Hamburg

A busy mixture between commercialism and cosmopolitanism, a stylish shopping arcades combine with a famous red district of St Pauli. It's a beautiful city, although damaged by the war.
The city center is dominated by a big ornate Rathaus, try to explore the Neo Gothic district with seven storey brick warehouses thru the canals with small boat.
A well designed Museum fur " Kunst und Gewerbe" has a complete collections featuring from medieval to Art Nouevau.
"Grosse Freiheit" a notorious area in St Pauli district, a free prostitute district, including good discos and beerhalls. Besides gay discos, you may also find jazz music and punkers. Visit the Kunsthalle, which featuring the world famous of Caspar David Friedrich , an expressionist with romantic works.

London

A great cosmopilitan city which looks never changed despite of fire, war, and flood. Red double decker buses , the Bobbies, the guard at the Palace of Buckingham, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, and the sound of Big Ben, and of course the rythmical rippling of the Thames.
On the other side of the city you may find modern shopping malls, pornographic stores, traffic jam, even the Punks and the Peers, and silk -scarved Sloane Rangers.


For accomodations, try the B & Bs or Bed and breakfast hotels which are enormous, and try to bargain to get best even rock bottom price. Buy your food from the Supermarket to get cheap prices like at Safeway or Mark & Spencer's, so you wont find a hard to swallow prices.
The Westminster is the heart of London, take a walk from Trafalgar Square to the House of Parliament and down to Westminster Abbey, and then take a break while enjoy the greatness of the Buckingham Palace.


Follow the Thames down to the city, you will be stunned by the ancient port of London, once destroyed by great fire in 1666, and again hit by blitz in 1940, and revived finally.
Take a look and visit the Tower of London while listening and watching the sound of the Thames, you might also enjoy the beauty of both the Big Ben and the Parliament Building by the left bank.
The Regent's Park is the 'Lungs of London', fing the Hyde Park with its 'Speaker's corner' and visit the grave of Karl Marx and George Elliot.

The theaters here are wonderful, beautiful, and cheap, but the soccer match is rowdy, often create violence as Holiganism develop increasingly.
Enjoy your trip, and take care ! Ciao.

Munchen

Munchen or Munich, a Bavarian cosmopolitan city which features great museums, beautiful parks, and architectures as well. A lot of beautiful buildings and monuments which survived the wars, and organize many carnivals from Fasching ( January ) until Oktoberfest ( October ) keep you interested and fascinated at any time.
The Marienplatz is the center of the city where Altes Rathaus and Neues Rathaus are located, extends north to Odeonplatz, where you'll find two broad boulevards, i.e. Ludwigstr and Leopoldstr.


Go north to Schwabing, world's famous student district.
Visit the two great museums Alte Pinakothek and Neue Pinakothek, but don't miss to see the Englischer Garten, where thousands of Muncheners, soak up the sun and swim nude here in rushing canals, it will be a unique and hilariously funny experience as well.
It's a city of beers, where almost half dozen beer peoducers have its own Beer Halls here. Beside beer, the nigtlife in Schwabing district provides cafes, sidewalk chess club, cabarets, discos, bars, galleries, exoticss and porns and many more. The city also offers monthly programs of concerts and theaters.
Visit the glacial lakes near the city at Stranberg or Herrsching, rent a boat, swim, or hike, its your choice. Aufwiedersehen und bis Spater !

Berlin

The capital of Germany, the world class city and also the country's cultural capital, where the transportation and transit system is very efficient although it's a bit expensive. It has three systems i.e the U-bahn, S-bahn, and buses. July and August is the best time to visit, since Berliners are on vacation.
Berlin is the city which heavily hang over its history , take a look a bombed ruins of the Kaiser Wilhelm Gedachtniskirche and Platzensee Memorial, the Sigessaule, a war reminder, celebrates Prussias's war against France in 1870.


