Amsterdam – Van Gogh, Anne Frank, Rembrandt, red district, legal dope, canals….loved the spirit of the city. Best to be enjoyed with a liberated free mind.

To reach
I have visited Amsterdam while being in Europe, never directly from India; once in KLM airlines from Munich and then in Thalys train from Paris. Thalys is a bit expensive; flights came cheaper. However we booked well in advance before reaching Europe, and got good fares. Thalys is a high speed wi-fi enabled train, and is a must-feel to get the European train experience. The interior, the comfort and the elegance is really worth the money. We got a bar-coded ticket while booking online, and it is enough to show the barcode either in print or in phone.

To do
Walk! Amsterdam is a highly walkable city, at least in the summers that I have been there (after the tulip season, unfortunately). The weather is pretty comfortable. No need for pullovers for most of the day. I used just denims and t-shirts, with a few colourful stoles. The roads have clear paths for cyclists, pedestrians, buses and trams. Though the city can be crowded in tourist season, the clear divider on road makes it extremely walk-able; and you can take a round of the city in just half a day.

For a light-headed walking, keep a Heineken with you – original Amsterdam one, unless you prefer marijuana, to be legally stoned. But yes, it is that hippy side of legal drugs and sex that any tourist would first sense. In a deeper way, it is the liberated spirit of the city, that fought with its windmills against the sea water, that sheltered Anne Frank against Nazis. And then, Vangogh – oh! the sunny yellowness that shines through those dark potatoes!