Established in 12th century as a fishing village, today Amsterdam is the largest and most popular city of Netherlands. Although Amsterdam is fairly small, the city is packed with hundreds of treasures for travelers.

Here are a few of Amsterdam’s most popular attractions and sightseeing activities listed to make your travel experience the best possible.

Museums

When touring Amsterdam, it is worth visiting its variety of museums famous for their historical and antique collections. Some of the major museums of Amsterdam are Rijksmuseum (know for its 17th century Dutch collected works), Steldelejk museum, Kroller-Muller (named on the daughter of a rich and eminent German industrialist) and Van Gogh museum (known for its collection of paintings by Van Gogh and other eminent artists from 19th century). With more than 50 museums each boosting amazing collections, it would be a sad thing to miss the experience of museum tour when holidaying in Amsterdam.

The Dam square

The Dam square is known for its historical value and is often an important part of many Amsterdam tours. The beauty and the historical background of this Dam make it a part of every tourist’s visit, when touring Amsterdam. The various fascinating things about the Dam are also documented in the historical museum of Amsterdam.

Amsterdam Canal Cruise

Holiday in Amsterdam can never be complete without the Amsterdam Canal Cruise, through its magnificent and incredible canals. Cruising through canals is the best way to cherish Amsterdam tour, as you get to see marvelous 17th century houses and mansions, as well as startling architecture.

Oude Kerk

Surrounded with small houses, Oude Kerk is a very old and beautiful church, adored by many visitors both locals and foreigners. The church has a building designed in Gothic-renaissance style and has an octagonal bell tower. Located at the centre of red light district, the church has become quite popular among visitors on Amsterdam tour.

Hortus Botanicus - (the Botanical Garden)

With more than 6000 plants, Hortus Botanicus is quite an old and unique botanical garden. It dates back to the year 1632 and has some plants almost 2000 years old. Situated within the walking distance of other major tourist attractions like Amsterdam zoo and resistance as well as historical museum, the garden is remarkable place to enjoy your holiday in Amsterdam.

Albert Cuyp market

With more than 300 stalls, Albert Cuyp market is one of the most busiest and popular tourist attractions. This remarkable outdoor market has a variety of products and is situated in Pijp district. Surrounded with numerous shops and cafes, the market gets to see huge amount of visitors, local and foreigners, everyday.

Best time to visit or holiday in Amsterdam

With its tourist attractions and friendly local people, touring Amsterdam at anytime of the year proves to be good. But the best time or the peak season for holidaying in Amsterdam is in the pleasant months of July and august. Even off-season Amsterdam tours are quite popular. 

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By Clinton Maxwell

The first thing to remember when you visit Barcelona, Spain is your camera. This beautiful city is full of photo opportunities and you can put together wonderful albums to share with friends and relatives, as well as make a wonderful keepsake for yourself. If you are the artsy type, you can make beautiful photo compositions of the sites of Barcelona.

The next thing on your Barcelona list is a good map. Get a map that shows all of the tourist destinations such as museums, art galleries and parks, as well as the cities and towns around Barcelona. There is so much to see that you want to make sure you organize yourself well so that you can see it all. Barcelona’s weather is usually warm, but sometimes it can be too hot or it can be rainy. Plan your sightseeing around the weather, so that you spend the days that are too hot or are rainy indoors at the many museums or art galleries. Get all of your indoor pictures on these days and save outdoor pictures for the sunny days.

Make sure you make time to see all of Barcelona’s wonderful architecture, especially Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia. This is a prime example of the new architecture he introduced, using materials such as iron and glass in unusual ways. This harmony of design can also be seen in some of Gaudi’s other works, such as La Pedrera or the Block of Discord. These works are unusually modern looking for the era. If you don’t have a lot of confidence in your photo-taking abilities, you can just buy post cards, to make sure you have lovely pictures of these beautiful sites. They are sold in news kiosks all over the city. If you are taking pictures of some of Gaudi’s work, make sure you us good film since the colors are so bright and intense. Or use a digital camera that will capture these colors.

On your outdoor picture taking day, be sure to stroll down the lovely Ramblas promenade. It is a veritable paradise of flowers. Parc Guell has many more of Gaudi’s masterpieces, and this is a perfect place to be introduced to the modernistic style of this avant-garde artist. His sculptures, so original and exuberant, are placed throughout the park. Other “must-sees” in this city are the Port area, the Olympic stadium and the Barcelona Football stadium, home of the 2005 champion team the Barca. In addition to Barcelona, the rest of Catalunya has much to offer. Short day trips, either to the coast or inland, can bring you to some interesting places to visit, and there are lovely hotels everywhere. The town of Sitges, for example, which is close to Barcelona, offers wonderful views from high cliffs, or you can just stroll around this medieval village.

Even as you approach Barcelona’s airport, The Prat, you will want to start taking pictures. The Costa Brava seen from the air gives you an overall view. Barcelona not only has great tourist sites and hotels, but also wonderful restaurants to enjoy. Lunchtime is the time for the big meal of the day, and then leisurely dinners are served late at night. Make sure you try the specialty of the Costa Brava, zarzuela. This is a delicious seafood stew made with the local fish. Another specialty that you should try when strolling the streets of the port area at night is “tapas”, light small dishes of all kinds of different foods.

About the Author: Clinton Maxwell writes principally for http://www.barcelona-information.com , a web publication on the topic of Costa Brava . His articles on Barcelona Spain are found on http://www.barcelona-information.com .

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>By Michael Peterson

If you have ever wanted to take a cheap holiday destination vacation, you may have wondered where a good place to travel is. You may not have considered a cruise of the Greek Isles. This would be a spectacular cruise with stops in Venice, Bari, Dubrovnik, Corfu, Athens, Katakolon and Santorini. Plan an eight-day cruise around a holiday and see what an amazing cheap holiday it will be for you and someone special. The Greek Isles are so beautiful any time of year, but if you go around Easter or Memorial Day, you can have a cheap holiday.

When you dock in Venice, Italy, you are going to need to see St Marks Square where the entire city is build around. It is a fascinating and spectacular place to spend the day. After you see St Marks Square, you can take a Venetian boat ride in the Grand Canal. It will be a fantastic day spent in Venice.

When you stop at Athens, Greece, you will want to enjoy a day looking at the Acropolis and then the Constitution Square also known as Syntagma Square. It is the largest open area in Athens where they have many different holiday events. You will have a great time in Athens before returning to the cruise ship.

Your cheap holiday destination vacation will be a memorable time that will leave you wanting to do it again. Because of the affordable price for the Greek Isles cruise, you can go back every year and visit a new area every time. The best thing is you never have to look for a hotel, you are all set on the ship. All you have left to do is enjoy yourself.

You can have some great times on the cruise as well. They have entertainment and some activities for everyone to do. You might even enjoy a day on deck with a warm sea breeze softly blowing across your face. Do not wait for the next cheap holiday vacation package, you will enjoy the Greek Isles so much and never regret your time spent touring the area.

About the Author: Are you looking for cheap holidays? Please visit this last minute holidays comparison site.

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