The first thing many tourists do when they get to Amsterdam is start looking around to see if they can find all the dodgy stuff. So let's start with that.

Amsterdam is famous for its cannabis cafes - exactly what they sound like, cafes that sell cannabis. While this is not completely legal as many people think, the police turn a blind eye to the practice as long as the cafes don't get too big, or threaten to overrun an area. You'll probably find that most areas have one or two small cafes, but you might have to ask around.

The most well-known of the red-light districts is De Wallen. Prostitution is legal here, in a strange network of back alleys with glass-doored flats, and is surprisingly affordable and clean. Walking down the street is absolutely surreal, especially considering the lovely canal right next to it.

Let's turn to some higher culture. Those canals are simply beautiful, and they criss-cross the city, much like they do in Venice. One of the most enjoyable things to do in Amsterdam is to simply sit in a coffee shop by the canal (cannabis or not, your choice) and watch the world go by.

Amsterdam boasts a very large selection of museums. There's the Rijksmuseum, the traditional national museum of the Netherlands, and Stedelijk modern art museum - they're conveniently located right next to each other, on Museumplein ('Museum Square'). Museumplein is also home to the Van Gogh museum, which houses the world's largest collection of Van Gogh paintings.

A little further out there's the Rembrandt House Museum, a Rembrandt gallery in the house where he once lived. Similarly, Anne Frank's house in Amsterdam has been turned into a museum, complete with the secret room where she hid from the Nazis, preserved just as it was when she was alive.