Sir Walter Raleigh once said that 'romance is a love affair in other than domestic surroundings'. But as I passed winding canals and leafy streets with my lover, through a city that varied from fun and seedy; to cool and quirky with each turn, all I wanted was a life here, together in Amsterdam. To be part of the constant buzz created by the Dutch who cycle and eat and flirt on these streets. Now if you have visions of Amsterdam being all elegant tall houses leaning into each other, then first impressions will disappoint. The only things falling over on the main street Damrak, are the drug dealers and stags swarming outside saunas and souvenir shops. So head for the Jordaan. The Notting Hill of Amsterdam, this district has it all. The myriad canals meander around handsome houses, drawing you past windows displaying Mexican kitsch (Kitsch Kitchen, Rozengracht 8-12) and Dutch designer (SPRMRKT, Rozengracht 191-193); via antique shops where impossibly smooth owners languor over a Gauloises. And there are flowers everywhere: on rooftop gardens, hidden courtyards, covering designer houseboats.   The houseboats that sprinkle this area's waterways are a voyeur's dream. Many should be in Wallpaper* magazine, all floor to ceiling windows ...

I woke up dressed, four walls encasing me. There were three young girls looking at me questioningly and talking in their mother tongue, clearly this room wasn’t my own but I had a roof above me, a carpet directly beneath me and the throbbing rattle inside my head was enough to make me appreciate my surroundings. At this primitive stage of the morning I was labeling the shelter as a successful end to last night. It was late January and I had begun a brief winter soiree with the liberal hub of Europe, improvised at late notice due to some unexpected time off work. My experiences in the Dutch capital had begun the day before with a tender innocence that felt unfamiliar as I indolently crawled my way out of the hostel.If there was one thing that set Amsterdam apart from other cities it would be, for me, the fact it manages to intertwine a metropolis of such euphoric intensity with a city steeped in such an astounding antiquity. It seemed to be a city of two poles, the serenity of a swan preening itself in the still tranquility of a canal sitting effortlessly against the streets of rapture, and the endless ...

Often, during musings with like-minded compatriots, conversations turn to the question, ‘Where, if you could choose anywhere in the world, would you want to be right now? ’I will always answer Amsterdam, unequivocally by far my favourite city to date. I first discovered the little gem in the pages of the poignant Anne Frank memoir, which I read at the age of 12. The tragic ordeal of Anne Frank absorbed me at that tender age and inspired my imagination to explore the possibilities of what lay beyond the confines of the achterhuis. I waited many years to experience Amsterdam in person and travel the streets on foot, and of course by bike. It was with some trepidation that I agreed with a close acquaintance to visit Amsterdam as part of a short stint round Europe. Said acquaintance had visited before and told tales of raucous behaviour where morals were haphazardly strewn in the wake of young men tasting the darker side of the city. It seemed too hardcore for me. Yet within moments of stepping out of the train station and into the throng of bikes, moving expertly through the traffic, watching a slightly decrepit tram rattle by I knew that I ...

The reasons I would return to Amsterdam in The Netherlands are varied. To sum it up, it was a matter of love at first sight the first time I visited the city with my wife, and she feels exactly the same way. We made our first trip from our home country, the U.S.A, during Christmas week in 2004. It was sort of a spur-of-the-moment trip-planning thing, since we had not even thought about anything like that until about two months prior. We happened to watch a travel show on television about Amsterdam, and were both struck by how beautiful the city seemed to be, and that as far as European locations in general go, The Netherlands was a country friendly to Americans and with most of the native population speaking some if not fluent English. That was no small consideration for us due to the political climate in the U.S. at the time and how a lot of the rest of the world viewed our country, in addition to my wife never having travelled outside the U.S. and with me having done so only once on a business trip to Germany. To say we both had concerns about getting on a plane ...

When the winter is too warm for skating on the canals, Amsterdam has a number of outside ice rinks including the delightful Museumplein rink which is adjacent to the magnificent Rijksmuseum. Museumplein, or Museum Square, is home to a total of four museums and the other three are the Stedelijk Museum, the Diamond Museum and the Van Gogh Museum. Also located in the square is the United States Consulate. The Museumplein was reconstructed ten years ago to a design by a Swedish architect. There is now parking and a supermarket underground and, above, is an artificial lake which is converted into an ice skating rink for the four months of winter. In the old days, before bicycles, children couldn’t wait for the cold weather to freeze the canals so that they could strap on wooden ice skates and get to school much faster than walking. At the weekends, families would skate to friends and relatives and enjoy biscuits and hot drinks served from barrows. Pea soup was also a popular way to get nutrition and warmth when out skating. From December until March, the ice skating rink at the Museumplein is open everyday between ten o’clock in the morning until eight at ...

