The Bulldog The First

Henk de Vries opened this in 1975, converting a family property in the red-light district into a coffeeshop — the first in Amsterdam, and the template most of the others were built from. It started in a basement on Oudezijds Voorburgwal and grew into a group with hotels, bars, brand stores and locations abroad, which is why some visitors treat No. 90 as a landmark and others write it off as a chain. Both readings are fair; it's a chain because it was first.

You'll spot it by the painted facade — the original signage was done by Australian artist Harold "the Kangaroo" Thornton, and the mural is a large part of how the place got known to backpackers in the first place. Inside there's a bar with the dog's-head fitting, leather seating, and walls of celebrity photos and banknotes left by guests over the decades. A Bulldog brand store sits next door for merchandise.