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Amsterdam Mini Guide
Holland’s capital Amsterdam is a city of contrasts and attracts many different types of tourism. This fine city of art, architecture and culture with its beautiful canals and cobbled streets also has a seedy underbelly.
Thousands of people go to Amsterdam every year to partake of its coffee shops where marijuana is sold legally, and they also go ‘window shopping’ through its red light district as prostitution is also legal there. This policy of tolerance is very attractive to many visitors especially as the Dutch are well known for being very friendly and excellent at conversing in English.
However tourists should be aware that although the authorities there are relaxed it does not mean that anything goes. In fact recently there has been a drive to clean up Amsterdam by closing many of the coffee shops and also windows in the red light district.
They should also be wary when walking through this notorious part of Amsterdam which rings the central station as there have been many reporting muggings and robberies there. While the latter activities of pot smoking and prostitution have made Amsterdam a favoured destination for students and stag parties, this beautiful city has some other fine sights to see.
Amsterdam, whose one million people live along the banks of the River Amstel is also highly multi-cultural. One place which must be seen is the house of Anne Frank where this little Jewish girl hid from the Germans during World War II all the while keeping a diary of events.
Flying into Amsterdam you will arrive at one of the world’s most modern airports, Amsterdam Schiphol, which is well connected to destinations across the whole world. You will find the car rental desks on Schiphol Plaza as you come out of arrivals.
Once you have picked up your Rhino hire car you should be aware that driving in the city takes some getting used to because of the massive amount of cyclists on the road as well as an intricate tram system which criss-crosses the city. If you are driving to Holland from neighbouring
Germany you will take the A1 road, from
Belgium in the south you take the A2.
Amsterdam is well connected to other Dutch cities such as The Hague and
Utrecht by road and the speed limit is 120 kilometres per hour. It is also easy to take the ferry across to Holland, pick up your Rhino rental car, and drive to Amsterdam.
- From the 15th May 2017 the flight operator KLM will be offering more flights to Amsterdam from London. This will mean there will now be 8 daily weekday flights.
– Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is employing more security staff to try and address the issue of long waiting times for passengers. This will include deploying more staff during the May holiday.
Children can often be difficult to entertain on a city break but this year, a company called Guided Tours (www.guidedtours.nl) have introduced a twist on tours of the city with a treasure hunt theme. Children (accompanied by their parents) travel around the city with a guide, trying to collect all manner of items before earning a prize and of course, learning a little about Amsterdam on the way!
- This year the city commemorates ten major anniversaries and the I AMsterdam network is determined to make sure every visitor gets to enjoy at least one celebration including the 400th anniversary of the building of the city's canal ring.