Visit the Tiergarten, a vast and beautiful park with best zoo and spectacular aquarium, and find the Congress Hall or the 'Pregnant Oyster' which has a peculiar design. Don't miss the Brandenburg Gate, home of Germany Parliament and also houses extensive exhibit on German history.
Schloss Charlottenburg, the Baroque style place and gardensbuyilt by Frederick I as a tribute to his beloved wife Sophie Charlotte. Don't miss the spirit of Olympiade Stadium, a massive stone amphitheater buyilt in 1936 in the Hitler era.
Don't ever miss to get just a piece of ruins of the Berlin Wall at 'checkpoint charlie' site for your remebrance or even a souvenir.

Switzerland

Switzerland is actually a multi languages country, where at least three languages are spoken here, they are French, German, and Italian. I fact this small country is devided into three sectors based on its language spoken in each region. I'm not so sure if Latin language is also spoken here, since they also use some Latin words here, like Helvetia as a Latin name of Switzerland which always printed on a stamp of Switzerland.


Zurich :
It is a German language spoken region or German Switzerland, it's an excellent banker's city, prosperous, clean, and peaceful, but pricer are real hard to swallow. Beside the boring bank buildings, the rich and famous people,. and of course expensive prices, you still have a lot to see and to enjoy.
Like the Fraumunster, the Gothic Cathedral is featuring Marc Chagall works, and the Grossmunster, a Romanesque Cathedral. Visit the Kunshaus, a great museum with good collection of XXth century arts from Picasso, Chagall, Klee, Mondrian, and the Expressionist.





Lucerne:
Located between Mt Rigi and Mt Pilatus, this charming and prosperous city, has also high prices. Although it has narrow streets,but they are full of architectural monuments and highclass jewelry and watch stores.


Take a walk along the river and go across the river by two ancient bridges (1333) which connect the banks of the river, i.e. the Kapellbrucke and the Spreurbrucke, both of them are decorated with beautiful hand paintings. Climb to the three mountains which are Pilatus, Rigi, and Titlus for a birdeye view of the city. Visit the Am Rhyn House with the small but excellent collection of Picasso's works.

Salzburg

The city of Mozart, which surrounded by forests and castel-topped mountain, Salzburg's countless concerts and music festivals in summer reflects that it's absolutely a city of music, where you can find people play and practice music almost everywhere. You should never have problems to find music performances.
Visit the Hohensalzburg castle, a medieval castle built on ancient Celtic and Roman site, also the Mirable Schloss, a Baroque wonder castle, built in 1720 by Lukas van Hidebrand, and do not miss to see the famous 'Angel Staircase'. Take a look at Mozart's and his life at Getreidegasse 9.

Wien

Vienna or Wien, the capital city of Austria, is actually a real beautiful city, which has a lot of magnificence palaces, gardens, and statues. It's the capital of world music, and the city of Beethoven, Schubert, and Strauss.
Accommodation especially in summer, is likely to be more difficult to find. Try to taste the famous 'Wiener Schnitze', "Serbische Bohnensuppe', and Goulash. Sit in a cafe along Kartnerstr and choose to order coffee in either 'Schwazer', 'Braun', 'Melange', or 'Mazagron'.
Explore the city from the Gothic Cathedral Stephansdown, than walkdown to the main shopping arcade Kartnerstr. Visit the Hofburg or the Imperial Palace, the Volksgarten, the Rathaus, mostly the late 19th centuries neo Gothic buildings with Victorian style roofs.


You might have to look to the memorials of former house of Freud, Schubert, Strauss, Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, and Brahms.
The Prater is the huge park between the city and the Danube. You might attend the fine orchestral concerts held in the couldyard of the Rathaus.

Bruxelles

Brussels, the capital of Belgium, and headquarters of both NATO and EEC, like Barcelona, it's one of European cities which designed in an Art Nouveau architecture style, where Baron Victor Horta style is the greatest representative in town.
It lies on the Amsterdam - Paris train line, so it's so easy to access from the railway station Gare du Midi. The center of the city is the Grand Place, this magnificent place is considered as ' The most beautiful square in the World ' ( Victor Hugo ).
This is the bilingual city, where people speak both French and Dutch, but mostly they are speak French.
Visit the Musee d'Art Ancien for a huge collections of Flemish masterpieces, including paintings by Ruben's, and Breughel's. In Royal Art and History Museum, you find Egyptian, Greek, Roman art, stainedglasses , jewelry, and tapestry exhibits.
Take a look a real junk flea market, in a lower class area, Marolles, at place du Jeu de Balle. Walk through the length of Galerie St. Hubert, Europe's oldest shopping arcade.

