Slideshow: Faces of Amsterdam
High season is the spring tulip season (early Apr to mid-May) and the school vacations in July and August. The city is very busy at both times, which means that hotel rooms are hard to find and bargains don't exist at all (but who wants to tiptoe through the tulips in November, or sit on a sidewalk cafe terrace in a snowstorm?).
If you're planning to travel at these times, you should book several months in advance. Summer is also the best time for cycling, which is an essential Dutch experience; try a canal bike if you're squeamish about going on the roads.
In winter, room rates are generally cheaper, and cafes and restaurants are less crowded and more genuine in feel. You won't find such a big line to get into the Anne Frankhuis (though you'll still find a line); you'll be able to stand longer in front of Rembrandt's The Night Watch and your favorite Van Gogh; and you might get a chance to go skating on the canals.
You also get a better view of those canals, because the trees that border them shed their screen of leaves in the winter; and as an added bonus, the lights from all those canal-side windows, whose curtains are never closed, glow with Japanese-lantern charm on the inky surface.
There's no worst of times to visit
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