I hadn’t been to Amsterdam before and John was last there 35 years ago (hint: it’s a bit different!).  That was part of our reasoning for trying it out this time.  

We stayed in the canal district – a former work colleague recommended some apartments but when they unexpectedly had to cancel our booking (reading between the lines we think they were exploiting a grey area in the regulations on hotels and the hotels next door dobbed them in!)  we chose a hotel nearby and were very happy with the location – away from the madness of Dam Square and the red light district, but near the Jordaan area of interesting food and with the feel of not just being about tourism.  

We were luckly with the weather – warm and sunny; this meant the Dutch came out to party after winter and the vibe was fun; the museums were wonderful but just being out and about was entertainment in itself.  And like our experience in Scandanavia so much english is spoken that it’s an easy place to be a tourist – particularly at the end of a trip when you just want things to be easy!  So we’d definitely recommend it!