Brugge :


This city which is also called Venice of the North, is actually one of the purest medieval cities in Northern Europe. It can be reach easily by train from Brussels and takes about an hour trip.
You won't be disappointed to see various and colorful flowers in this beautiful and tranquil city, with towers and bells, and canal lines. Colorful flowers, the old gabled houses, the lake and meadow-dwelling swans, just like in the fairy tale.
Most of the museums exhibits the masterpiece of Flemish Arts. Unlike Brussels, where most people speak French, here they speak Flemish, which sounds like Dutch. The best way to explore the city is on foot. Visit the Groeninge Museum which housed the masterpieces of van Eycks and Breughels. Gruuthuse Museum a XVth century house which exhibits the collection of lold weapons, musical instruments, pottery, lace, and coins. Michelangelo's 'Madonna and Child' is now inside the Church of Our Lady. Buy everything cheaper at flea market in weekend afternoon at the canal bank in front of the museum

Granada

Visit the Alhambra, the Arab Monument, built on a hill with splendid woods and gardens, it's one of the finest Muslim arts and architectures in the world. While across the Darro River lie the Gypsy caves of Sacramonte ant the ancient Arab village Albaicin.
Granada is also well known of its Corpus Christi celebration, where you might have festivities, processions, and bullfight in May.

Barcelona

It's a grand and beautiful Catalonia's autonomous government who speak Catalans, which is different from Spanish, and they are very proud to be Catalans.
In 1859 they pulled down the medieval walls and built a new geometrical city, designed by Art Nouveau architect, Antoni Gaudi.
It's flanked by Montjuic Hill to the south and to the north there beautiful beaches like Costa Brava and Costa Dorada. Take an evening stroll at La Ramblas and sit on a cafe taste 'sangria' a blend of ginger ale, vodca, fruit juices and a lot more. Enjoy one of the most beautiful street in the world, where, crowds,flowers, cafes, pickpockets, pantomim players, magicians, one ring circus, tourists from allover the world, are here mixed up, just beside The Columbus Monument.



Visit the Antoni Gaudi's unfinished temple de la Sagrada Familia. The construction of this flamboyant and colorful temple began in 1882, and still unfinished now. It looks like a temple, or perhaps cathedral, or even a complicated Gothic Style building .'Stoner Paradise' is the other name of Barcelona since you might have and consume hashish less than 2 ons freely.
Adios amigo !

Madrid

For "Madrilenos' , although they concern themselves with modern world, they actually have not abandoned their origins. Most buildings in Madrid recall the grand old style , look at the Prado Museum, and the grandeur of the Royal Palace. Madrid's center has two landmarks i.e. The Royal Palace and The Park Retiro. Between them , a large square which is the center of Madrid, The Puerto del Sol, where almost all streets intersect here.
Food are various, much of them have been influenced by other regions, try 'cocido' . Also visit Prado Museum which houses both Spanish and European first class arts, not less than 5000 paintings collected from all over Europe. From El Greco, Hoya, Velasquez, Bosch, Breughel, and Botticelli. At Cason del Buen Retiro you might see Picasso's famous la Guernica.
Go east, and find Retiro Park, an elegant garden, forest, fountains, botanical collections, a lake , and Palacio de Cristal, a glass structure , housing cultural exhibits. Take a stroll at Plaza Mayor
, a 17th century square, built by Philip III, where you find shops, markets, restaurants, and summer festivities.


Watch the most bloodiest attraction in the world 'the bullfight', where every week at least 12 bulls will be killed furiously, in every city which conduct the show, like Madrid, Barcelona, Pamplona, and Sevilla, and other cities in Spain.

