PalQ

Amsterdam,you either love it or hate it it seems - opinions vary greatly. What's your impression of this one-of-a-kind place?

chris1234

two of the best musueums in europe and we loved the food. sex show wasnt bad either. not really, but gave us a good story for our friends.

ealing_calling

Thought I would detest the place. Then I had to go for a conference in 2001 . . .

Love it. Architecture, culture, pace of life, design, shopping, clattering along on a bike, café-hopping & drinking fluitjes (tiny little beers) at fantastic canal-side terraces. Not to mention the A'dam service ethic and sense of humor * )

Just booked my Thalys there for this year's conference! Terrifically exciting.

It's not all sex & drugs & rock'n'roll. Thought it would be a stag night/bachelor party hell -- & instead, its sophistication slapped me in the face. Great off-peak place to be, BTW.

So are you from the A'dam VVV?

April

My husband and I LOVED Amsterdam. It isn't a place I'd want to live but we loved the museums, the super-friendly people, the nighttime canal cruise, and just walking along the canals looking at the architecture and crooked buildings.

Travelnut

I'm a fan. Great airport, rail system. . . love renting bikes, looking at canal houses, ding-a-ling of bike bells, trams cruising by, no real language barrier . . .We often start our trips here.

suec1

I didn't think I wanted to go to Amsterdam but ended up going there to visit my daughter who was working in a hostel for the summer. I loved it and would like to go again. There is great art, there is lots of good food and the canals and architecture make it a very unique experience. I loved being in a canal side cafe watching the boats on one side and all the bicycles on the other. Its very possible to visit the city and not even encounter the vices that make it notorious.

TopMan

Another vote and for many of the same reasons mentioned above.

I suppose one other nice thing about it is the fact that the people who live there aren't the least bit hypocritical about those "vices that make the place notorious" which is refreshing.

JulieVikmanis

It took me a little while to decide how I felt about the place. It certainly wasn't love at first sight, but since I often fly KLM, I've grown accustomed to her face, so to speak, and now enjoy it very much. I've always said that the one thing it would be impossible to be in Amsterdam is unique. If it exists or has been done, it's been done there. Not sure how the locals put up with all the oddities but it certainly is interesting to visit once in a while.

flanneruk

Really can't see what the fuss is about.

It's a real European city. More fun than Stockholm. More public decorum than Manchester. Food doesn't hold a candle to Brussels or Lyons (and doesn't compare that favourably to the Commercial Hotel, Cowdenbeath). Cleaner than Birmingham (but so are most third-world rubbish-tips). Beer awful (surrounded by Germany and Belgium, and next door to England, how can they drink such rubbish?)

Art galleries really aren't in the first division, but in there with, say, Milan. But the streetscapes beat everywhere else its size in Northern Europe. And the people are universally nice (until you start having a real meeting with them, at which point all the stereotypes show themselves as true).

Just another real, medium-size, European city. No quirkier than Liverpool or Palermo.

Little to hate or love. It just is.

Grasshopper

I love it. For a lot of the reasons mentioned above. I could easily live there if it weren't for the weather. It rains just a little too much. But that said, I may still park myself there for 6 months one of these days.

P_M

I liked the museums, especially the Van Gogh museum, and I was deeply moved by the Anne Franke house. The evening canal ride was great also. I've only been there once and I do not rule out a return some day, but I'm not in a huge hurry to do so. However, I am very glad to have visited Amsterdam.

dcespedes

We were there summer 2002, loved it and hope some day to return.

m_kingdom2

A lacklustre city, bland buildings, unexciting shops, excellent Van Gogh museum, that's about it.

No fabulous restaurants, the place is a dump!

Elizabeth

I've spent a lot of time there at different times of the year. I have never thought of it as defined by its "vices" though I suppose one could.



Van Gogh Museum is terrific and important, but I also think of the Riijksmuseum as kind of big deal, myself, with its major Rembrandts and Vermeers, and general good collection of Dutch painting, and I think of Holland as the other major painting center of Europe besides Italy, though I guess the brilliant earlier stuff is technically "Northern" and not just Dutch.

I love the major canals and the quality the light has when there is so much water around. I love the multiculturalism of Amsterdam and in particular its long acquaintance with the East. Dutch food I could entirely forget about, but I like their Chinese food. (Agreed one wouldn't GO ther for the food.) And: they make a sublime cup of coffee, thanks to the Indonesia connection. They are really serious about their coffee.

I think a New Yorker is comfortable there as it matches our multicultural-ness and tolerance but is still pleasantly foreign.

Eleni

Love it, and there are definitely fabulous restaurants there, two that come to mind off the top of my head are Chez Georges and Utrechtsedwarstafel.

Flyboy

I've always found Amsterdam to be a refreshing break with a unique ambiance. Bland buildings? I disagree. The 16th and 17th century structures densely lining Amsterdam's signature canals and narrow streets define the city and create a sense of place that is unique. Coffee shops, ethnic restaurants, funky shops, brown cafes and friendly pubs abound. The tolerant culture, welcoming atmosphere and the ease of with which visitors can take in all that the city has to offer make Amsterdam one of Europe's finest destinations. For me, returning to Amsterdam is like seeing an old friend again and I always look forward to it.

USNR

I've been seeing the slow decline of civility within Amsterdam for more than 30 years. Each time I visit, it gets a little dirtier, a little more rundown, a little more neglected, and a lot more expensive. Sooner or later, it will become the center of a nationwide revulsion and the good Dutch people will demand that it be cleaned up. Until then, don't hold your breath.

m_kingdom2

I happened to be discussing Amsterdam with a Dutch hotel receptionist who was dealing with a request, we were talking, and when I mentioned Amsterdam, she shuddered. Dutch people don't love Amsterdam, far from it!

mikemo

I think our fav Brits and USNR have a correct current perspective.
M

artstuff

I LOVE Amsterdam, primarily for it's TOLERANCE - a concept the Dutch have been living by for centuries, a concept we could all learn to adapt. (You can visit the Tolerance Statue in front of the train station in Hilversum.)

What makes Amsterdam a one-of-a-kind place? The history, the museums, the marketplaces, the flowers, the architecture, and just the fact that Amsterdam and the polder region was claimed from the sea! What ingenious technology!! The people are wonderful...the food is varied...good wine and beer are available (thanks to neighboring countries)...the coffeeshops are tolerated, and the weed is great...the public transportation system is clean and efficient...and there are so many other wonderful towns just a day trip away by rail.

Amsterdam...what a wonderful, tolerant town. Peace.

Robyn