Hey peeps

I know there are some Dutch members on here and would appreciate any advice.

I am going to be going on a short break to Amsterdam at the end of October, with my girlfriend. It's somewhere we both have wanted to see, and I need a break from working so why not!

Going to book the hotel and flights in a couple weeks. I just need a little info on a couple things if you don't mind

1. Public transport- I've read a little about "iAmsterdam card" and "OV Chipkaart" - but what's the deal? Do we pay per bus/tram, or do we pay for a ticket that covers a certain area, timescale etc? any help would be sweet. Also rough costs for 5 days?

2. Is it better to stay in the city centre, or just outside (where it's a lot cheaper) and get public transport to the centre?

3. Any suggestions on cool things to go see/do?

4. Not a big issue, but I fancy a smoke whilst I'm there. From what I can see it's still legal for tourists to smoke in coffeeshops, and they didn't change that, right?

Cheers