Pisa

The city states of Pisa, as a University town, developed its own distinctive style of architecture. Everything to see here is concentrated at the Leaning Tower. If you have claustrophobia, acrophobia, or uncontrollable desire to jump, don't try to risk yourself to go to the 294 steps.
Both Firenze and Pisa could be reached from Rome in a day, but you would be better stay in Florence to enjoy the beauty of the city . Sit in a cafe and have a drink, think about all good things in the rest of your life.

Firenze

Unlike most European countries, Italy looks like just a collection of city-states, where the differences in accents, food, art, attitude which emerges when we travel between cities is so real, even in a very short distance, we'll have something new and different, and of course it's worth to enjoy. Firenze or Florence is actually a simple city to navigate. The city centre iis just lies between the Duomo and the bridge Ponte Vecchio. Foe some of you who do not have a lot of cash, try to stay free at Area di Sosto at Villa Favard, it's safe. Visit Uffizi which show a basic introduction to Renaissance, Giotto, and Cimabue, it has the best Italian Renaissance, like Poolo Uccello, Piero de la Francesca, Botticelli, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Repheel, and Titian, also some Rembrandt's self portrait.


The Duomo, stands at the heart of the city, this huge dome was built in 15th century by Brunelleschi.
Musical events actually can be found all year, but in summer you might have a special show at Estate Fiesolana where old Roman Theater, concert, opera, ballet, theater, movies, will be performed. Try to take a walk down to the steps of Duomo, the piazzale Michelangelo and Ponte Vecchio, where people from allover the world mingeld regardless of color, race, and social status.

Venezia

A wonderful floating city, founded in the mid-fifth century, in the northern of Italy, it's prime points are the Grand Canal ( Canal Grande ) and Piazza San Marco. This great but puzzling city, where you might be entrapped in a labyrinth, so buy a map and explore this great city on foot or use the vaporetti or motorbuses.
The city itself is divided into six sections i.e. San Marco, castello, Sana Croce, San Polo, Cannaregio, and Dorsoduro. This city is great and bewildering, where the more you see, the more like in a dream city. Almost all the activities in Venice is actually just around the Piazza San Marco, but you still have a lot to explore, like Vendramin Calergi, la' d'Oro, and Ca' Foscari, a few example of splendid palaces built during the late Renaissance.
Visit the glass museum at Murano, and Torcello, an island with supetrb Byzantine cathedral.
Take a stroll in the evening along the Grand Canal or sitting in cafes or take a gondopla ride down the Grand Canal.

Arrivederci Roma !

Rome will be very crowded during summer, especially in July and August, but don't worry , you
will find abundant of cheap small hotels, pensionis, alberghis, and lacondes, all of them are relatively cheap. Most of the museums here in Rome,are usually closed on Monday, but you still have a lot to visit beside museum in this magnificent city. The city's treasure are not just buildings and paintings, but also great squares, streets, like the Forum, Colloseum, piazza Navona, piazza Venesia, the Campidoglio, piazza del Popolo, and of course piazza San Pietro, and many more.


In St Peter Basilica, where you can experience yourself to the world famous public expression
of the Roman Catholic Church, where both the interior and exterior chimne so grandly and
lavishly. Most of the back areas were designed by the Great re-naissance architect , Bramante.


Take a look the spectacular ceiling and Michelangelo's "Pieta" which glow protected behind the
bulletproof glass. If you still have a lot of energy and make your visit more amazingly,
climb to the top, just to admire Michelangelo's great final achievement in his long life.

The city of Rome

From Leonardo da Vinci airport or Fiumicino airport, you could either take a bus or train direct to Stazione Termini, where you may find a lot of cheap pensions or small hotels. If you decide to explore the city on foot it would be fine, you may find a lot of fountains to drink in every corners in Rome.
Actually the city bus lines in Rome is also excellent to bring you to the Vatican, where almost all lines intersect at the Termini.
Try to avoid visiting Rome in mid of August or Ferragosto, where Romans vacate their city, even the Romans say : " Only the Germans and dogs are in Rome during August ".
Try to drink campari at the sidewalk cafe and followed by dinner. It would be more fantastic if
you also taste the Italian ice cream or gelato. But if you have a short cash, don't try to take a seat in a cafe or cake shops, just buy food and take it away, or you 'll be charged with 'cuperto' it 's about 40% until 60% more than the original price.
Bon voyage !

