In short
Amsterdam is small and flat, and that decides everything: the bicycle is the main mode of transport, not a leisure activity. You cross the centre on foot in half an hour, but living among the canals is nothing like living ten minutes out.
De Pijp is dense, young and well connected. Oud-West and De Baarsjes are residential and more affordable. Noord, across the IJ and linked by free ferries, is the former industrial district turned into the most interesting one. The Jordaan is charming and expensive. The historic centre and the red light district are to be seen, not lived in.
Arriving and getting around
Schiphol is linked to Centraal station by a train every ten minutes, in a quarter of an hour. It is the simplest airport link in Europe, and the same train continues to Rotterdam, Utrecht or Brussels.
In the city, trams and métro work with the OV-chipkaart or a contactless bank card, which must be tapped on boarding and on alighting — forgetting the second tap costs the maximum fare.
Bicycles are hired everywhere. Two non-negotiable rules: you ride in the cycle lane and nowhere else, and you lock the frame to something fixed. Bike theft is rampant.
What it really costs
Housing is the sore point: the rental market is saturated and listings go within hours. Prices have risen faster than wages and the city has tightened short-let rules.
Eating is reasonable once you leave the canals. Brown cafés serve simple dishes at fair prices; the terraces in the centre charge passing-trade rates.
When to come
April–May for the light and the tulips, September for the calm. Summer is pleasant but saturated. Winter is grey, windy and damp rather than cold, and the days are very short — darkness falls around four in December.
What nobody tells you
The Rijksmuseum, the Van Gogh and the Anne Frank House all require a timed booking. Anne Frank is booked weeks ahead and sells nothing at the door.
The city has run an official campaign discouraging nuisance tourism, and rules have tightened on noise, street drinking and groups in the red light district. This is no longer the permissive city of its reputation.
Cycling as a visitor is the leading cause of accidents: the Dutch ride fast, do not brake for the hesitant, and multi-lane junctions are hard to read when you are new to them.