Q&A with Berber Hidma, co-founder of Tours That Matter

WHAT CHANGES HAVE YOU SEEN IN AMSTERDAM OOST?

It’s gone from no-go area to boomtown. Places like Indische Buurt have new vegan restaurants but also old markets like Tigris & Eufraat, where people come from all over. I recently discovered Afval Paleis on Dapperstraat, a place to swap home decor and do knitting courses, with a cafe. It shows that good decor can be both sustainable and inexpensive.

WHO’S BEEN THE MOST MEMORABLE PERSON ON A TOUR?

Firoez Azarhoosh, the pioneering Iranian refugee locals call ‘King of the East’. He founded Meevaart community centre on Balistraat that helps immigrant groups intermix.

WHAT’S YOUR IDEAL OOST DAY OUT?

I’d have coffee at the Moroccan bakery Kardas or the De Jonge Admiraal, then visit the Resistance Museum, an alternative to Anne

Frank House that chronicles Amsterdammers who simply accepted the Nazi regime and examines why they did. And I’d cycle to Flevopark, Amsterdam’s wildest park, next to the water. It feels like you’re not even in the city.

For Amsterdam tours on themes of colonialism, diversity and gentrification, visit toursthatmatter.com