The cars might have killed Paris, but the bikes have killed Amsterdam. Maybe it’s all the people and not the bikes. Either way, congestion makes it difficult to move around.

Just as well that our room was in the middle of the grachtengordel canal belt area as it was slow to move about town, with the narrow streets the exclusive domain of the bikes and cycles. It seemed more dangerous to walk along the narrow footpaths with bikes whizzing by than the footpaths of London and its red buses.

As many bikes as there are, it is the only way for the locals. Public transport is too congested. The few cars that are seen have nowhere to park. Even deliveries are offloaded out of town, and brought in with mini electric trucks.