Recently I visited Amsterdam. Away from the busy, garish centre, the city was the very definition of words like ‘charming’ and ‘pretty’: a sweep of narrow streets around meandering canals, rickety bicycles wobbling over cobbles, busy restaurants spilling into the roads, tulips galore, quirky architecture everywhere you looked… As we were walking around the canals, [...]
On 13 December, the new Brussels-Amsterdam high-speed line launches and trains from Brussels to Cologne switch to a high-speed line. London to Amsterdam will take four hours, 15 minutes. It’s just as quick as flying – the check-in is only 30 minutes and of course you travel city centre to city centre
Amsterdam’s canals were particularly pretty in the August sunshine, and the waterways offer a great way to see some of the key sights. We admired the skill of our captain, manoeuvring what was a wide and heavy traditional barge from one canal into another – some nifty wheel-turning and spot-on judgment was called for!