I've found vacation nirvana for teenagers and it's a place parents will like just as much as teens do.

Welcome to Amsterdam. It's got everything, including teen-safe clubs, terrific outdoor markets that, despite the weak dollar, offer some bona-fide bargains, world-class museums and the chance to explore it all by bicycle.

In Amsterdam, everyone seems young, fit and, most important to the teens, hip. And there's the appropriate mix of culture, history and quirkiness in a city where marijuana can be purchased legally in coffeehouses and the Red Light District is historic and attracts group tours. Another plus: everyone speaks flawless English (www.visitamsterdam.nl).

We settled into the Ambassade Hotel, which quickly became one of our all-time favorites. Within walking distance of just about everywhere we want to go, the 59-room hotel is a series of 10 renovated 17th-century canal houses overlooking one of Amsterdam's famous canals. We can't believe our food choices within a couple of blocks -- Italian, Japanese, Thai, Indonesian, French.

The next day, a short walk from the hotel, I buy tulip bulbs at Amsterdam's famous flower market from Ron Abel, a man whose family has been in business here for more than 50 years. The girls -- my 17-year-old daughter and her friend, Hayley Jacobs -- are amused by the marijuana lollipops sold alongside the tulip bulbs. Everywhere we look there are narrow streets with cafes, shops and people whizzing by on bikes. (We quickly learn that bikers have the right of way.) We laugh at how some of the historic houses lean in a bit -- on purpose we learn. And I'm amazed to learn that Amsterdam has about 1,200 bridges along its 80 miles of canals.