Netherlands · Provincie Noord-Holland · Amsterdam
Bijlmermeer, Amsterdam — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Bijlmermeer is the largest residential neighborhood of Amsterdam-Zuidoost, the borough in Amsterdam's far southeast. Locals call the whole area the Bijlmer. Built in the 1960s as a high-rise estate on modernist planning ideals, it is known for hexagonal apartment blocks, wide green space, and one of the most multicultural communities in the Netherlands.
About Bijlmermeer
Where to stay in Bijlmermeer
The right area depends on your trip — here's what each neighbourhood is best for.
Staying in Bijlmermeer means choosing a quiet, mostly residential district rather than a sightseeing base. The neighborhood itself holds few hotels; most beds in Amsterdam-Zuidoost cluster to the west, around the Amsterdam Arena district and the offices of Amstel III. That location suits people coming for a concert or match at the Arena, or for business in the surrounding parks.
Metro trains reach central Amsterdam quickly. Travellers who want canals and museums should look instead to the older heart of the city.
About Bijlmermeer
What are the main landmarks in Bijlmermeer?
The neighborhood's best-known site is sombre: the El Al Flight 1862 memorial, which marks the 1992 cargo-plane crash into two of its high-rise blocks. A short walk away, the Bijlmermuseum preserves a run of the original honeycomb flats and tells the story of the estate's design and rebuilding. On the western edge, beside the Amsterdam Arena district, the World of Ajax presents the history of the city's football club.
Together these give the area three very different draws. One mourns, one teaches, one cheers.
What is the history of Bijlmermeer?
The name comes from a drained lake. Amsterdam built the district up through the 1960s and 1970s as a showcase of modernist planning, with tall honeycomb blocks, traffic raised onto elevated roads, and green space spread between the towers. The scheme fell short of its promise, and by the 1980s the estate struggled with empty flats and neglect.
In 1992 an El Al cargo jet crashed into two of the towers, an event marked at the El Al Flight 1862 memorial. A long renewal later pulled down many original blocks for lower housing, while sparing the run kept as the Bijlmermuseum.
Where is Bijlmermeer?
Bijlmermeer forms the residential core of Amsterdam-Zuidoost, a borough that sits apart from the rest of Amsterdam as an exclave, separated from it by Duivendrecht and Diemen. Its streets run beside the other Zuidoost neighborhoods of Venserpolder and Gaasperdam, while the Amstel III business park and the Amsterdam Arena district lie along its western side. Elevated metro tracks and raised roadways thread through it.
Parkland and lakes edge its outer rim.
More areas in Amsterdam
Updated July 2026