I would definitely go with some Canon. In last few years the built up solid image sensor, awesome and simple UI and some really great lenses with relatively cheap price.
I got great experience with Canon EOS 70D (it´s a bit bigger and kinda close to professional sphere), but the body itself is nearly immortal.
or Canon 750D - more "user friendly" version of 70D - same image sensor, but with less exponencial range etc. Bassicaly no difference for "amateur" photographers.
Same goes for Canon 700D - smaller, lighter and cheaper version of 750D. Image sensor isn´t that good but it´s still way over the price.
And the smallest and cheapest and probably the best price/quality is the Canon 1200D. I got it once on one trip and it´s a real pocket-camera with some amazing quality.
There are also lot of good cams by Nikon or Sony and Panasonic but I have most experience with Canon and it´s the most expanded company so any parts for Canon are really cheap and easy to get.