The 5 Best Hostels in Amsterdam: 2026 Edition

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Amsterdam has a ridiculous amount of hostels, so choosing just five was a toughie. Whether its your first time staying in a hostel or you are a seasoned veteran, there’s a little something for everybody!

1. ClickNOORD: Best Overall Hostel

• Price: $$
• Best for: Solo travellers who want a packed social calendar and a large, buzzy hostel atmosphere in Amsterdam Noord
• Highlights: Central location, social vibes and comfy common areas
• Dorms from: $20
• Private rooms from: $90
• Location: Amsterdam Noord, 10-minute free ferry ride to Amsterdam Centraal Station

ClinkNOORD is one of those hostels that’s hard to leave without having made plans with someone you met in the atrium. Set in a converted 1920s building in Amsterdam Noord, the place has a lot going on: a plant-filled common area, a cafe, a library, ZincBAR with live music and DJ nights, and a daily events schedule that runs from morning yoga to cocktail-making workshops. It’s a big hostel, which means the social scene is always there when you want it and easy enough to step away from when you don’t.

Why you’ll love this hostel:

• Amsterdam Noord has a genuinely cool, artsy edge that most visitors staying in the city centre never bother to explore, and ClinkNOORD puts you right in the middle of it
• It’s one of the more affordable options in Amsterdam, a city that will cheerfully empty your wallet if you let it
• The Catalyst Cafe is open around the clock, meaning a cheeky drink at 2am is never off the cards

Location wise you’ll love this place as well. Amsterdam Noord is known for its creative vibes, amazing cafes and beautiful Dutch architecture. The free ferry to Amsterdam Centraal takes around 10 minutes and runs through the night, so the Noord location is less of a compromise than it sounds. Dorms range from 4 to 14 beds with mixed and female-only options, most with en-suite bathrooms, and each bunk comes with a reading light, USB port, and secure locker. Rooms with views over the river or surrounding parkland are worth requesting when you book.

2. Onefam Amstel: Best for Solo Travellers

• Price: $
• Best for: Solo travellers after a tight-knit community atmosphere in a local Amsterdam neighbourhood
• Highlights: Play room, basic guest kitchen, short walk to Albert Cuyp Market and the Heineken Experience.
• Dorms from: $32
• Private rooms from: $125
• Location: Sarphatipark, De Pijp, 10-minute walk to Amsterdam city centre, tram stop outside

Onefam Amstel is a small hostel in De Pijp, one of Amsterdam’s most liveable neighbourhoods, sitting next to Sarphatipark with the Albert Cuyp Market and the Heineken Experience both a short walk away. It’s not trying to be a huge commercial hostel machine: the appeal is in its size, the staff, and the daily activities and evening events that makes Onefam feel like a second home from the get go. The result is a cool crowd of backpackers looking for connection rather than just a bed to crash in at the end of the day.

Why you’ll love this hostel:

• Daily activities and evening events are included, which takes the pressure off having to organise your own social life from scratch
• Small enough that you’ll recognise faces by day two and have a group by day three
• Nico, the cute resident cat

The team here are travellers themselves, which tends to show in how the social side is run. Daytime adventures, insider city tips, evening drinks – it’s the kind of hostel where you’re more likely to end up with a group plan by 6pm on your first day than sitting alone in a common room wondering what to do. The dorms themselves aren’t anything to write home about, but they’re clean with their own lights and outlets. You might want to request a bottom bunk in advance because they have triple bunks here that give me the fear as a shortie.

3. St Christopher’s at The Winston: Best for Central Location

• Price: $$
• Best for: Travellers who want to be in the dead centre of Amsterdam with a bar and nightclub on the doorstep
• Highlights: 4-minute walk from Dam Square and 800 metres from Amsterdam Centraal, with an on-site bar, nightclub, restaurant, billiards room, garden, and terrace.
• Dorms from: $22
• Private rooms from: $100
• Location: Warmoesstraat, Amsterdam Centrum, 4-minute walk from Dam Square, steps from the Red Light District

If location is your dealbreaker, The Winston won’t have you compromising. You’re a 4-minute walk from Dam Square, steps from the Red Light District, and close enough to Centraal Station to make early trains an easy affair. Being this central makes everything easier: canal tours, museum queues, late-night stumbles home. You spend less time in transit and more time actually doing things, which in Amsterdam adds up quickly.

Why you’ll love this hostel:

• The free walking tour is a solid way to get your bearings on day one without spending anything
• The beer garden is one of the better spots in the neighbourhood for an early evening drink before the city gets going
• The 25% food discount is music to broke backpacker’s ears

The on-site Belushi’s bar is where most of the social action happens, with daily drink deals, live music, and a beer garden that fills up fast on warmer evenings. Hostel guests get 25% off food, which takes the edge off Amsterdam’s reliably punishing restaurant prices. The rooms are clean and functional rather than impressive, and the individually decorated dorms have a charm that slightly offsets the noise situation: you’re in the middle of one of Europe’s busiest nightlife districts, so pack earplugs or embrace it.

