The bicyclists are insane, indeed, but we loved that aspect! There were parking garages for the bicycles! Hubby kept trying to talk me into renting bikes...I kept saying no, as I didn't want to die on vacation.
He's much more adventurous than me.
We stayed in a "boutique" hostel in Amsterdam - really just a hostel that offered a few private nicer rooms with bathrooms for those who didn't want to share their entire space with strangers.
But we were able to enjoy meeting travelers from around the world in the community kitchen/living areas, buy food at a grocery store and cook whenever we wanted, and hang out with the resident hostel cat. It was a very unique experience, especially as we never had a chance to do the whole backpacker thing as youngsters. FUN!
I did agree to rent bicycles in Paris and had a FABULOUS time, even though I was scared to death to try it. We took a leisurely afternoon and biked from the Latin Quarter over to the Eiffel Tower. There were only a few scary moments - we tried to stay on the smaller back roads. It was a great way to see the city. And then we got a bottle of wine and cheese at a local grocery store and set up camp on the lawn with everyone else. Wonderful memories!