Amsterdam is the capital and the largest city of the Netherlands. It is located in the province of North Holland and has an average population of around 750,000. The name Amsterdam comes from ‘Amstel dam’, which basically means a dam in the river Amstel.
Amsterdam was once one of the most important ports in the world and since the city has expanded, Amsterdam has been deemed as the financial and cultural capital of the Netherlands.
The surrounding land around Amsterdam is fairly flat and the city itself has a large number of canals running through it. Also, to the southwest of Amsterdam there is a large man-made forest which can be seen from the city.
Amsterdam is home to a fairly temperate climate, the winters are mild but rarely falls below 0 degrees celsius, and the summers are warm but rarely very hot.
A lot of the buildings and architecture in Amsterdam are fairly old looking but visually stunning none the less. The canals in the city were once meant for defensive purposes but are now used for residential development. Some of the original canals in Amsterdam have been filled in to make way for streets and squares within the city. Thanks to the canals, more than one hundred bridges have been built to enable easy access throughout the city.
Amsterdam is currently the 5th busiest tourist destination in Europe and attracts around 4.2 million international visitors each year with this number growing very rapidly. A lot of tourists who visit Amsterdam like to visit the small, unique shops located in the city that normally have some sort of speciality. Also, a lot of people enjoy coming to the city to experience the bicycle friendly zones and the many paths created especially for this purpose. Getting some exercise while taking in the sites is often one of the most popular pastimes in Amsterdam.
Amsterdam has its own airport so <a onClick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/article_exit_link');" href="http://www.travelsupermarket.com/c/cheap-flights/netherlands/amsterdam/">flights to Amsterdam</a> are easy to come across; with so many airlines flying there <a onClick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/article_exit_link');" href="http://www.travelsupermarket.com/c/cheap-flights/netherlands/amsterdam/">cheap flights to Amsterdam</a> are also very easy to come across. <a onClick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/article_exit_link');" href="http://www.travelsupermarket.com/c/cheap-flights/netherlands/amsterdam/">Amsterdam flights</a> from the UK take approximately 2 hours and so are perfect if you wish to get away for a short break.
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