In 2008 I met up with two grad school buddies of mine in Munich for two & a half weeks of travel around Europe. Armed with a Eurail train pass, we visited Milan, Genoa, Paris, Bruges, Amsterdam, London & Frankfurt.
We stopped in Amsterdam for a couple nights stay in an old hostel in the center of town, surrounded by rings of canals. We walked the areas, rode some bikes, & of course sampled the coffee shops. I found this place most alluring in the early evening when the lights came on, the daylight faded & the color saturation levels were heigtened for a brief time before night set in.