Here are the available villas for rental in Amsterdam.

Review by Ian from Swindon, England

Although Amsterdam, like any other European capital, is a little expensive - it is by far the most exciting and pictureque. From the canals to the museums to the red light district, there is always something to do and see here. From the hustle and bustle or Dam Square to the quiet street of Jordaan, there is something for everyone. In my opinion it one of those place you must experience before you die! I have experienced it five times now and I never get bored of Amsterdam....

Van Gogh - the talk of Amsterdam

The talk in Amsterdam is of the new Van Hoff exhibition.
Van Hoff? Arsenal's new midfield dynamo bought at the price of a new hospital from PSV Eindhoven?
Actually, it's the artist formerly known as Vincent Van Gogh.
In Dutch, 'Gogh' is an explosive, throat-clearing sort of sound that can startle people of a nervous disposition.
The wonderful new-ish Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam contains a fascinating exhibition of work by Vincent and Gauguin (still pronounced Go Ga apparently).
You get a marvellous audio guide to the key paintings, which refers throughout to Van Hoff. Horblimey, you start to think.
On show are 120 key works produced by the two artists while they worked together in 1888 in their Arles 'Studio of the South'.
This was the subject of the 1955 film Lust For Life starring Kirk Douglas as Vincent and Anthony Quinn as Gauguin.
The film was a typical chunk of Hollywood hokum yet it's hard to look at the paintings without recalling snatches of daft dialogue.
Quinn: 'All I see when I look at your paintings is just that you paint too fast.'
Douglas: 'You look too fast!'
The exhibition reinforces suspicions that Gauguin was a twit.
Vincent was clearly the genius of the two (The Yellow House is simply breathtaking).
This was my first trip to Amsterdam for more than 10 years, I'm ashamed to admit.
I was reminded that the city is certainly the equal of Paris as a short-break destination.
I took the chance to revisit the extraordinarily moving Anne Frank House museum, which has impressively expanded and developed since I was last there.
But Amsterdam is essentially a place for strolling, gazing and lingering at pavement cafes.
The general lack of city-centre traffic is a very appealing quality.
So here's to Holland - or is it gere's to Golland? ... more

The bed of John and Yoko

On March 25, 1969, John Lennon and his new wife, Yoko Ono, checked in to room 902 of the Amsterdam Hilton for their honeymoon, bringing with them just 100 or so of their closest friends in the media.
John and Yoko had promised a 'Bed-In For Peace' - a sort of horizontal sit-in before the world's press to bring an end to war.
Lennon vowed to stay put until the Americans removed their troops from Vietnam, a threat that probably neither Lennon nor the Americans took terribly seriously.
John and Yoko were masters at manipulating the media. A few months previously, they had released their first album, Two Virgins, with nude pictures of the couple, front and back, on the cover. The record was promptly banned.
With the controversy over the album, and with the juxtaposition of the words 'bed-in' with ' honeymoon', the representatives of the press were looking forward to a wonderfully salacious story.
John said later: 'They expected us to have sex in front of them.' What they got instead were earnest speeches about world peace from the pyjama-clad couple.
It was the honeymoon as performance art. But some didn't get the joke. One newspaper said: 'A not inconsiderable talent seems to have gone completely off his rocker.'
But for all its apparent daftness, the Bed-In - which continued the next week at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal - did manage to give a boost to the nascent anti-war movement.
And it gave us the anthemic Give Peace A Chance, recorded by John and Yoko and friends during the Bed-In.
TRAVEL DETAILS:
Amsterdam Hilton, Apollolaan 138, 1077 BG Amsterdam, tel: 0031 20 710 6000. ... more

Amsterdam, Holland: Split personality city

The labyrinthine Centraal train station is where most trips to Amsterdam start.
It's a convenient point. Directly outside the exit are the tourist information centre and kiosks selling tickets for canal boat tours.
Noisy hordes of tourists of every age and nationality whirl by endlessly, drawn by a seedy strip of neon-lit bars and cashpoints. True Amsterdam begins at imposing Dam Square nearby.
The one rule first-timers to Amsterdam learn instantly is: look left and right before crossing any street.
There are 600,000 bicycles to watch out for, as well as trams and cars, so almost getting run over is a regular hazard, even on "quiet" cobbled roads.
If you've only got a day, Dam Square, fringed by a grim royal palace, Madame Tussauds and the De Nieuwe Kerk church, is a good location for walkabouts.
Amsterdam's thriving red light district attracts throngs of tourists on rowdy stag nights - a trend local authorities are reportedly trying to stamp out.
Prostitutes work in small glass-doored cubicles along alleyways in the heart of the zone. Women in skimpy underwear stand or sit inches away looking bored.
At night the alleys are clogged with visitors, mainly men, there to gawp or buy. Taking photos is forbidden. ... more

Like home with more culture

Amsterdam was one of my best holidays, you feel like you're still at home but with a lot more culture.
The people are very friendly and there is lots to do and see. I did most of it but most enjoyed the canal rides to different coffee shops!