Visita Roma

According to the legend, the founder of Rome was the twins, Romulus and Remus, the descendant of Dardanian of Trojan hero, in April 23, in the year 753 BC. They raised by forest she-wolf, which then become a symbol of the city of Rome which depicted the she-wolf suckled the twins Remus and Romulus.
'Rome was not built in a day' it's true, everything here has its story, ruin, alley, piazza, stone, statue, garden, and whatever you named it !
Don't be in a hurry to enjoy the city, 'When you're in Rome, live as the Romans do', So, taste a cup of coffee in the morning in front of the grandeur of the piazza Venesia, or take a stroll from the Spanish steps until the piazza del Popolo, and dine late or eat pizza while you go along the edge of The Tibre.
From the old city, you may across the Tibre and find the Vatican and the Transtevere, where most of the area covered by the ancient city walls and could be explored by walking on foot. To the northwest from the Termini is the glossy shops where you can satisfy your instinct to spend money.

Versailles

The magnificent palace of the Sun King, Louis XIV is very impressive, it could be reached from the train station of Montparnasse or Invalides. Be sure to visit and see the Trianons and le Hameau, where Marie Antoinette and her friends used to play peasant.
The Fountainebleau is actually older than Versailles and more appealing in some respect, have a
beautiful forest and parks. Take your time to see the Gothic flower of France, Chartres Cathedral, located about one hour train from Paris.


Do not forget to visit Musee de Louvre, where it houses Monalisa, one of the world masterpieces of da Vinci. The musee du Jeu Paume , where it holds the world's finest collections of impressionist paintings by Monet, Pissarc, Renoir, van Gogh and many more.


The musee Carnavalet is dedicated to the social history of Paris since the Renaissance, where you might see the miniature guillotines and the last horrible minutes of both Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette. Musee Rodin at rue de Varenne where the best of Rodin works are
displayed in a beautiful 18th century hotel and surrounded by lovely breathtaking garden.

Champagne

French people must be proud of its past grandeur and glory, which boasts the architecture of almost all well known old buildings like Versailles, Chartres, and the Loire Chateaux. Also the confidence of their culture which gave a lot of isms that made the world more colorful, like Impressionism, Fauvism, Existentialism, Structuralism, to name just a few of them. Not to mention their famous philosophers with their thoughts like Descartes, J J Rousseau, de Tocqueville and lot more. Still, we can't just talk about France without its cuisine and champagne and wine.


Nobody in this world would forget the inspiring and the influence of the French Revolution in 1789, until to date.
The Loire Valley could be proud of its French renaissance architecture, while Corsica, the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte 1769 - 1821, seemed more Italian than French.
Despite of its sense of cultural superiority, where sometimes they don't easily welcome those whose values and behavior differ from them, nonetheless, we still could enjoy so many things which is uncomparable with that minor uncomfortableness.



Visit the southern of France , like Marseille and take the TGV or Train a Grande Vitesse, the hightech bullet train that will bring you just a couple hours. Please, also remember that almost all stores in France close on Monday, and everything in the country closes for lunch and siesta from noon to about 2 - 3 pm , while many museums , by contrast , close on Tuesdays.
Don't forget to visit and taste as well 'champagne' in the fertile region north east of Paris, it's a real champagne.
"Brothers come quickly ! I'm drinking stars" Dom Perignon.

Place to visit

You might never see everything what Paris has to show, so put a list of priorities spots where you would like to visit. Look at the map then decide where to go or you may miss a lot of the city itself.
Th Notre Dame Cathedrale, build from 1163-1330, beside the Seine river is still the centre and heart of Paris and France as well, since all the distances in France are measured from this point.
Climb the cathedrale's tower to get the panorama of the city, which you could also do in Eiffel
Tower using an elevator.
Paris is home to art and artist of all generations, where you may find all kinds of museums.
Of course, you may not miss Musee du Louvre, where you'll see the finest world collection like
Monalisa, Winged Victory, the Venus de Milo, and Whistler's mother.


