Now it really is cheaper to go Dutch

Unlike some cheap flights, it's all very civilised and you are allocated a seat. As I'm about the first one there I get my pick. Latest check in time is 45 minutes before departure. Next time I'll have another half hour in bed.

7am. Take off on time. Plane - a brand new one with Jet2.Yorkshire proudly on the side as well as a large white rose - is full, mainly with businessmen, though there are three very drunk girls heading off to a hen weekend in Amsterdam. While others drink coffee (£1.50 a cup), they start on the Baileys.

8am. Schipol airport is enormous but very well organised and easy to get around. Passport control is quick. Travelators make the long walk to the exit a lot easier.

8.10am. There is a mainline station virtually inside the airport. Long queues for tickets, but no queues at the ticket machines, so I try one. Tricky, as all the instructions are in Dutch and I also have to use my credit card pin number. But it works. A day return ticket to the centre of Amsterdam costs 5.60 euros - about £4. Trains run every 15 minutes. The journey takes about 20 minutes. The double decker trains are big, clean and so comfortable that I think I'm in First Class, but, no, this is just standard.

8.50am (9.50 local time). Less than two hours from take off and I'm in the centre of Amsterdam. Easy peasy.

Amsterdam is a very compact city and the best way round it is on foot or by canal boat. Everywhere is clearly signed. There is also very little traffic in the city centre - which makes it quite quiet. But beware when crossing roads, especially the big squares because trams and bikes come at you from all directions. Amsterdam's motorists are amazingly polite and courteous, waiting patiently while others do complicated manoeuvres in narrow roads along the canal edges. But the cyclists... Get in the way of a cyclist and they will curse you up down and sideways before pedalling off, usually on an ancient sit-up-and-beg style bike, with hatred in their eyes.

But that's the exception. Generally the Dutch are a polite and friendly people. They also nearly all speak good English and many of their signs, adverts and information are in English. It's a very easy city even if, as I was, you're there on your own.

It is, of course, a city of canals. Resist the urge to go on one of the round trip canal boats. Instead, buy yourself a day ticket for the Canal Bus. For 16 euros - about £11 - you can hop on and off the canal buses all day. They stop at most of the main tourist spots and as well as getting you from A to B, they're a good way of seeing the city - complete with commentary - and a chance to have a nice sit down. The tickets also offer you discounts at some shops and sights.

Where to go:

Obviously in one day you can't do everything, but there's plenty to choose from:

Anne Frank's House - where you can climb up into the attic and still see the film star posters stuck up on her wall. Desperately moving.

Van Gogh Museum - 200 paintings, 500 drawings, a real feast, all brilliantly displayed and explained.

Rijksmuseum - lots of everything, but try and see Dutch 17th century paintings by Frans Hals, Vermeer, Rembrandt.

Coster Diaminds - watch diamonds being graded, cut and polished. And dream.

Willet-Holthuysen - A splendid canal house done up as it was in the 19th century. Now it's crowded in by modern office blocks, but you can imagine what it was like.

Red Light District - If you must but, frankly, it's pretty seedy.

Cannabis Museum - The only one in Europe. Rumour has it that police sometimes raid the place and take away the exhibits.

What to eat and drink:

Plenty of bars, cafs and restaurants, many with tables outside, many with tourist menus, offering all the usual international fare. A few, on the edge of the Red Light district, with strange menus, strange smells and as you walk on with a silly smile on your face, you discover a new dimension to passive smoking. The Netherlands used to rule Indonesia and there are a number of good Indonesian restaurants. Or you could get chips and mayonnaise from a stall. Or buy good pastries from a bakers and have a picnic. As I was on my own, I opted for Oktober, a friendly and welcoming bistro on the Leidesplein - good lunchtime menu of salads, sandwiches, good puds and excellent wine and coffee. Very relaxing.

Shopping:

If you haven't spent all your money on diamonds you could try the antiques shops near the museum area. Lots of prints are very affordable. The city centre seems particularly good on stylish mid-range shoe shops and sports shops. There's a flea market on Waterlooplein. Foreign tat is always more appealing than home grown stuff. You must get some cheese. Dutch cheese is much more interesting and varied then you'd think. We particularly liked the nettle cheese and the Gouda with cumin. At the floating flower market you can buy fresh flowers or stock up on bulbs, yes, tulips from Amsterdam

For my day I opted for the Van Gogh Museum, the Rijskmsueum, some lunch and some shopping and a great deal of walking along canalsides. By 5pm I was pretty shattered so hopped on a Canal Bus and took the long way round to the Central Station just to enjoy the ride and the views.

7pm. Back to Schipol, a bilberry juice and a little more shopping at the airport.

9.10pm. Back at Leeds Bradford Airport. The only snag in the day - the car park has cost £12 - that's more than the price of a ticket to Amsterdam.

* Jet2.com fly twice a day from Leeds/Bradford to Amsterdam and back. Prices start at £1 each way, which comes to £7 with taxes. Other flights at £9, £14, £24 and £34, plus taxes. I couldn't get the very cheapest flights, but the total cost for my day trip was still only £42.

Book now for some dates in August and September and you can get there and back, all taxes and charges paid, for £18.

More details on www.jet2.com