Exploring Amsterdam: Canals, design, and museums

Amsterdam - it's hard to top the diversity on offer in the capital of the Netherlands. Innumerable canals, or grachten in Dutch, stately canal houses and an abundance of culture ensure that visitors never get bored. However, the first positive impression visitors get comes from the locals, who seem to be more laid-back than people elsewhere. The city is easy to explore on foot, by bike or in a boat. And we even have an excellent hotel recommendation for you. The College Hotel - the name is a holdover from the 19th century when the building housed a school and, to a certain degree, that legacy continues as hotel management students are trained here. The service has a few glitches now and then, but that does have its charm and you pay a four-star price for a hotel with five-star comforts. What's more, the College Hotel also has bikes. Explore the city center in the area around Prinsengracht and Singelgracht canals. There's plenty of water here, and loads to see in the small connecting streets.

Droog design collective is the perfect address for visitors searching for what's young and hip in Amsterdam. It's merely a few minutes away. You can come to shop or simply to marvel at the wares. Droog strives to be an interface between art and design, and does so with resounding success. Products designed for Droog are even part of in the permanent collection in New York's MoMA.

Apropos art - a trip through the city's museum district is an absolute must for every visitor. All of Amsterdam's big-name museums are concentrated in this area. We'll bypass all the classic museums and head into the Van Loon. It is a museum as well, except in this case the building itself is the finest work of art you'll see. Everything here is just as it was when the affluent Van Loon family lived here. A visit to this museum affords tourists the opportunity to admire one of the city's lovely canal houses from the inside. Until recently one of the Von Loon heirs still lived here, and she even sometimes greeted visitors while in her bathrobe. Guest of state are still allowed to lodge here now and then. To wrap things up we change perspectives. Hop on a boat. Around 80 kilometers of canals run through Amsterdam. Floating down just a few of them will make your trip to Amsterdam an unforgettable one.