Burgers in Amsterdam at IJ-Hallen Flea Market

On Saturday 7th April we went to the monthly Flea Market across the IJ on the other side of Amsterdam. 

We took the free boat to NDSM again and this time it was packed; there were plenty of tourists for Easter, but our boat seemed to be full of locals travelling there specifically for the market. 

There are 1500 stalls and it was €4.00 in each... the outside area was filled with stalls, all selling second hand goods. Clothes, shoes, books, antiques, furniture..basically everything you could possibly think of at a typical 'Car Boot Sale'

It was very cold, the first cold day we have had during our visit, so we were glad to find indoors was much warmer, larger and more comfortable with hundreds more stalls inside. Like any sale you have to be careful; some items were in terrible condition and for sale for a lot of money; for example, clothes that were well worn that you would pay £2 for in a charity shop in the UK were on sale for €25.00

But you could also get some amazing items, in all categories at great prices. And, ofcourse, there is the chance to negotiate. Arrays of vinyl available for those who like to collect from 1960's upwards. Prints, original art work and photographs; postcards, posters and unique woodwork pieces.

All of the sellers are individuals. They are not allowed to sell new things so, generally, each item will be of varying value to different people. It would certainly be a good place to kit out your home with funky looking vintage stuff.

 I also had the best burger in the world ever. This was €3.50, with the most amazing meat, FRIED ONIONS!!, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, mayonnaise and ketchup

(I'm going to start adopting the mayo / ketchup thing)

I have found that side-road food stalls are all generally very nice and very good value. Much better than many of the sit-in cafes offering the same thing for 3 times the price near the tourist areas.

Seriously; best burger I have ever had. It's not correct to say the meat is spicy, but it is seasoned amazingly.

I would go back to the market just for this alone.

 The market is monthly; usually the first weekend of the month but this is sometimes Saturday only, sometime Saturday and Sunday, you need to check at the time of your visit what the situation is. Take the GVB Free boat to NDSM port, get off the boat and walk right over some waste ground (basically follow everyone else) By the time we left at 4.00pm everything was starting to pack up. Well worth a visit.