Amsterdam

Summer is the most popular tourist season for Amsterdam, though there are great reasons to visit throughout the year. April and May, though a bit chilly, is a great time to see the fields of tulips. In the summer months, the weather warms but doesn't get hot, which makes it ideal for food, music, dance, and theater festivals outdoors - though the chance of rain does increase. Fall encourages indoor activities, such as museums, covered botanical gardens, and Dutch apple pie in cozy cafes; if the rain lets up, though, enjoy the fierce fall colors of the De Jordaan canal trees or those in Vondelpark. Daylight may be short in winter, but the temperature stays relatively mild, which makes the Christmas markets, light festivals, ice skating, and other winter events inviting.

• Rijksmuseum : Centrally located, this is a national art museum with paintings, sketches and other mediums from artists such as Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Van Gogh.

• De Jordaan : One of Amsterdam's most famous neighborhoods, which is lined with 17th century houses, cafes, and boutiques, but also the home of diarist Anne Frank. The canal is lined with trees and picturesque buildings.

• Keukenhof : This garden is a showcase for bulb flowers, which the Dutch have been cultivating for centuries. Spring is probably the best season to visit, to see the tulips in blossom.

• Zaanse Schans : This area, a quick drive or train ride from Amsterdam, could be called an outdoor museum. Full of transplanted barns, windmills and other buildings, it serves as a living monument to Dutch ingenuity and culture.