The Skylounge is a cool bar-restaurant on the top floor of the Mint Hotel. The terrace gives an amazing view of Amsterdam whilst enjoying a cocktail. Free entrance, cocktails were about £12 each.

www.minthotel.com/skylounge
4 Oosterdoksstraat Amsterdam, Netherlands , 1011 DK
+31 (0)20 530 0800
Google map: bit.ly/rogQUj

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In summer the temperatures in Amsterdam, like in any city, can get quite unbearable. Hire a bike and head for the green Bijlmermeer in the south-east of the city, only half an hour from the centre.

On summer weekends there is the Kwakoe Afro-Caribbean festival, which makes Notting Hill look like a family picnic. Football, food and kaseko and no multicultural pretensions.

When you get really hot and even the ginger beer doesn't work, take a dive in the sparkling clear waters of the Gaasperplas.

metro 53 or 54: station Bijlmer/Arena or Gaasperplas

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Open air food and music in Amsterdam's little known Afro-Caribbean area.
Friday: Amsterdamse Poort
Saturday: Ganzenhoef

Nearest metro stations:
Amsterdamse Poort: Bijlmer/Arena
Ganzenhoef: Ganzenhoef

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Something like the Dutch answer to Wetherspoons, this Eetcafe on the Spui enjoys a fair variety of Belgian beers and bar snacks. In the summer, sit out on the covered terrace and observe the daily battle between the trams and the cyclists - like watching a pack of sharks taking on a school of darting fish.

Spui 30
(0031) 20 6225110
www.beiaardgroep.nl/

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The cafe at the top of Metz Department store has amazing views over the skyline. Its on the sixth floor (there’s lift access too) and has windows on three sides. The views are incredible. Wide selection of tea and cake too. Well worth it.

455 Keizergracht (on the intersection at Keizergracht and Leiderstracht)

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Most people who visit Amsterdam see the canals but do not know that all these canals end up in the IJ, a large river that runs behind the central station.

For a different view of Amsterdam, walk out the back of the central station to the ferries. Take the one of the boats labelled Amsterdam North (free) and you will end up in the northern part of the city. Take the footpath to the right and after five minutes you'll see a bar/restaurant called the Wilhelminadok. From here there’s a fantastic view of the old city and when it's sunny you can sit on a huge terrace floating on the water.

Alternatively you can go out the back of the central station and to the right (along the waterfront) for about 10 minutes until you reach the new concert hall, Muziekgebouw aan het IJ, which also has a fantastic view of the city and the river.

www.muziekgebouw.nl;
www.wilhelminadok.nl

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