Attractions

Amsterdam affords sightseers an embarrassment of riches. There are miles and miles of canals to cruise, hundreds of narrow streets to wander, 7,000 historical buildings to see in the heart of town, around 40 museums of all types to visit, and diamond cutters and craftspeople to watch as they practice generations-old skills. The list is as long as every tourist's individual interests, and then some.

The city has 160 canals -- more than Venice -- with a combined length of 76km (47 miles), spanned by 1,281 bridges -- also more than Venice. The first thing you should do is join the 2.5 million people every year who take a canal ride on a tour boat. Why? Because the water-level view of those gabled canalside houses and the picturesque bridges lends meaning and color to everything else you do in Amsterdam.

Yet most of Amsterdam's attractions are hidden, and they're not even attractions in any conventional sense. They're part of a fabric of life, a special but elusive atmosphere that's been slowly evolving for centuries. There are few open vistas or bombastic buildings; rather, the city is enclosed within itself. You'll need to dig a certain amount to get at these hidden-in-plain-sight features. Above all, maintain that certain attitude: a willingness to slow down, open up, and mentally unbutton.

Money Savers -- One way to save money on museums, attractions, and more is to buy the VVV Amsterdam tourist office's I amsterdam Card. If you're under 26, purchasing a Cultureel Jongeren Pas/CJP (Cultural Youth Passport) for 15€ ($24) gets you a year's worth of discounts at many museums, theaters, cinemas, concerts, record stores, and more around the Netherlands. Visit www.cjp.nl for full details. Serious museum-hoppers might want to purchase a Museumjaarkaart (Museum Year Card), which gives free access to most Dutch museums for a year -- you might easily recover the card's full value in just a few days, if you visit enough museums. It costs 35€ ($56) for adults, and 15€ ($24) for those 24 and under, and it's available from most museums, or, for a 4.95€ ($7.90) charge, via www.museumjaarkaart.nl.

Special Events

April 30 is Koninginnedag (Queen's Day); locals and out-of-towners crowd the streets to enjoy performances, parades, markets, and general merrymaking. The area around the Homomonument becomes a huge outdoor dance club.

June to August, Vondelpark hosts open-air concerts -- check at the VVV Amsterdam tourist office for dates and times. June also has the Holland Festival, an extravaganza of music, dance, and other cultural activities that take place all over the city. There's a different theme each year.

The August Gay Pride Festival in Europe's gay-friendliest city is a big event. A crowd of 150,000 turns out to watch its highlight: the Boat Parade's display of 100 or so outrageously decorated boats cruising the canals. Other draws are street discos, open-air theater performances, a sports program, and a film festival.

In September, the Jordaan Festival showcases this old neighborhood peppered with small inexpensive restaurants, secondhand stores, and unusual boutiques and galleries.

The single most important event in the Netherlands, however, is the flowering of the bulb fields each spring from March to mid-May. Two-thirds of all the cut flowers sold in the world come from the Netherlands. The best flower-viewing areas are between Haarlem and Leiden and between Haarlem and Den Helder.