4. Hans Brinker Hostel Amsterdam: Best Cheap Hostel

• Price: $
• Best for: Budget travellers who want a no-frills central base with a proper bar and underground club on site
• Highlights: Underground club open nightly, restaurant serving breakfast through dinner, wicked location
• Dorms from: $20
• Private rooms from: $135
• Location: Kerkstraat, Amsterdam city centre, 2-minute walk to Leidseplein, 10 minutes by tram from Centraal Station

Okay, I’ll keep it real with you. This isn’t the CHEAPEST hostel in the city, because some of the cheapest beds are outright grimey. I want a cheap hostel, but not bed bug bites, ya know? Hans Brinker is a solid middle ground – this hostel chain is an ‘ol reliable for giving clean, modern amenities in a location so central, that it’s value for money goes beyond it’s dorm price. It’s a 500-bed Amsterdam institution that has been packing in budget travellers for decades and is clearly good at what it does. It’s not trying to be a boutique hostel with a rooftop bar and artisanal coffee: it’s cheap, central, clean, and honest about all of it.

Why you’ll love this hostel:

• Leidseplein, the museum quarter, and Vondelpark are all walkable, which in Amsterdam saves you a lot of time and tram fare
• Daily happy hours
• 500 beds means availability when everywhere else is full, handy for last-minute trips

The bar runs happy hour from 5-6pm and stays open until 3am, the underground club goes every night, and the common area is the sort of colourful, chaotic space where you’ll end up talking to people from five different countries before you’ve had a couple. There’s no guest kitchen, so you’re relying on the on-site restaurant for meals, but it serves breakfast through dinner at prices that won’t bleed you dry. The dorms are clean, comfy, with en-suites that are kept sparkling. After a day of exploring, I crashed very easily here.

5. Flying Pig Downtown: Best Party Hostel

• Price: $$
• Best for: Party-first travellers who want a legendary Amsterdam hostel bar, a central location, and a ready-made social scene from the moment they check in
• Highlights: Social on-site bar, free continental breakfast available to prebook, free walking tours
• Dorms from: $30
• Private rooms from: $190
• Location: Nieuwendijk, Amsterdam city centre, 5-minute walk to Amsterdam Centraal, 6-minute walk to Dam Square

The Flying Pig Downtown has been one of Amsterdam’s go-to party hostels long enough that plenty of people staying here now were born after it opened. The bar is the reason most people book it with a pool table, DJ nights, and the kind of atmosphere where someone on the staff will clock you sitting alone and ask if you want to join a group. The cherry on top is the indoor smoking area – think of the usual buzz in a smoking area but where people aren’t freezing their tits off. Truly magical stuff.

Why you’ll love this hostel:

• An INDOOR smoking area for blazing up on those cold nights
• Epic DJ nights
• Social spaces with pool table, cosy seating and good vibes

Whether you’re a nightlife enthusiast or just here to explore the city (in fact, one of the best party cities in Europe), Flying Pig Downtown will meet all of your travel needs. Head up to the sunny terrace and enjoy one of the cheapest pints in the city or play a game of pool with the other pint-lovin’ backpackers. If you ARE here for partying and want to cure your next-day hangover, book into one of the great private rooms and indulge in the breakfast buffet for only €7. The dorms are clean and individually decorated, each bed with a reading light and a locker. Worth noting: room sizes go from four beds up to 32, so it’s worth paying a bit more for a smaller dorm if you want any chance of sleep before midnight.

Getting Insured BEFORE Visiting Amsterdam

Unfortunately, things can go wrong when you least expect it. This is why good travel insurance is essential before you head on your trip to Amsterdam.

ALWAYS sort out your backpacker insurance before your trip. There’s plenty to choose from in that department, but a good place to start is Safety Wing.

They offer month-to-month payments, no lock-in contracts, and require absolutely no itineraries: that’s the exact kind of insurance long-term travellers and digital nomads need.

SafetyWing is cheap, easy, and admin-free: just sign up lickety-split so you can get back to it!

Click the button below to learn more about SafetyWing’s setup or read our insider review for the full tasty scoop.

Amsterdam has so much to offer for all kinds of travellers, whether you are looking to let loose, explore the rich history or sit in a cafe and watch the world go by with a spliff in hand, there’s something for you in this charming city.

Amsterdam’s hostel scene is one of the best in Europe, and not just because of the city it’s sitting in. There’s genuine variety here: party institutions that have been doing it for decades, boutique spots with real character, and smaller social hostels in neighbourhoods worth actually spending time in.

As a solo traveller, how social a hostel is always is my make-or-break. If you’re the same, I’d check out Onefam Amstel. Amsterdam’s hostel veer towards the huge and commerical, and this feels like a rare homey spot that makes connecting with other travellers so bloody easy.

My two cents? Book early. Amsterdam fills up fast, the best hostels faster, and the ones worth staying in rarely have last-minute availability at a price that makes sense.

Now you’re equipped with the best hostels in Amsterdam, it’s over to you to create some memories, explore and get the fuck out of your comfort zone, you won’t regret it. Adios Amigo.