Amsterdam is a truly worthy addition to the World Heritage List, and it hopefully will start to bring some balance to the pretty esoteric sites that the Netherlands has so far had inscribed.

My own experience of Amsterdam didn’t start off too well. Arriving very early on a mid-summer morning I wasn’t particularly enamoured with the slightly tawdry atmosphere and mildly unkempt streets that I discovered. I couldn’t just really get into the city’s charms, and after a slightly confusing morning I headed off to see friends elsewhere in Holland. I returned 4 years later hoping to discover what I missed the first time around, and I certainly did.

Although I still found the first stretch of Damrak to be disappointing, the rest of the city became a joy. I especially liked the outer canals, and spent a fair bit of time wandering aimlessly around them, stopping of for food and drinks and just generally enjoying the unique atmosphere of the city. That was the thing that I think most impressed me, whilst there are many lovely buildings & museums, and there are the well documented other ‘perks’ of the city that attract so many tourists, it was the almost intangible joy of being in such a unique urban environment that really stayed with me.

With the inscription of Amsterdam, the list contains one of northern Europe’s finest urban centres, and the Dutch entries now look a little more balanced.