NH City North, Amsterdam

Advantages: Close to town, Quiet, Nice rooms
Disadvantages: Expensive bar

...We had immense trouble deciding on a hotel for my husband's birthday break in Amsterdam. We're trying to find a reasonably priced hotel that wasn't too shabby and in a decent location. After reviewing all the options, we went for the NH City Centre, if only because of it's 1920's styling and proximity to town. We were not disappointed. The hotel is lovely with each room finished beautifully, if you like the modern thing (and we do!). The overall atmosphere is very calm and serene. It took us forever to find the hotel, but that may have been because I insisted, as I had been to Amsterdam a couple of times before, that finding our way around would be easy, we could walk there and we didn't need a map. About an hour later we finally found the back of the hotel, exhausted from dragging our suitcases up and down a zillion canals... Read review

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Advantages: Easily accessible from UK, Cheap flights/coach transport.
Disadvantages: Small city and not many maps so you get easily lost

.... Car If you choose to go to Amsterdam by car it would take approximately 5 hours (6 if the traffic is busy and everything else goes well). You can take your own car and get the Eurostar to Brussels or you can go by ferry from Harwich (near London) to The Hook of Holland (just below The Hague) then drive up to Amsterdam. With Airline Network you can get car hire in Amsterdam as cheap as £9 per day. Car parking is cheap within the city limit and park and ride facilities are also available. Tickets that can be purchased are day & week parking tickets and tourist parking tickets. The fastest routes into Amsterdam are the 'S' routes. Ferry You can travel to Amsterdam by ferry fairly easily as there are several ports to depart from in the UK. You could go by Harwich, Kingston upon Hull or North Shields. And the principals that offer... Read review

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Advantages: Cosmopoltan,liberal,friendly environment
Disadvantages: Quite expensive

...A 17th century visitor to Amsterdam wrote, "... It appears at first not to be a city of any particular people but to be common to all." The city has been a haven for refugees, particularly from political and religious persecution. It still has the reputation of being the most tolerant of cities and the local residents display little of the nationalistic claustrophobia that is prevalent in s parts of the world. As Baruch Spinova, himself the son of a Jewish émigré put it, "... In this city second to none, men of every nation and sect live together in the utmost harmony." A good part of the city is a living museum of chocolate-box, gabled, 17th century houses, whose elegant facades are perfectly balanced by their shifting reflections in the smooth water of the canals. Houses are often narrow because when they were built taxes... Read review

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