Famed for its liberal culture and beautiful network of canals, Amsterdam is a wonderfully exciting and appealing city, whose compact centre makes it easy for visitors to get around on foot to soak up the laid back, friendly atmosphere at close hand. With warm and welcoming residents, it's a city where anything goes and everyone feels instantly at home.

Geographically, Amsterdam is built around a circular network of canals fed from the Rivers Amstel IJ. Once an important centre of trade and manufacture, the city's waterways provided vital transport links and the canalsides are lined with old, gabled, brickwork warehouses and merchants' homes. There are no distinct areas in the centre as it's so compact, but it's clear where the old town lies and there are marked differences in outer lying areas such as the Jordaan, formerly a poor immigrant neighbourhood, the old Jewish quarter, and a concentration of some of the city's best museums in the area just south of the Singelgracht. 

Getting to Amsterdam is easy. Schiphol Airport has connections to most major international cities and it's well connected to Amsterdam by a regular train service, which terminates at Centraal Station in the north of the city centre, just a short walk from the central Dam Square. There are also plenty of international coach connections, most of which arrive at Amstel Station to the south. Within the city, the transport options are equally as good. The buses, metro and trams are frequent, reliable and inexpensive. Alternatively, if you feel like really getting into the Amsterdam spirit, you could hire a bicycle from one of the many rental companies scattered across the city.