When to visit

Amsterdam enjoys a fairly standard temperate climate, with warm, if characteristically mild summers and moderately cold and wet winters. Theclimate is certainly not severe enough to make very much difference to thecity’s routines, which makes Amsterdam an ideal all-year destination. Thatsaid, high summer – roughly late June to August – sees the city’s parks packed to the gunnels and parts of the centre almost overwhelmed bytourists, whereas spring and autumn are not too crowded and can be especially beautiful, with mist hanging over the canals and low sunlight beaming through the cloud cover. Indeed, Amsterdam has more than its fair shareof cloudy days at any time of the year, but even in January andFebruary, when things can be at their gloomiest, there arecompensations – wet cobbles glistening under the street lights and the canals rippled by falling raindrops. In thesummer, from around June to August, mosquitoes canbe bothersome. At any time of the year, but particular-ly in summer, try to book your accommodation well ahead of time.

Amsterdam

This is as easy and engaging a capital city as you’ll find a compact, immediately likeable place,small enough to explore easily in a weekend, and with an intriguing combination of the parochial and the international. Just about everyone speaks good-to-fluent English, and more often than not more than a smattering of French and German as well.Amsterdam is a thought ful city too, with a long standing liberal tradition that has given it a distinctive character,beginning with the obvious the legalised prostitution and dope-smoking coffeeshops through to the more subtle, encapsulated by Amsterdammers them selves in the Dutch word gezellig, which roughly corresponds to a combi nation of “cosy”, “lived-in” and “warmly con-vivial”. Nowhere is this more applicable than in the city’s unparalleled selection of gezellig drinking establishments,whether you choose a traditional brown café or one of the newer,designer places. In addition, the city boasts dozens of greatrestaurants, with its Indonesian cuisine second to none, and is at the forefront of contemporary European film, dance, and music. Amsterdam has several top rank jazz venues the Dutch have long had a soft spot for jazz and the Concertgebouw concert hall is home to one of the world’s leading orchestras. By comparison, the club scene is restrained by the standard of other big cities, although gay men are well catered for in the many gay bars and clubs, partly justifying Amsterdam’s claim to be the “Gay Capital of Europe”.