Not only the beer. They have more interesting stuff in the coffee shops

Andre

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I find new things to do each time I am in AMsterdam.  At the tender age of 21 I found sleeping in a tent rewarding but at 32 I found a hotel room much more my thing.

 I also love Amsterdam, especially at this time of the year with all the tulips blossoming. You  get such a diverse color along the dutch countryside. Here is an article I wrote on areas to visit.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/162896/travel_to_holland_in_the_springtime.html

I love the cosy fishing villages that you can reach by bus from Amsterdam, such as Marken and Monnickedam.  They exist in a separate space and time, something almost pre-industria. They are remarkably green, pristinely clean and beautifully laid-out.  I've run into seniors wearing wooden clogs while driving bicycles.  I've passed rows of neat houses with fluffy white bedspreads airing out of windows. You just can't do that in the city!

I like the huge flower fields they have in Holland.

Andre

My Photo Site

It's a great walking city, and one of my favorites. 

One night I was walking back to the hostel and saw a sign for a concert by The Kinks, the group that did the song about "Lola".  Ten dollars and I was in this big, nearly empty hall, with no seating.  The Kinks played, new stuff, of course, then finished up with their hits.  It was surreal, because Dutch audience merely nodded their head to the beat.  The place was obviously set up for dancing, but everyone just stood there, and nodded their heads.

While Traveling down the Amstel river on a glass bottom boat, I was told about how thef amouse Amstel beer was given its name after the river. They use the water from the river to cool the beer. But as the tour went on further they told us it is not Illegal, and actually perfectly normal for the men to wee off the side of the boat. I have never been able to taste another Amstel beer since! haha

I love Amsterdam - there's so much culture and history to take in, and the surrounding area has quite a lot of nature too.  Some of the wetland areas in the Netherlands are great to take in - rent a bicycle and explore the way the locals do :)

 Except for villages,  are there other places to see around Amsterdam? Say, within one day tour or something like that? How about cultural & Craft sights?

Are there easy ways (and cheap) to get to Paris from Amsterdam? Planes not considered.  I would prefer bus, or train. Can someone give a hand how to do it?

There are definitely trains and buses.  Ask at a travel agency or check a guidebook.

Netherland is very small country and you can for about 5-6h goes from Maastricht in the southeastern of Netherlands to Groningen  in the northeastern of Netherland.
You can with this get very good impression that you within one day tour can see a lot. Actually everything depend what you are looking for. One day is not enough to see everything in Amsterdam. If you are in Amsterdam i would recommend you quick trip with canal boat tour. They will show you best part of city but to see enough and feel city you need at least 3-4 days to be Amsterdam.