Amsterdam

If all you think of when you think of Amsterdam is legal marijuana and the red light district, you are criminally underselling this beautiful, fascinating, and exciting Dutch city. Rich in history, architectural beauty, and home to many world-class museums and galleries, spending your time high on weed is not the best use of precious hours in the Netherlands’ capital.

Art lovers should start at the Rijksmuseum, with it’s 1.5km worth of galleries, boasting famous names such as Rembrandt. Then of course there’s the world’s largest collection of Van Gogh’s work at the Van Gogh Museum.

Amsterdam was hit hard by the Nazi Germany regime. One of the most famous victims of the time was Anne Frank. The house where her family hid and where she wrote her now-classic diary is a museum for people to comprehend the horrors of the time and appreciate Anne’s words. For another excellent educational experience about this horrific period of history, do not miss the Verzetsmuseum for tales about Dutch resistance to German occupation.

Make like a local and head to Vondelpark or Oosterpark to get back to nature and enjoy the sunshine, and generally just enjoy strolling the tree-lined streets and iconic canals.