Guide
Sunny terraces in Amsterdam
Built on official city data and 3D building-shadow models — not crowdsourced guesses. These are modeled sun estimates for a typical week.
The sunniest terraces in Amsterdam
Ranked by overall sun across the day, rating, and size.
- ~16h of sun, best in the morning
- ~15h of sun, best in the evening
- ~16h of sun, best in the morning
- ~15h of sun, best in the morning
- ~14h of sun, best in the morning
- ~14h of sun, best in the morning
- ~13h of sun, best in the morning
- ~13h of sun, best in the morning
- ~13h of sun, best in the morning
- ~15h of sun, best in the morning
- ~14h of sun, best in the morning
- ~13h of sun, best in the evening
- ~13h of sun, best in the morning
- ~13h of sun, best in the morning
- ~12h of sun, best in the morning
- ~12h of sun, best in the morning
- ~12h of sun, best in the evening
- ~12h of sun, best in the morning
- ~12h of sun, best in the evening
- ~11h of sun, best at midday
Best terraces by time of day
Whether you're after a morning coffee in the sun or a golden evening drink, these terraces make the most of each part of the day.
Best terraces for morning sun
- ~16h of sun, best in the morning
- ~15h of sun, best in the morning
- ~11h of sun, best in the morning
- ~11h of sun, best in the morning
- ~12h of sun, best in the morning
Best terraces for midday sun
- ~16h of sun, best in the morning
- ~15h of sun, best in the evening
- ~15h of sun, best in the morning
- ~16h of sun, best in the morning
- ~13h of sun, best in the morning
Best terraces for afternoon sun
- ~16h of sun, best in the morning
- ~15h of sun, best in the evening
- ~15h of sun, best in the morning
- ~16h of sun, best in the morning
- ~13h of sun, best in the morning
Best terraces for evening sun
- ~16h of sun, best in the morning
- ~15h of sun, best in the evening
- ~16h of sun, best in the morning
- ~13h of sun, best in the evening
- ~14h of sun, best in the evening
Sunniest terraces by neighbourhood
Amsterdam's best-known neighbourhoods, each with their sunniest terraces.
Centrum
- ~13h of sun, best in the morning
- ~12h of sun, best in the evening
- ~10h of sun, best at midday
- ~11h of sun, best in the morning
- ~7h of sun, best in the morning
Grachtengordel
- ~13h of sun, best in the morning
- ~10h of sun, best in the morning
- Limited direct sun
- ~12h of sun, best at midday
- ~7h of sun, best in the morning
Jordaan
- ~13h of sun, best in the morning
- ~11h of sun, best in the morning
- ~6h of sun, best in the afternoon
- Limited direct sun
- ~12h of sun, best in the morning
De Pijp
- ~11h of sun, best at midday
- ~11h of sun, best at midday
- ~10h of sun, best at midday
- ~11h of sun, best in the morning
- ~10h of sun, best at midday
Oost
- ~14h of sun, best in the morning
- ~13h of sun, best in the evening
- ~12h of sun, best in the morning
- ~12h of sun, best in the evening
- ~13h of sun, best at midday
Oud-West
- ~8h of sun, best in the afternoon
- ~7h of sun, best in the afternoon
- ~6h of sun, best in the afternoon
- ~5h of sun, best in the morning
- ~4h of sun, best at midday
Frequently asked questions
When is a terrace in the sun?
It depends on the terrace's orientation and the buildings around it. A south-facing terrace in an open street may be sunny from mid-morning until sunset; a terrace tucked between tall buildings might only catch an hour of direct light. Sunsipper computes this per terrace, per 15-minute slot across the day.
How do you know which terraces are sunny?
We use official Amsterdam terrace-permit data for exact terrace outlines, 3DBAG building-height data from TU Delft for the 3D geometry of surrounding buildings, and precise astronomical sun-position math. For each terrace we ray-cast toward the sun across a fine grid of points and count how many reach open sky — no crowdsourced guesses, just geometry.
Which Amsterdam neighbourhoods have the sunniest terraces?
It varies by street and season, but open squares and south-facing canals in the Jordaan, De Pijp, and Grachtengordel tend to produce the longest sun windows. The Sunsipper map lets you filter by neighbourhood and time of day to find the best match for your plans.
Are the sun times shown live?
No — the sun estimates shown here are based on a typical week (a reference Monday computed weekly from building-shadow models). Live conditions on the map take into account today's exact time, but this guide page is a weekly snapshot and does not update in real time.
How accurate is the shadow model?
The model is built from authoritative data: real terrace outlines and real building heights from the City of Amsterdam and TU Delft. The sun-position math is exact astronomy. The main caveat is that the model doesn't yet account for trees, parasols, or temporary structures — treat it as a strong head start, not a guarantee.