Part of the Twenty-first Century Village network in Amsterdam, The Nine Streets / De Negen Straatjes lie in the central canal ring and are one of the city’s most charming and popular areas. Located a few minutes’ walk from Dam Square and the Royal Palace, The Nine Streets straddle four seventeenth century canals: the Singel, Herengracht, Keisersgracht, and Prinsengracht, and are lined with designer boutiques, gift shops, jewellers, art galleries and wonderful cafés, bars and restaurants. Below is a list of typical shops that have helped to establish the retail reputation of the Nine Streets district: ANTONIA BY YVETTE Starting with the feet, Antonia by Yvette is situated behind the Royal Palace and she sells wonderfully stylish boots and dress shoes, and designer handbags. Some of the collection has been designed by Yvette though most of the boots, shoes and bags have been designed and manufactured by leading fashion labels. BEAUREGARD Beauregard is accessory heaven although the shop also sells certain styles of dresses, jeans and jackets to complement the belts, jewellery, wallets, bags and handbags. DE MAAGD & DE LEEUW De Maagd and De Leeuw is a sophisticated store that offers Parisian elegance, and both casual wear and more formal evening attire. There is a ...

Amsterdam Airport is called Schiphol and it is the main international airport for the whole of the Netherlands. Schiphol Airport is about five and a half miles southwest of Amsterdam in an area called Haarlemmermeer. Officially, and on all the signs, the airport is called Amsterdam Airport Schiphol as opposed to Schiphol Airport or Amsterdam Airport. GETTING TO AMSTERDAM CENTER BY TRAIN Travel into the centre of Amsterdam from the airport is very easy as the airport is so close to the city. The Nederlandse Spoorwegen is the national train operator in the Netherlands and it serves the train station which is directly underneath the main passenger terminals. Travelling by train is the swiftest and cheapest method of getting into Amsterdam and other cities within the region such as Utrecht and The Hague. Apart from serving Amsterdam Centraal, Utrecht and The Hague Centraal, the high speed train also goes to Rotterdam and Eindhoven; and there are high speed links from Schiphol Airport to Antwerp, Brussels and Paris. The train journey from Schiphol to Centraal Station in Amsterdam is usually 20 minutes. GETTING TO AMSTERDAM CENTER BY BUS Bus services to Amsterdam from Schiphol Airport are as good as the trains and in some cases may ...

Not far from Centraal Station, on the Eastern Dock and in the area of Nieuwe Zijde is Amsterdam's NEMO museum - no, not a museum dedicated to a little clown fish (!) but a very interesting place to learn about science and technology. Most of the displays deal with scientific topics like energy, medicine and communication, and there is even an educational display on money. We can guarantee your kids will love it. Fun games include playing Sherlock Holmes and finding the murderer through DNA comparisons, the workings of a giant robot, a water exhibit showing how water in Amsterdam is purified... and more! All the displays are explained both in English and in Dutch. As for us big people make the effort to climb the stairs or ramp to the top. There are some marvelous views of the buildings and canals of Amsterdam from the deck of NEMO. There is usually no charge to visit the rooftop, but in the summertime the deck becomes a "beach" so there is a cost then. Because the walk from the station to the museum is not well sign posted we include here the Google map of the location. View Larger Map

What is Queen’s Day? I guess if you are not from Holland it must be one of the strangest festivals you have ever seen. People are going wild and there are parties everywhere throughout the whole country and in Amsterdam above all. Cities, villages, and even the people are all covered in orange. Why? Why is it such a big deal? It’s the Queen’s birthday! Well actually... it’s the birthday of the mother of the Queen. Originally the celebration started out as a free market, the only day in the year when the Dutch go out on the street, and basically gather all the junk they can find in their house, and try to sell it on the market. Along with the market during the years, more and more parties were organised. Queen Juliana passed away, and along with that the original reason to celebrate as well. However, it had become a tradition for the Dutch, a national holiday. Places like Amsterdam evolved the most. There you will really find the whole city orange during Queen’s Day. Amsterdam that on a regular base attracts many tourists already, really turns into a major party on this Day. Many street concerts are organised, all ...