Brouwerij 't IJ

't IJ brews organic beer in the squat brick base of De Gooyer, a working windmill on Amsterdam's eastern edge, and the tasting room sits right beneath it. It's one of the city's most photographed windmill-and-brewery combinations for a reason — the setting does half the work before the beer even arrives.

The beer itself holds up on its own terms: a range of organic blondes and darks, best tried as a flight if you can't decide, with bitterballen from the bar to go alongside. It gets busy — this is a well-known stop, not a secret — but the terrace is large enough that a weekday afternoon still feels unhurried.

Skip the tram and cycle out instead. It's a short ride from the centre, mostly along the water, and arriving on a bike is the right way into a city built for exactly that.