Once in your life time you would better take a walk down the magnificent l'Boulevard d'Champs
Elysee until Arch de Triomphe, where Paris is the only spot in the world which can be detected
from the space, because of its glittering and sparkling light.
Try to taste one of many cafes along the avenue while watching pedestrians and passersby. Watch the famous cabaret show in Moulin Rouge.


To some of you who's the baby boomers generation you won't miss the last resting place of
Jim Morrison, together with Chopin, Moliere, Oscar Wilde, and Edith Piaf.
Take a tour using boat along the Seine river, would be a fantastic tour at night, where you can
see Paris at night from the Seine. It starts from pont d'Alma.

General Information

Paris has of the finest subway systems in the world, buses use the same tickets as the metro. Paris has six train stations as the gate to enter the city, Gare du Nord if you arrive from the northern part of France and England, gare de l'Est when you enter from the east side and eastern France countries, while gare du Lyon as the entrance gate from southern of France, like Riviera, Italy,Switzerland, and Greece, gare d'Austerlitz when you come from southwestern of France i.e.Spain and Portugal , gare St Lazare as entry gate from Normandy, and gare de Montparnasse from Versailles, Brittany and Chautres.
During summer, empty rooms are unlikely to happen, for you who travel alone as a backpacker
try foyers, where breakfast and linen are included and shower free. But if you travel with someone or group better stay in hotel, where rooms disappear very quickly after check out time, so arrive early. Some of cheap French restaurant hide on corners of the city, visit at Latin Quarter that represent a range of food from different cultures i.e. Italian, Greek, Vietnamese, and North Africa crammed together in a small street.

Voila Paris !

Paris, the capital of world fashions, has actually been the capital of the world, since people are getting bored of New York which is too fussy and both London and Rome which're too crowdy
and dusty as well.
Since the millenium, all monuments in Paris were gold plated, everything is glittering at night, which make this capital city more romantic that attracts people all over the world to come and visit , and even reside and stay here, whether he is an author, a painter, an artist, politicians
( in exile ), musicians, whatever you name it. You also might see a lot of immigrants come from
different countries,i.e.Eastern Europe, North Africa, Middle Eastern countries, Latin American,
and Asian nations and more.


Paris remains a center of fashion, music, arts, theater which continue to flourish from the classical to the modern, avant garde, and beyond.
The center Pompidou consists of French contemporary arts, while the Louvre museum are among the finest museums in the world.
Try to scroll down to the broad and magnificent le boulevard des Champs-Elysees, where
you can enjoy the glittering night in a bourgeouis style boutiques, restaurants, coffe shops,
take a break and stop by in a sidewalk cafe and enjoy French ice cream .
Try to mix with local people andspeak a little French, like Merci for Thanks, Salut for Goodbye
and BonVoyage for Have a nice trip, that will make you more comfortable in exploring Paris.


Visit the Eiffel Tower the landmark of Paris, where you can find a lot of painters who offer to draw your selfportrait to visitors. If you do not really want to make a self portrait, do not try to ask a dumb question to them, unless they will get mad if you just walk away.
Try to avoid one who offer to see a beautiful dancer at the cabaret show or you will get trapped
to pay drinks to a dozen hostesses and other charges that might emptied your pocket.
For some of you who want to see a place where Lady Di was killed by a car accident' you might
visit Pont d'Alma, do not forget also to visit a legendary bridge a gift from Tsar of Russia Alexander the Third to Louis XIV the Sun King of France Monarch, called Pont d'Alexander d'Troisieme , where a lot of celebrities of the world take an opportunity to make a picture on the famous bridge.
Voila Paris, enjoy it very much and bon voyage !

