De Harmonie

Very pleasant café in downtown Edam. The owner and his staff are very layed back. Time seems to stand still in this café. With good weather try a seat outside next to the canal.

De Harmonie is a pub and pension located near the center of old Edam, only 20 minutes out of Amsterdam. They host live music on Sundays, featuring folk and acoustic touring acts as well as local jam sessions. Situated on a cobblestone street across from a canal, De Harmonie is a delightful place to spend an afternoon or evening sipping a beer. They have 8 beers on tap, and feature the local seasonal beers when possible. The menu seems to be limited to what they have on hand… the sign on the street said «Eat what the band eats», which turned out be a cheeseburger and frites. One of our group is a vegetarian, but they managed to find her a vegetable lasagna, so it never hurts to ask. People in Holland seem to be very accommodating as long as you ask politely. De Harmonie has four rooms upstairs for rent. In our room, all four beds were in the same room with one bathroom and a kitchenette. The prices are affordable, and breakfast the next morning was included. The only thing to be aware of is whether you are staying on a night when there is music… the jam session went until midnight, and we could hear it all the way upstairs!

A small «hotel-​pension» with only five rooms, De Harmonie is really quite and experience.
First, I need to correct the website address is is
the is a typo in the Unilocal listing (I sent a correction but will keep it in the review until it’s corrected).
The place is really a pub with a few rooms upstair. It can be a bit noisy in the evening because of the pub but rooms are clean and nice (European size, so not very large). Price are on the cheap side and you get an excellent value. I paid 60 euro for a single room and that included breakfast.
The dutch breakfast is served in the morning in the pub and include coffee, juice, local cheese, eggs, bread and cold meats. Quite good to start the morning.
The wifi is also free (rare in Europe).
The hotel is well located the the little town’s center with some nice restaurant and cheese shops nearby. Edam is know for originating the «edam» cheese of course which is quite tasty especially when aged. It is an historic walled city and it is quite charming.
I did use Edam as based the last time I went to IBC (International Broadcasting Convention) in Amsterdam when all the hotels there are booked and prices are outrageous. Edam is a short 30 minutes drive to the RAI exhibition center (less to downtown Amsterdam) and this hotel offer that way an peaceful, nice and inexpensive alternative to staying in Amsterdam (yes, it does imply a bit more logistics). The easy free street parking in front of the hotel makes it easy to commute to Amsterdam by car. An alternative is to use the bus service to Amsterdam which is a bit slower but also convenient.