I have been to Amsterdam a couple of times now - The first being my first girls holiday and the second time with some friends for a little break.
I love this city - it is so pretty with all of the canals and a lot to look at and do whilst you're there. Everything is within walking distance and flights are cheap and quick (just 45 minutes from Southend).
Whilst we were there we visited a few different places and saw lots of things. We went to visit Anne Frank House which was very interesting with plenty to ready and learn from. Just beware the stairs are very steep to walk up (some are pretty much like climbing ladders). It took us about 50 minutes to walk around, stopping to read the information boards on the way round which was a perfect amount of time. I would really recommend seeing it. We queued up when we got there in what looked like a massive queue but it did go down quite quickly - all i would advise would be to get there early for when it opens because when we came out the queue was going down the street and round the corner.
We also visit the Heineken factory which we loved! You go through the brewing process and there's lots to learn about how the beer is made. When you get to the upper floor there is a commercial side to Heineken, with games machines, music and there's even a ride to go on! The whole tour is fun to do with chances to taste beer along the way and with our package you got an ice cold beer at the end for free to drink in the bar. This is well worth the money! We done a combined package with tickets for the Heineken experience and the ice bar. When you arrive at the ice bar you get a cocktail to choose from off a menu whilst you wait to go into the ice bar. We spent about 10 minutes in the ice bar as it was very cold but they did the nicest drink in there - whipped cream flavoured vodka with orange (it sounds gross but don't knock it until you try it).
Whilst we were there we done the canal boat tour in order to see the city but it was quite cold and windy when we went in June 2014 which ruined the tour a bit as we were all huddling up shivering and wanted to get off the boat - not to mention we were all hungover from our night out the previous evening.
We went the the ultimate party pub crawl in Leidsplein which is where the main shopping street is (we were staying in the Quentin England Hotel which was quite near - pictured below). The night cost us 20 euros each for entry into 5 bars and a club with a free shot as you walked through the door in each venue and also a free drink in each bar (be warned this is either a beer or wine - any other drinks you have to pay for, with the exception of one bar who were offering beer or jager bombs). We had a rep come along with us to each bar to increase the party vibe and we also got a free t shirt to keep.
The second time I went we done the typical Amsterdam must do and visited the sex museum. We found this really amusing (giggling like little girls the whole way round) and spent about 45 minutes in here.
We also made sure we visit the IAMSTERDAM sign as the first time I went we didn't manage to find it as we thought it would be near dam square when actually it was near the Rembrandt museum. (I got a photo sitting on top of the letters and cropped it as I found it really cool that I could make part of my name out of it). It was really rainy on the day we came and on the way back it started pouring down with rain. We literally had to run in between shop archways to avoid being drenched. As we were flying home that day and I had a material bag i had to put my rain mac on over my bag to stop my boarding pass and passport getting wet. (we actually forgot about it and it was only after receiving strange looks from people in McDonalds for about 5 minutes that we realised how ridiculous we looked).
The second time we came to Amsterdam we actually stayed in Utrecht to go to the Mumbai festival of colours. This was a lot different and smaller to UK festivals with only one main stage. The rainy weather also put a bit of a dampener on the day (pardon the pun) and they took us to these bunkers to stay dry but they had not arranged any music to go on in here which would have been so good if they did. As we wanted to enjoy the music we braved it and went and danced in the rain with all of our powder paints. Eventually the sun did come out and we had so much fun throwing the colours over each other and having a few drinks.
We spent a lot of time walking around on our first trip, coming in and out of Dam Square. Whilst walking through I discovered my new favourite fast food restaurant - Wok to Walk. If you ever visit Amsterdam you have to try one of these - they are so tasty! You choose your noodles, meat and or veg, sauce and toppings and they wok the food in front of you.
I would definately recommend coming to Amsterdam as it is a fun break but I would say you only need about 3-4 days to be able to see the whole city.