2 Best Sights in Amsterdam, Netherlands

Of Amsterdam's 60-plus drawbridges, this is the most famous, and it provides gorgeous views of the Amstel and surrounding area. It's said to have been first built in the 1660s, around the time of the construction of the Eastern Canal Ring. While there are many theories about the origins of its name, the most colorful tells a tale of two sisters living on opposite sides of the Amstel who wanted an efficient way of sharing that grandest of Dutch traditions: the gezellige (socially cozy) midmorning coffee break. Whether "mager" referred to their surname, slim physiques, or possibly even their miserliness, we'll never know. Walk by at night when it's spectacularly lighted. Many replacements to the narrow original bridge have come and gone; the current one dates from 1931 but bears a close resemblance to the 19th-century design.

A top photo op around the Canal Ring, the Torensluis is the oldest original stone bridge in Amsterdam and the widest of its kind. It was named for the medieval city wall tower that abutted this 17th-century sluice gate (you can still see its outlines in the pavement stones). The rooms with barred windows that you see at the base of the bridge were once a prison.