My friends who live in Amsterdam say that is more of a small village then a city. I guess the ease of transportation (cycling, trams or by foot) does produce this ambiance.
If you get the chance, take a boat ride! Luckily for me, some of my friends have boats and love to show people around the town on the water. During the winter months, Amsterdam has a Festival Of Lights show which is best seen from the water.
I prefer celebrating New Years Eve in Amsterdam rather then London for several reasons – primarily as I have a number of amazing friends there. It is easy to get around, the music is 2000% better and the crowd are always friendly. There is of course the matter of their love of fireworks. This is on another whole level.
We watched the fireworks from a roof top garden in the Pijp on the NYE itself and we had 360 degree views. The spectacular lasted in earnest well over forty minutes! And petered out through the next day.
For New Years Day itself, I went to Thuishaven with friends. Marcus is a professional photographer and has a studio within the complex and knew pretty much every person that works there. This resulted in us having backstage access, our own private room and free everything.
Thuishaven is set in a huge circus fairground, and has several tents hosting great DJs and a jumping crowd. The music was excellent and after several hours of dedicated dancing, I was exhausted. The site hosts parties during the summer which I think I will visit this year.