Ask a tourist for the most beautiful part of Amsterdam and you will hear about the canals. Ask the people who live there and the answer gets wider. The Jordaan tops our ranking, but right below it you find a garden village in Oost, a quiet street by the Beatrixpark, a district on the south-eastern edge of the city and a waterside part of Nieuw-West.
A fair warning first: Amsterdam has 258 reviews on Buurtje.nl, but they are spread over more than a hundred districts. The districts in this piece have between three and seven each. One new rating can reshuffle the order. We only include districts with at least three reviews and always say how many there are.
The ten highest scores at a glance
| District | Borough | Score | Reviews |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jordaan | Centrum | 8.8 | 6 |
| Frankendael | Oost | 8.6 | 3 |
| Indische Buurt-Oost | Oost | 8.4 | 4 |
| Spaarndammerbuurt/Zeeheldenbuurt | West | 8.3 | 4 |
| Scheldebuurt | Zuid | 8.3 | 3 |
| Gein | Zuidoost | 8.3 | 6 |
| Osdorp-Oost | Nieuw-West | 8.2 | 5 |
| Burgwallen-Oude Zijde | Centrum | 8.2 | 4 |
| Weesp Binnenstad/Zuid | Weesp | 7.9 | 3 |
| Nieuwmarkt/Lastage | Centrum | 7.9 | 6 |
Number one is a working-class neighbourhood
The Jordaan scores 8.8 from six reviews, the highest in the city. Read the reviews and it makes sense. One resident, born and raised there, would not swap it for any other part of Amsterdam. Others mention familiar faces, markets and shops within walking distance and neighbours who lend a hand. Accessibility (9.5) and amenities (9.3) score highest. There are caveats too: cleanliness stalls at 7.5, and one resident feels their street attracts too many loitering teenagers. You do see tourists, another writes, but they don't really get in the way. There is a good choice of homes for sale and homes for rent in the Jordaan right now.
A village in the city
Residents of three districts on the list describe them in almost the same way: quiet, manageable, everybody knows each other.
Frankendael: 8.6 (3 reviews)
With Tuindorp Frankendael and De Eenhoorn, this district in Oost wraps around the park of the same name. What stands out is how even the scores are: nothing drops below 8.3. Residents mention good neighbours and lots of children. The only real downside anyone writes down: there is no supermarket around the corner. See the homes for sale or homes for rent in Frankendael.
Scheldebuurt: 8.3 (3 reviews)
In the Rivierenbuurt, opposite the Beatrixpark, lies the Scheldebuurt. Two residents use exactly the same words: it feels like a village in the middle of the city. Most traffic is local, children play outside and the Maasstraat and Scheldestraat shopping streets are around the corner. Safety gets a 9.3. Traffic on the Scheldestraat itself, though, is seen as dangerous. Want to live here? Look at the homes for sale and homes for rent in the Scheldebuurt.
Indische Buurt-Oost: 8.4 (4 reviews)
Around the Makassarplein, the reviews are mostly about people: friendly, helpful, a place where you live together rather than alone. Accessibility (9.5) and greenery (9.0) score high, education lowest at 7.3. There are homes for sale and a few homes for rent in the district.
Close to Centraal, yet a world of its own
The Spaarndammerbuurt and Zeeheldenbuurt score 8.3 together (4 reviews). Amenities get a 9.3: schools, restaurants and parks are close and Centraal Station is a short bike ride away. One resident describes how neighbours in their building keep the stairwell clean together. Cleanliness is the weak point at 6.3: litter on the street, and residents feel it isn't cleared often enough. Another resident mentions drug dealers causing trouble around the main street. What's available: homes for sale and homes for rent.
Outside the ring road, too
If you assume the best scores all fall inside the A10, look at Gein in Zuidoost: 8.3 from six reviews. Many people here have stayed for decades. One resident has lived there since 1985, another for 42 years. They call it quiet, green and child-friendly, easy to reach by car and public transport and even wheelchair-friendly. Safety gets a 9.2. One resident thinks the area could use some modernising. Searching here? See the homes for sale and homes for rent in Gein.
On the other side of the city, Osdorp-Oost does almost as well with 8.2 (5 reviews). Most reviews come from Meer en Oever, by the water. Residents mention the spacious layout, lots of greenery, open water, good shops and parking space. "It doesn't get better than this in Amsterdam," one writes, glad there are no tourists. A resident who has lived there since 1963 sees the area getting nicer and nicer. Education scores 9.0, safety lowest at 7.6. See the homes for sale or homes for rent in Osdorp-Oost.
Right in the bustle
The most surprising name in the top ten is Burgwallen-Oude Zijde, the oldest part of the city centre: 8.2 from four reviews. Amenities get a perfect 10. Residents are honest about the price they pay: in the evening it is so noisy that with the window open you can hardly hear the person you're talking to, at weekends it is hard to get through the crowds of tourists and there is a lot of litter. Cleanliness therefore scores only 5.8. Still, they have happily lived there for years. There are homes for sale and homes for rent available.
Just outside the top eight
Two districts share a 7.9. Weesp Binnenstad/Zuid (3 reviews) has been part of Amsterdam since the merger; residents praise the quiet historic centre and the nearby station (for sale, for rent). Nieuwmarkt/Lastage (6 reviews) scores well on education and safety, but housing lags behind at 6.8 (for sale, for rent).
And the rest of the city?
Across all of Amsterdam, the average is 7.4. Accessibility and safety score best at 7.9, cleanliness worst at 6.6. You see that last one in almost every district, including those at the top. The lowest scores are in Nieuw-West and De Pijp; we wrote a separate piece about those.
All scores come from residents' reviews on Buurtje.nl, as of October 2026, using the 2025 district boundaries of Statistics Netherlands (CBS). The score per district is the average of eight parts: safety, accessibility, community, greenery, housing, education, amenities and cleanliness.
Looking yourself?
Browse the current homes for sale in Amsterdam and homes for rent in Amsterdam. Live in a district that's missing here? Rate your neighbourhood and your voice counts next time.
Read on: which districts score lowest in Amsterdam, the safest districts in Amsterdam, and just across the city line the best neighbourhoods in Zaanstad and Haarlem.
