There's a lot of great places to visit in Europe, in the north we have fairy tale cities such as Copenhagen and Amsterdam, the west shows up with the great London adventure, the south has multiple cities along the Mediterranean such as Rome, Athens and Barcelona to name a few, while the east has the cities where time stood still, where Prague and Sofia comes to mind.

My tip for a great weekend getaway comes from a trip I made recently, a weekend in Amsterdam - a city of tulips, coffee shops, incredible and proud architecture, van Gogh, the famous red light district and many, many canals!

For anyone who has never been to this beautiful city, I can certainly recommend a trip, either by yourself, a group of friends, or a romantic weekend with someone you love. There's something for everyone - including easy communications for the lazy and a vast labyrinth of street for us who enjoy getting lost while walking for a bit. Whether you are lazy or not, there's always a different view around the corner of the street you are on (or the canal if you decide to take one of the boat tours, which I recommend).

If you have the time, it's easy to find a cafe or pub with local brews close to one of the canals (I recommend the ones at the crossing of Kloveniersburgwal and Staalstraat - great people and very good beer, both the local and international kinds, including Guinness, a good Bock, a few Belgians and some lagers).

The most important item to bring is probably a good map, and maybe even a compass - even as a fellow tourist, I was asked at least 10-15 times for the way in just one day by other tourists. To underline this, on my second night in the city, twice I had the feeling I was walking south toward my accommodation, and still somehow ended up in the Centraal Station (yes, that means Central station) area and had to start over - but of course I was easily distracted as a tourist...

Getting from the airport (Schiphool) to Centraal station couldn't be easier or faster - you simply take the train which is pointed at everywhere in the airport, and then relax 15 minutes. Just don't forget to look at which section you're in - they are certainly not very good at marking if it's first or second class in those trains. I was lucky to meet some Irish guys on the train, who were yelled at by an angry local who thought first class should also be 'silent class' (no, there was no screaming, only normal talking).

If you wish to follow in my footsteps, you start by

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