About the city: Of all European capitals, London lives deepest in the imagination of travelers. We absorb London before we know it exists and when we finally approach the city, it does not disappoint. There are the red double-deckers, the bobbies and impassive guards at Buckingham, Westminster Abbey, and the notes of Big Ben, sounding familiar, as we have heard them before. We see these things with satisfaction. Yet there is much to surprise. London is not quaint. London is not a museum, though you could spend all of your time going from one to the next. It is a booming, urban sprawl, with traffic snarls, shops, and an astonishing international population. Visit the many monuments with nearly a millennium's worth of history, from the grave of Chaucer to the pub where the captain of the Mayflower drank to Piccadilly Circus, one of London’s most photographed sights. But don’t miss contemporary London, with its intensely active theatres, international cuisine, political demonstrations, the latest in music and fashion, punks and peers, and everyone in between. In 1777, writer Samuel Johnson said when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life, and the phrase is still true. There's something different to experience every day in London.

About the city: Paris, situated on the river Seine, is the capital and largest city in France. It is one of the most iconic cities in the world and it is considered one of the most beautiful and romantic cities, so much so that is has been dubbed the City of Love. Paris offers historical sights, monuments, a pleasant atmosphere, lovely cafés, parks and museums to satisfy any traveler. A large part of this City of Light, including the River Seine, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city is home to some of the greatest old building in the world such as Le Tour Eiffel, Notre Dâme, Sacre Coeur, L´Arc de Triomphe, Palace of Versailles, the Moulin Rouge or the Hotel des Invalides. There is no ending of the list of things you have to see in this city, but Le Louvre, one of the finest museums in the world of art and culture, should not be missed. Paris remains vastly influential in the realms of art and design and is home to some of the most impressive modern buildings such as La Défense, the Centre Pompidou, the Institut du Monde Arabe or the Stade de France. Paris is a city of immense vitality and beauty and it is an amazing and fascinating destination. With its history and architectural patrimony, Paris is the city everyone wants to see.

About the city: Amsterdam has an atmosphere all of its own, through an amalgam of concentric canals, vintage bicycles, idyllic parks and scintillating galleries. Few experiences can compare with cycling the Grachtengordel, the girdle of canals that radiate south from Central Station that are lined with a crazy quilt of narrow residences dating from the city's Golden Age. While motor vehicles customarily blight the cityscapes of other European capitals, a constant flow of bicycles seem only to enhance Amsterdam’s beauty. Enter an alternate universe where non-motorised transport is the norm, every bridge and thoroughfare features a bike lane and motorists customarily defer to their two-wheeled counterparts. Amsterdam remains a global crossroads and an ever-vibrant centre of art, music and culture, with a never-ending cavalcade of exhibitions, concerts, plays and festivals. Aside from such monoliths of art as the Rijks and Van Gogh museums, there are myriad less-visited spaces on quirkier themes. The festival line-up is equally varied, devoted to everything from fringe theatre to minimal music to tattoos, and in late summer the renowned canals become the stage for a series of chamber music concerts. Revelry is at its peak on King’s Day, a birthday party for the King This is when the capital is clad in patriotic orange, the canals brim with party boats and the city turns into a huge flea market as everyone empties their closets on the pavement and hawks their clutter.