Venice of the North, Island of Bicycles, A’Dam, Capital of Netherlands – however referred, Amsterdam is a traveller’s easy favourite. Meandering canals, pedestrian-friendly streets and tulips galore, here’s a few quotes that capture the essence of this daring city.

Some tourists think Amsterdam is a city of sin, but in truth, it is a city of freedom. And in freedom, most people find sin.

I think Amsterdam is to Holland what New York is to America in a sense. It’s a metropolis, so it’s representative of Holland, but only a part of it – you know, it’s more extreme, there’s more happening, it’s more liberal and more daring than the countryside in Holland is.

…the curious Dutch classification gedogen, which means ‘technically illegal but officially tolerated.

Amsterdam has more than 150 canals and 1,250 bridges, but it never seems crowded

The many cultures in Amsterdam contribute to the city’s high level of craziness – something which every interesting city should offer

Stand outside De Eland, on the Berenstraat Bridge over the Prinsengracht, and you see what real Amsterdam life is like

Amsterdam was a great surprise to me. I had always thought of Venice as the city of canals; it had never entered my mind that I should find similar conditions in a Dutch town.

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