination.

 

Description: One of the city's best kept nightlife secrets, this enormous café restaurant on the grounds of the former gasworks, Westergasfabriek, clears away its tables and chairs after dinner on Friday and Saturday and turns into a club. (Kitchen closes at 10pm.) Regularly drawing a 350-strong, 20- to 30- something crowd, it's perfect if you're seeking something relaxed and intimate rather than shiny and hip. Most other nights, DJs also spin and live soul, jazz or funk bands make a welcome addition to the dining menu.

 

Description: CENTRAL CANAL RING. In its former life, this live music venue was a beautiful church. These days, Christian hymns have been supplanted by more energetic rhythms, and the striking space welcomes bands from around the world. Paradiso's terrific acoustics appeal to both the audience and to performers, who range from the up-and-coming to the well-known. On weekend evenings, top DJs are booked, and club-goers dance to house, jazz and disco across a variety of levels amid the renovated architecture of the past.

 

Description: CENTRAL CANAL RING. This centrally-located club (opposite the Melkweg) has the most inspired and eclectic programming of any of the city's nightspots. Early evening art exhibitions, fashion shows, big band acts, performance art and cutting-edge multimedia events make way for similarly diverse parties later on. Themes could be anything from Berlin cabaret to Barcelona house or women-only burlesque nights. Lydia Lunch has taken to the stage of this industrial-style former sugar factory (hence the name), as have some of Europe's finest: DJ Ursula 1, Richard Dorfmeister and Mr & Mrs Cameron to name but a few.