CITY BREAKS
Revitalise with a culture-rich Autumnal break before Winter settles in. With museums, art galleries, historic walks, cafés galore and long, lazy suppers, plus outing ideas outside the city, there’s something for everyone, says Travel Editor David Wickers
Amazing AMSTERDAM
Why go? Compact, historic, rich in museums and surprisingly provincial in scale for a European capital, Amsterdam has more bicycles than people and more chance of sighting a heron than a high rise – the tallest building is still a church.
Start with a boat trip, gliding effortlessly along the web of canals, past the largest core of historical buildings in Europe. Go again at night when they light up like an advent calendar, then squirrel away an hour or two in a snug ‘brown cafe’, such as Hoppe on Spui, that dates back to 1670, or Papeneiland on Prinsengracht.
Amsterdam’s stock of museums is vast, so ruthless editing is essential. The Rijksmuseum houses Rembrandt’s Night Watch and many other Dutch Golden Age Masters, while the Van Gogh and the Stedelijk, which has a new wing nicknamed the ‘Bathtub’, are also nearby.
On Saturday morning, check out the stalls on the Noordermarkt in the Jordaan, the old working-class district, and tuck into a slice of the world’s best apple pie at the Winkel café. For some of the best independent shops, wander the so-called ‘Nine Streets’ neighbourhood. Stay The Pulitzer (pulitzeramsterdam.com) is set in 25 interlocking 17th- and 18thcentury canal-side houses, recently and beautifully restored. There’s an excellent restaurant, a cosy bar, an oasis of a garden and a library containing copies of all the Pulitzer prize-winning books. It also has its own canal boat, a 100-year-old wooden launch that once hosted Churchill. Eat Try Blue Pepper (restaurantbluepepper.com) for a contemporary twist on the traditional Indonesian ‘rice table’. Outing Hop on a 40-minute train to The Hague, seat of the Dutch government and Royal family, and home to the Mauritshuis, a jewel box of a museum where Vermeer’s Girl With A Pearl Earring resides. Getting there You can fly from several UK airports, take a train via the Tunnel and Brussels, or go by train and ferry using a combined Greater Anglia/stena ticket via Harwich and the Hook of Holland. For more information, visit amsterdam.info.