EURO HUB
Amsterdam
Fast wifi, a real coworking scene, and a social life that runs on bikes and brown cafés.
Amsterdam is the easiest western-Europe base going: everyone speaks English, the wifi is excellent everywhere, the coworking scene is mature, and when the laptop closes there's an actual city outside. The catch is cost — this is a £££ base, and housing is the boss fight.
AKA The Dam · Netherlands · North Holland · Best months: April to October. Winter is dark and damp, but the cafés stay warm.
THE NUMBERS
The Scorecard
DIGITAL NOMAD DESTINATIONS RATINGS
- Can You Actually Work Here?
- 9/10
- Community
- 8/10
- Nightlife
- 8/10
- Wallet Damage
- Quite Expensive
OUR VERDICT
Everything works, everyone's fluent, and the city is superb — you're just paying London-adjacent money for the privilege. Worth it if your income matches.
THE FACTS
- Beach Quality
- 2/10
- Cost of Living
- £££
- Coworking Scene
- 8/10
- Day Activities
- 9/10
- Flight Costs
- £
- Food Scene
- 7/10
- Gym Access
- 7/10
- Healthy Food
- 7/10
- Hotel Costs
- £££
- Outdoor Activities
- 6/10
- Party Season
- Year-round
- Price of a Pint
- £££
- Safety
- 8/10
- Scam Risk
- 4/10
- Walkability
- 10/10
- WiFi Reliability
- 9/10
BEST FOR
- Nomads who want western-Europe timezone and infrastructure
- Anyone whose clients need them reachable, online and functional
- People who want a life after 6pm, not just a desk
AVOID IF
- You're optimising for cost of living — Lisbon and Bangkok exist
- You need guaranteed sun through winter
- You're planning more than 90 days without sorting the visa reality
TYPICAL DAMAGE
£2,500–£3,500/month all-in. Housing is most of it — start early.
BEST MONTHS
April to October. Winter is dark and damp, but the cafés stay warm.
DIRTY DEALS
Want Amsterdam deals in your inbox?
Tell us what trip you want and we'll send the best options every Friday.
Getting Set Up
Short stays are simple: 90 days visa-free for most non-EU passports, and the city runs perfectly well from an Airbnb and a coworking day pass while you find your feet.
Housing is the hard part — the rental market is brutal. Aparthotels and mid-term platforms beat the open market for anything under six months.
Where To Work
The coworking scene is deep: TSH Collab, Spaces and WeWork cover the corporate end, while independents like A Lab have the character. Day passes run €25–35; monthly desks from €200.
Café-working is genuinely accepted — Coffee & Coconuts and the Foodhallen area are laptop-friendly, and the wifi is fast enough for calls almost everywhere.
Connectivity
Some of the best internet in Europe: gigabit fibre is standard, 5G blankets the city, and a local eSIM is sorted in five minutes. You will not think about connectivity once, which is the whole point.
Cost Reality
This is a premium base. Rent dominates the budget, eating out is London-adjacent, and the supermarket is your friend. The upside: no car needed, ever — a bike and an OV card cover the entire city.
The maths works if your income is UK/US-level. If you're optimising runway, look south and east.
Life After 6pm
This is where Amsterdam beats the cheaper bases: brown cafés, world-class gigs, food halls, and a big international crowd that's easy to plug into. Meetup and the coworking communities do the introductions.
Summer is peak: terraces, canal swims, festivals most weekends and daylight until 10pm. It's the season the rent is paying for.