Our recent trip to Amsterdam was our second visit travelling by rail, Eurostar from St Pancras to Brussels connecting with theThalys to Amsterdam, a total journey time of about four & a half hours. The first time we stayed at the 5star Pulitzer Hotel (a special treat!). This luxury hotel is special as it is made up of a number (26 I think ) of canal side houses and it has all the services and helpful staff you would expect from a hotel of this calibre.
This time we stayed at the 3 star Museum Square Hotel in the museum district. Although it could not compete with the Pulitzer it is a very pleasant hotel with nice rooms, helpful staff and wonderfully comfortable beds! It is conveniently situated for the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum, both of which we revisited as there is so much to see. The Concert Gebouw is also opposite the hotel and we were able to get tickets for an excellent Sunday morning concert followed by lunch in the concert hall cafe. An added bonus was that we could use our concert tickets to travel freeon the tram.
There are number of very good restaurants near the hotel. We enjoyed the fish at the Brasserie Bark so much that we went back another day. We also treated ourselves to dinner at 'Keizersgracht 238', the restaurant of the Pulitzer of which we had fond memories. We were not disappointed. The food and service were first class with a lovely view of the canal lit up for the evening.
Our trip was organised by Railbookers and as usual it went like clockwork. We have also travelled with them to Avignon, Paris, Venice, Florence & Rome and invariably found the staff very knowledgeable about the hotels they use, extremely efficient and flexible in taking into account the wishes of the client.
Watch out for the cyclists in Amsterdam. They come from all directions very fast and it is up to you to jump out of the way! My favourite place is Rembrandt's house. It was amazing to look out of the window and think that this was the view he saw when he was doing his wonderful paintings. Amsterdam is a very pleasant city with many interesting places to visit and it is easy to get round on foot.

This was the second time we have visited Amsterdam. I now know why I haven't returned in 20 years and why I have been to Paris,Rome, Venice over ten times through the years. Amsterdam is worth one trip,but it is not a city to come back to continually. There is the Van Gogh Museum, Rijksmuseum,Anne Frank Huis, Rembrandt Huis,the Flower Market--but you can see all of that in two days. Dam Square is as filthy,ugly,and filled with vagrants as it was 20 years ago.It doesn't have any of the intimacy and beauty of the great piazzas in Rome,Florence,or Venice. The canals are not a "wonder" if you compare to the very charming canals in Brugges or Ghent . And certainly nothing when you compare to Venice! The food is not particularly good. I suppose if you love hearty comfort food,it is just OK. But why not have that experience in Brussels or Gent or Brugges, which are far more beautiful and charming, and certainly not lacking in cultural activities.The Dutch are particularly stoic,unappealing and unhelpful even though they speak English quite well. They are indifferent and lack the warmth and hospitality of their neighbors--the Flemish in Belgian. Even these days,the French in Paris are particularly gracious and attractive! Looking in the Cannabis stores is not something I find so interesting.Shopping is way overpriced and very unappealing. There was nothing I found so wonderful that I would have to return.I can see the Van Goghs and Rembrandts in Paris and enjoy the great food and shopping ,the hospitality of the French these days in Paris instead! Another thing to be careful of are all the cyclists. They ride at breakneck speeds and consider the street theirs. Be careful that you don't get hit---cars are not to be feared,only cyclists!

just returned from a weekend break in amsterdam.both myself and my teenage daughter travelled for two nights and stayed in the ibis central station.it was a lovely hotel with helpful staff,a comfortable,clean room and a delicious breakfast .the transfer from the airport wasnt as smooth as anticipated as the trains werent running from schipol to central station on saturday for maintenance reasons ,i think.anyway there was a shuutle bus laid on to sloderdijk and then a connecting train to central station.we didnt avail of it however,we took a cab and shared with some people we met at the station!
We went to the albert cuyp market,ann franks house,the flower markets,the beginhoff houses and plenty more sight seeing.as always the dutch are friendly and warmand make everything a pleasure.
our return trip was smooth and uneventful and we look forward to our next visit to amsterdam

Amsterdam is a bit like Venice with water canals and boats, etc.
I would strongly suggest one to sign-up for a trip with the boat.
The famed red light district could be interesting, I found it a bit strange even during the day.

For a day visit to the city I would go with a boat tour, walk a bit in the city center and maybe the aforementioned district.