The Van Gogh Museum’s Multimedia Tour is a fantastic way of immersing yourself in the colourful life and work of Van Gogh.

Through the simple-to-use handheld device and headset you can delve deeper in to the stories behind many of Van Gogh’s famous pictures as well as giving you access to a wealth of extra information including photos, letters, film clips and drawings.

A great interactive experience that enhanced my visit and gave me a real insight in to the often tragic life of the man behind the paintings.

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At the Van Gogh museum, there is a wall just outside the gift shop which has two built in cameras.

You can create your own 20 second video clip and send it for free to your friends and family (you simply enter their e-mail address).

Easy to use and quite handy when waiting for a while for the other half to emerge from the gift shop. You can even stand in the background and do a little jiggle or Riverdance when others are making their videos!

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Take a break from the busy bars and coffee shops by visiting Hortus Botanicus in the Plantage district of the city.

There you will find the most amazing plants in giant greenhouses.

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Enjoy strolling along the canals and stopping for a beer in a brown bar.

Enjoy the museums too and galleries too.

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The red light district is where all the hotels are, but make sure you take a good walk out one of the spokes and take in a movie (with a Grolsh or two) and a proper local coffee shop.

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If you are visiting Anne Frank's house get there early, before it opens.

Then you will be one of the first in and can wander around at your own speed, rather than being in a long queue that snakes it's way around the house.

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If you want to see one of the best and most memorable art collections in Europe come to Amsterdam and catch a train or bus to Otterloo to make a visit to the Kröller-Müller Museum.

It has a remarkable collection of the best of a variety of great artists. The choice of the original collection was made by a very discerning art collector. The best Van Goghs are there which you can compare with those in the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam.

And there are many other artist’s works and sculptures in the park set in open countryside.

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Every year Queen's Day is celebrated on April 30. It commemorates the birthday of the Queen Mother, Juliana, who reigned from 1948 until 1980.

In Amsterdam thousands of people go out to sell and buy, listen to music and dance in the streets from early in the morning until late at night. It is an excellent time to visit Amsterdam and get a real flavour of how the locals see their city.

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Amsterdam itself is one of the most engaging and likeable cities in the world. A trip to the Rijksmuseum is alone worth boarding the Eurostar for.

But after your stay in Amsterdam, get yourself on one of the other best European train systems and make the trip to Maastricht. This is probably the most vibrant city of the Netherlands, likened to a miniature Paris with its cobbled streets and fantastic cuisine.

The city centre is excellent for the more contemporary shops while the older part of town contains high-class boutiques where the proprietors don't seem too fazed by the odd nose impression against the window.

After a hard day's shopping, fortify yourself with a coffee at one of the coffee shops (not that kind of coffee shop!) around the Wyck or Ceramique district before crossing the Hoge bridge and strolling around the Jekerkwartier area. Here you'll find romantic cobbled streets and a real sense of calm in this exciting city. But the best thing about Maastricht? You can get there easily from Bruges and Brussels too.

www.rijksmuseum.nl/index.jsp

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Get to see the picturebook version of old Holland by visiting the Zaanse Schans, which is just 20 minutes by train from Amsterdam Central.

This preserved village of windmills, old houses and workshops beside the river Zaan is an all-weather, all-year attraction. Admission is free, although there are entry charges to some buildings on the site.

www.zaanseschans.nl/

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With major renovation taking place at the moment (October 2005) and continuing until 2008 the main museum building is closed, however, a special exhibition entitled Masterpieces is on display in the Philips Wing.

This exhibition (containing over 400 exhibits – a fair amount for a lot of museums but hardly a scratch on the surface for the hundreds of thousands the Rijksmuseum contains) concentrates on the Golden Age of Dutch art – the 17th Century.

Exhibits include the amazingly detailed Dolls House owned and commissioned by Petronella Oortman – as well as representing a wonderful feat of artistry it is also a great historical record of life in a Dutch canal side house. There are pictures and artefacts illustrating Amsterdam and Holland’s standing as a world trading power (a very good accompaniment to many of the exhibits in the Amsterdam Historisch Museum) and paintings by Frans Hals, Vermeer and, of course Rembrandt including the magnificent “Night Watch”.
Beware that the galleries can get very busy, particularly at the weekend and you may find yourself avoiding tour groups and waiting, or jostling, to see some of the more well known paintings. It's worth it though.

Entry: 9 euro plus 4 euro or an audio guide
Opening Times: 9am-6pm daily
The website (www.rijksmuseum.nl) is a fantastic site and well worth a look.

The entrance is currently on Jan Luijkenstraat
The website (www.rijksmuseum.nl) is a fantastic site and well worth a look

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The CoBrA Art Movement – situated in the Amsterdam suburb of Amstelveen - was founded after world war two by artists from Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands in order to develop and encourage avant-garde and modern art. The name CoBrA is derived from the capital cities of the countries from which the artists came – Copenhagen, Brussels and Amsterdam.

The museum contains some permanent exhibits from its collection – including works by Karel Appel whose fountain sculpture stands outside the entrance - and also organises exhibitions by other artists in keeping with the avant-garde ethos of CoBrA. When we visited there was a very striking exhibition examining how African folk art has influenced primitivism in western art. Being able to see the exhibits side-by-side, for instance African carved masks and totems next to modern paintings and sculptures, allowed you to see how influences had been transferred and compare and contrast the different exhibits.

The art in the museum will certainly not be to everyone’s taste. However, what I really liked about the CoBrA Museum was that the exhibits provoked responses in me, challenged me and made me think. Not all to my taste but interesting nonetheless.

Opening Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 11.00am-5.00pm

Sandbergplein 1, Amstelveen; take Tram No 5 from Amsterdam Central Station to Amstelveen Binnenhof;
www.cobra-museum.nl

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It's fascinating to see where the old chap lived - not only do you get to see some of his personal artefacts, but this house does also give you a sense of what it was like living there at the time. Beds, for example, are in what look like cupboards in the walls - they only slept sitting up in those days. You also get to see the top floor studio and, if your imagination's up to it, the painter at work.

Jodenbreestraat 4
www.rembrandthuis.nl/cms_pages/index_main.html

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