Countryside

A visit to surrounding countryside close to Amsterdam will be a good treat for you who want to escape from busy city. Take either bus or train , all of them are easy to access in only less than an hour to visit either one of them, so you still can stay in your hostel/pension at night in Amsterdam.
Take a look Alkmaar, the remaining 'cheese city' , or Harlem which is only 20' away by train from Amsterdam, where you can find the three centuries old brick houses, where you'll feel you're not in this 21st century. Grote Mark and Grote Kerk are good places to explore , also the Frans Hals museum.
Leiden, is famous of its Holland oldest and most prestigious university. The Ryksmuseum voor Volkenkunde contains of world famous collection from East Indie, primarily from Indonesia. While
the Ryksmuseum van Oudheden has a complete collection from Egypt's temple of Taffeh, which was taken and rescued from sinking caused by the Aswan Dam in 1979.
The Hague or known as Den Haag is the seat of the Government of Holland, prices are higher here, buildings are more modern, streets are broader, and the city's feel is less Dutch.
Scheveningen, a famous beach and nightlife will give you relief from the noisy city.
Delft is well known of its blue&white porcelain, while Utrech, when the weather is allright in summer evening a lot of musicians perform together with vendors sell various food along the streets until late night.
Don't miss the Keukenhof, the Holland's flowers region where tremendous international flower auction is hold here year around, but in April-May would bw the best time to be here.
Have a good time folks !

Museums

Amsterdam has over 40 museums , but the largest is Ryksmuseum which has the most important
and impressive collections of Dutch arts in the world. You might see the world famous painting like '
'Night Watch' and 'Self Portrait' by Rembrand , or other world class art works of Frans Hals, Ruisdael, van der Neer, Cuyp, Both, and Verneer.
Van Gogh museum also worth to see which display a well arranged collection of all masterpieces of van Gogh's works . Beside that, you may also visit the Anne Frank House, and Madame Tussaud wax museum, that could enrich your great experience in exploring Amsterdam.

"Night Life'
Please, take a very careful precaution when you enter the Red District at Oude Kerk , where you can find a lot of bars, sex shops, and prostitutes who filled the windows all the way you go. Women should never go exploring alone. A lot of discos are available at Leidseplein.

Amsterdam

As lot of travelers almost every year storm to Amsterdam, sometimes resembles a monumental summer camp. People are tolerant and hospitable, acomodations are plenty. Drugs are sold openly and prostitutes are everywhere along the Nieuw Maarkt, Damrak.
You may find a Tourist Information in the Centraal-Station, where you can fing useful information like map of the trams and buses to start your adventures.
Amsterdam is most pleasantly seen on foot, Eating out in Amsterdam is offering a lot variety food from all over the world. The best values are pizza, Chinese food, Indian food and Indonesian food.
Avoid to eat in Damrak areas, they usually charge an overpriced for both restaurants and hotels.
Try the Indonesian Rystafel, if you get really hungry, where rice will be accompanied by dozens of variety hot sauces like shrimps, chips, nuts, curry, soup, and shewed meat barbequed in peanut sauce, called sate.

Getting around

You may consider using Eurailpass, since this is the most convenience transportation in Europe and relatively cheap as well. It is valid in Western Europe except the UK.
For more information regarding Eurailpass, ask your local travel agents. You might also travel by car that frees you from the hindrance of travel schedules, but consider the rising up of gasoline price, this is not advisable anymore for the moment.

Hotel room prices are getting expensive from time to time, so for backpacker consider to stay in a hostel or pension.
Hostel in Europe are usually run by the IYHF ( International Youth Hostel Federation ), are a great places to meet travel partners, change experiences and tips with people from allover the world


Most of them are usually open to people for all ages, though most of the travelers are between 17 and 30. Remember that every hostel has its regulations that may make people feel inconvenience, like curfew and a lot of rules that make little privacy.

Packing

Travel light is the best you can choose if you plan to explore Europe, because it will make you feel ease and comfort. The general principle is true ,i.e prepare everything you think you need for your trip and cut it by only half. Why ?
Well, you will find more convenience by traveling light because you're mobile, move easily from place to place, therefore you should travel with backpack. So, impromptu luggage will not be advised. Using a walking shoes are a must, since you will explore all the beauties here in Europe by walking mostly. Passport, money, and credit card will be necessary, put a necklace pouch underneath your shirt, it make safe place to avoid theft and criminal.