We happened to be visiting during the big Gay Pride weekend in Amsterdam. This finishes 2 August, 2015. The trains, buses, trams and streets were noticably more packed. People would need to book accomodation in advance if visiting during busy weekends like this. Most accomodation are booked solid during the weekends in summer, even if there are no special events planned. The highlight of this festival is the famous Canal Parade on Saturday afternoon. Most parades use trucks, Amsterdam has boats! 75 spectacular decorated boats sail from 13:30 till 18:00 through the Prinsengracht and Amstel river. The gay parade is watched by 300,000 spectators every year! We took a canal cruise to see more of the city and crossed through the parade path. It was a crazy scene with many hundreds of thousands attending.