Amsterdam has the reputation of being the city of bicycles, par excellence, and perhaps the most bicycle-friendly city in the world. Bike paths are widespread and constitute a real network that covers almost the entire city, both in the downtown area and on the outskirts.
There are also some problems: the bike paths often are narrow and run adjacent to motor vehicles and cyclists must remain constantly on their guard, especially along the narrow streets of the city center that follow along the canals; the worst thing however is that I was forced to share these bike paths with motorcycles, a practice which is common in urban areas of Holland [the Netherlands]. It’s an unfortunate concept but luckily does not have too much of a consequence for the cyclist, if only because in Amsterdam the number of motorcycles is substantially lower than the number of bikes.
It appears that approximately one half of all the travel in the city is conducted on bicycle. And it is truly amazing to see the quantity and variety of people traveling by bike everyday: young and old, people dressed in sportswear, but also in jacket and tie, mothers with children in a bike seat, etc. and etc.
For the cyclist who dreams of a bicycle-friendly city, instead of favoring cars and motorcycles, Amsterdam is still an essential point of reference.
