The weekend city

Within a few hours of leaving work on a Friday, we can be in a different country, soaking up the sun and leaving the cares of the office far behind.

In these days of trying to reduce our carbon footprints, weekend breaks abroad tended to be frowned upon.

But that is what makes Amsterdam such a great destination - you can take a ferry instead.

I'm ashamed to say that is not how eight friends and I arrived in the Netherlands last weekend. We booked our £70 Jet2 flights from Leeds Bradford so we could fly straight from work on Friday, and if it had not been for delays, would have been at Schiphol airport by 8pm.

As it was we arrived at 9pm, which was still early enough to explore our apartments, wander around the narrow streets, enjoy a fantastic meal in an Argentinean steak bar and have our first sip of cold Heineken, served in heavy pint glasses.

Best known for stag parties, prostitutes and wacky baccy, Amsterdam was an obvious choice for a birthday soirée, albeit a pleasant surprise.

Our taxi driver at the airport read the directions for the apartment we had booked and smugly informed us we were bedding down in the red light district.

"35 Euros" he demanded, refusing to drive any closer. We were, as he had suggested, in one of the most unsavoury parts of town, but also the most interesting.

The narrow streets, busy canals and tall, skinny buildings add charm to every corner of the city, no matter how seedy its reputation.

If we walked for five minutes on from our apartment in Acterburgwal, we were swathed in red light and surrounded by stag parties staring up at semi-clad girls cavorting in the windows.

None of that was evident from our apartment (although it was interesting to see, just once) and we looked out on a beautiful canal and tall canal ring houses instead.

These 17th century residences were originally occupied by wealthy merchants, financiers, craftsmen, doctors, lawyers, politicians and artists.

Because of the lack of space, they were mostly narrow (less than 30ft wide) and characterised by big narrow windows, decorative gable tops, narrow stairs and a pulley outside to transport larger objects to upper floors.

The Nohotel apartment was up many of these steep, narrow steps. It cost 50 Euros a night each, so we were delighted with the large, airy penthouse, exposed ceiling beams, modern kitchen and bathroom and roof terrace garden. There was a cosy lookout where you could enjoy a bird's eye view of the city skyline, and even a hot tub.

Thankful that we had not booked into a youth hostel instead, we dumped our bags in search of food.

It was 10.30pm, but the city was still buzzing. Amsterdam was not too loud or overrun by bars, as one might expect, but chatter from softly lit Argentinean, Italian and Mexican restaurants spilled on to the streets, drowned out by hundreds of bicycle bells.

Many people were still in the coffee shops, others sat in street-side bars drinking beer and some enjoyed private parties on narrow boats, easing slowly down the canals.

The first thing I should mention is the bicycles. There are thousands of them, whizzing through the streets, furiously ringing their bells. The riders are ruthless and don't care if you jump out of the way or not, so look both ways and reign your friends in.

As to our meal, plenty of people were still eating and we had no problem getting food, then enjoying a pint or two before heading home.

The next day began with a leisurely walk around Dam Square, to see the neoclassical Royal Palace and the white stone National Monument, in memory of victims of the Second World War.

The central location makes this a great place to people watch, and many gather here to eat their lunch, feed the pigeons, soak up the atmosphere or dodge the trams.

Heineken Experience, in Stadhouderskade, was our next port of call. It costs 11 euros - which includes three free half-pints and a free gift - and takes about 75 minutes to explore.

There are interactive displays explaining the history of the Heineken family and the brewing process, and you can pose for photos with a giant Heineken bottle, smell the malt in the brewery, take a computerised horse ride through the streets of Amsterdam and experience what it feels like to be a Heineken bottle rattling through the factory.

Our favourite feature was the Heineken karaoke, where you sing and dance against a canal background and email the results to your friends at home.

There are two bars in the museum and the entrance token buys three drinks.

From there, it is a short ride to the Sex Museum in Damrak, in the centre. This museum is not as seedy as you might think, but unsuitable for the faint-hearted.

We were eager to try the coffee bars too, and despite the overwhelming smell of marijuana, we were relieved to find that an authentic "herbal experience" could be confined to a camomile tea.

The rest of the day was dedicated to finding a restaurant and visiting the bars, before rolling in at 4am.

We certainly weren't as perky by Sunday morning, but the weather was heavenly and it was a pleasant walk over streets and bridges to the Anne Frank House in Prinsengracht.

Queues can be fearsome here, but we were not waiting for long.

Visitors can tour the annex where Anne and her family hid from the Nazi regime, see Anne's original diary, letters, and photographs and video recordings of family friends and Otto, Anne's father. The exhibition ends with an interactive display on morals and ethics.

Our flight was booked for 8.45pm and after an ice cream and delicious Dutch pastry, we were ready to go.

We had only been in Amsterdam for two days, but had packed a lot in, thanks to its small size and fantastic public transport.

I could certainly recommend a city break in Amsterdam. But here is a tip: don't rely on airport callouts to board or you will be waiting all day.

This mistake left us with a frantic run through the terminal and a breathless arrival on the plane, where the hung-over stag parties we had met on the Friday night flight were not at all happy at being kept waiting.

Fact file

• Charlotte and friends flew to Amsterdam with Jet2 from Leeds Bradford Airport - www.jet2.com
• They booked two apartments in Nohotel, which cost 50 Euros per person per night.

www.nohotel.nl

• Anne Frank House, Prinsengracht, www.annefrank.org
• Sex Museum, Damrak, www.sexmuseumamsterdam.nl
• Heineken Experience, Stadhouderskade, www.heinekenexperience.com

WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?

• Houseboat Museum, Prinsengracht - visit a former sailing vessel to see what it is like living on the canals.

• Van Gogh Museum, Paulus Potterstraat 7 - see some 200 paintings and 550 sketches showing Van Gogh in all his moods, as well as letters and works by his friends and contemporaries
• NEMO, Oosterdok 2 - the largest futuristic science centre in the Netherlands. Touch and experiment with the collection. www.e-nemo.nl
• Madame Tussauds, Dam Square - with waxworks of Kylie Minogue, Bono and Bob Marley
• Hortus Botanicus, Plantage Midddenlaan 2a - a botanical garden in the city centre. www.dehortus.nl

AMSTERDAM IN FIGURES (source: www.amsterdam.info)

Inhabitants: 738,000

Nationalities: 173

Bicycles: 600,000

Trams: 232

Shops: 10,334

Houseboats: 2,500

16th, 17th and 18th century buildings: 6,800

Museums: 51

Cafés and bars: 1,400

Restaurants: 755