Netherlands Travel Guide

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Top Things to See

• Stroll around the center of Amsterdam, along canal banks lined with narrow-fronted buildings dating from the city's heyday as a trading center. Among these is the Anne Frank House (website: www.annefrank.org), home of the young Jewish diarist, in Prinsengracht.

• Visit one of Amsterdam's diamond traders, and watch craftsmen cutting and polishing the precious stones. Among the best known is Gassan, in Nieuwe Uilenburgerstraat (website: www.gassandiamonds.com), where stones can be selected and mounted in jewelry on the spot.

• See some of the many great works of art, including those of Dutch painters such as Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Vermeer displayed in Amsterdam's many museums and galleries, including the Rijksmuseum (website: www.rijksmuseum.nl).

• Take a trip to Arnhem (website: www.vvvarnhem.nl), in southeastern Holland, scene of WWII's ‘Operation Market Garden', in which the city's Rhine crossing proved a ‘Bridge too Far' for the allied forces attempting to bring an early conclusion to hostilities.

• Take a fascinating tour of architectural heritage at the palaces and government buildings of The Hague (website: www.the-hague.info), seat of Dutch government and royalty, and the UN's fourth most important city, to the west of Amsterdam near the North Sea coast.

• Enjoy a miniaturised flavor of the whole of The Netherlands at Madurodam (website: www.madurodam.nl), which replicates many aspects of the country in 1:25 scale, incorporating windmills, a cheese market and what is claimed as the world's most extensive miniature railway.

• Get up early to witness trading at Bloemenveiling Aalsmeer (the Aalsmeer Flower Auction) (website: www.flora.nl) close to Amsterdam, the world's largest commercial building at 999,000 sq m (10.7million sq ft).

• Head to the far southeast of The Netherlands to see the medieval architecture of Maastricht (website: www.vvv-maastricht.eu), Holland's oldest fortified city. Highlights include the basilica churches of Our Lady and St Servatius, and spectacular caves in the surrounding hills.

• Do not miss the elegant Dom (cathedral) tower and old town area of Utrecht (website: www.vvvutrecht.nl), which also boasts a museum dedicated to the work of Dick Bruna, creator of Miffy (website: www.dickbrunahuis.com).

• See the Netherlands' many tulips; the most spectacular glimpses of these flowers can be seen in Haarlem (website: www.haarlem.nl), 20km (12 miles) west of Amsterdam. The countryside affords a fine view of the bulb fields from the end of March to mid May.

• Enjoy the spectacle of one of Holland's cheese markets. The best are Waagplein, in Alkmaar, open every Friday from mid April to mid September, and at Gouda, 20km (12 miles) southeast of Rotterdam.

• Watch the skills of the porcelain makers at the Royal Delft pottery (website: www.royaldelft.com), in Delft, also home town of Johannes Vermeer, and where a new center (website: www.vermeerdelft.nl) dedicated to the artistopened in2007.

Top Things to Do

• Rent a bicycle and join the Dutch on the country’s most popular form of transport. There are around 17,000km (10,600 miles) of designated cycle tracks around The Netherlands, which due to its generally flat landscape, is ideal.

• Take a glass-topped boat tour round Amsterdam’s many waterways and harbor. It is an excellent way to see the city’s most interesting areas. Another option is to take the Museum Boat (website: www.water-taxi.nl), which links most of the major cultural attractions.

• Explore the interior workings and health of the human body at Corpus, a new visitor attraction near Leiden (website: www.corpusexperience.nl). The attraction also incorporates a medical information center with changing exhibitions.

• Take a trip to the Hoge Veluwe national park (website: www.hogeveluwe.nl) near Arnhem, among whose attractions is an underground museum dedicated to subterranean life, and the Kröller-Müller Museum (www.kmm.nl) which contains 280 Van Gogh paintings as well as numerous other works.

• Enjoy a football match at one of the top Dutch stadia, Amsterdam Arena, home of the famous Ajax (website: www.ajax.nl), PSV’s Philips Stadion in Eindhoven (website: www.psv.nl) or De Kuip, in Rotterdam, where Feyenoord play (website: www.feyenoord.com).

• Drive across the Afsluitdijk, a 30km (19 mile) barrier built in the 1930s to close off the Zuiderzee from the North Sea, creating the now freshwater IJsselmeer. Motorists can stop at a lookout point halfway across the road linking Friesland with Noord-Holland.

• Relive history at the expanded and renovated Het Spoorwegmuseum (Dutch National Railway Museum) (website: www.spoorwegmuseum.nl), at Maliebaanstation in Utrecht, with its extensive collection of historic rolling stock and memorabilia. A regular train link connects the museum with Utrecht Central.

• Ride the high-speed lift up Euromast in Rotterdam (website: www.euromast.com), and dine at a height of 100m (328ft) overlooking the world’s biggest harbor. Then, if you’re brave, ascend even higher to 185m (605ft) with the Euroscoop experience.

• Step back into history at Zaanse Schans village (website: www.zaanseschans.nl), a short distance from Amsterdam, with its traditional houses, working windmills, clog factory, cheese farm, boat builder’s and several museums.

• Get away from it all, and go ‘wad hopping’ between the five Dutch Wadden Islands. Served by regular ferry services in the summer, the islands are a popular vacation destination, and cycling is the accepted way to get around.

• Stroll around the historic city of Gouda, following the Cheese Map (available from the local tourist office; website: www.vvvgouda.nl), which leads visitors around the various landmarks, including the Weighhouse Museum, associated with cheesemaking in the city.