Amsterdam

Think of Amsterdam, and you cannot help but think of water - the city is built on 60 per cent reclaimed land, which the Dutch continue to wrestle from the sea with a series of dunes, dykes and dams. The city's distinctively crooked skyline is the result of a deliberate non-straightening policy for historical buildings - 21,000 are on the official monument list - as they slide gracefully sideways on their wooden piling foundations. The nations capital has no fewer than 7,000 of the city's buildings listed, most of them the high-gabled 18th-century houses that line its iconic canals. But unlike other museum-quality metropolises - Bruges, Vienna or Venice, for example - its soul is young: a vibrant mix of bars, brothels and bicycle bells. 

Picturesque canals form a girdle around the oldest parts of Amsterdam and encompass the city's notorious Red Light District. Here tourists stroll over ancient bridges and down the narrow lanes where the aroma of cannabis pervades the air, and at night the streets are lit up by the crimson glow of windows from which prostitutes beckon passers-by. However the city's attractions extend well beyond these hedonistic activities to include some of Europe's finest sights and museums. This charming and compact city is easily explored on foot, by bike or aboard a canal-boat tour that follows a circular route, stopping at the many attractions along the way.