Lonely Planet The Netherlands , livre ebook

The Netherlands

Contents

Plan Your Trip

Welcome to the Netherlands
The Netherlands’ Top 10
Need to Know
What’s New
If You Like…
Month by Month
Itineraries
Cycling in the Netherlands
Travel with Children
Regions at a Glance

On The Road

AMSTERDAM
Sights
Activities
Tours
Festivals & Events
Sleeping
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
HAARLEM & NORTH HOLLAND
North Holland
Haarlem
Zaanse Schans
Waterland
Volendam
Edam
Alkmaar
Hoorn
Enkhuizen
Medemblik
Den Helder
Texel
Muiden
Naarden
Flevoland
Urk
UTRECHT
Utrecht City
Amersfoort
ROTTERDAM & SOUTH HOLLAND
South Holland
Rotterdam
Delfshaven & Schiedam
Dordrecht
Gouda
Den Haag (The Hague)
Delft
Leiden
Lisse
Zeeland
Middelburg
Veere
Domburg
Waterland Neeltje Jans
Schouwen-Duiveland
FRIESLAND (FRYSLÂN)
Leeuwarden (Ljouwert)
Waddenzee Coast
Harlingen
Southwestern Friesland
Sneek (Snits)
Hindeloopen (Hylpen)
Frisian Islands
Vlieland
Terschelling
Ameland
Schiermonnikoog
NORTHEASTERN NETHERLANDS
Groningen Province
Groningen
Hoogeland
Bourtange
Drenthe Province
Assen
CENTRAL NETHERLANDS
Overijssel
Deventer
Zwolle
Kampen
Weerribben-Wieden National Park
Twente
Gelderland
Nijmegen
Groesbeek
Arnhem
Hoge Veluwe National Park
MAASTRICHT & SOUTHEASTERN NETHERLANDS
Maastricht
Valkenburg
Roermond
Noord Brabant
Den Bosch
Eindhoven
Tilburg
Breda
Bergen op Zoom

Understand

Understand the Netherlands
The Netherlands Today
History
The Dutch Way of Life
Dutch Art
Architecture
The Dutch Landscape
Dutch Cuisine

SURVIVAL GUIDE

Directory A–Z
Accessible Travel
Accommodation
Bargaining
Climate
Customs Regulations
Discount Cards
Electricity
Embassies & Consulates
Food
Health
Insurance
Internet Access
Legal Matters
LGBT+ Travellers
Maps
Money
Opening Hours
Post
Public Holidays
Safe Travel
Telephone
Time
Toilets
Tourist Information
Visas
Volunteering
Transport
Getting There and Away
Getting Around
Language
Behind the Scenes
Our Writers
Welcome to the Netherlands

Tradition and innovation intertwine here: artistic masterpieces, windmills, tulip fields and candlelit cafés coexist with visionary architecture, cutting-edge design and phenomenal nightlife.

Art & Architecture
In a country that gave birth to celebrated Dutch Masters like Rembrandt, Vermeer, Van Gogh and Piet Mondrian, the art legacy is huge. World-renowned art museums in Amsterdam, Den Haag, Rotterdam, Haarlem and Leiden drip with iconic masterpieces. The Dutch influence on construction spans more than a millennium, from Romanesque and Gothic magnum opuses to Dutch Renaissance palaces, romantic Golden Age gabled houses and trailblazing contemporary architecture.

Landscapes
Geography plays a key role in the Netherlands’ iconic landscapes. More than a quarter of the pancake-flat land is below sea level, and 20% has been reclaimed from the sea, making regimental rows of polders (areas of drained land) omnipresent. Uninterrupted North Sea winds have powered windmills since the 13th century, pumping water over the dykes, milling flour and more. Some two-thirds of the country’s surface area is devoted to agriculture, including beautiful rainbow fields of crocuses, daffodils, hyacinths and tulips that burst into flower each year between March and May. The kaleidoscope of colour is nothing short of psychedelic.

Cycling
With fabulously flat, scenic landscapes beckoning along every last dyke, canal, river and coastal shore, two-wheeling is one of Dutch life’s great pleasures. While the bike-loving Dutch practically live on their well-worn, beloved fietsen (bicycles) – many, infamously only with back-pedal coaster brakes – cycling for visitors is a wonderful means of getting around. Bike-rental outlets are ubiquitous, and the country is criss-crossed with some 32,000km of cycling paths. Grab a set of wheels and go!

Café Culture
When the Dutch say café they mean a pub, and there are thousands – with glorious summertime terraces peppering flower-strewn canals, looking out to sea, hidden down ancient lanes and standing on every town’s Grote Markt (market square). In a country that values socialising and conversation more than drinking, cafés are places for go-slow contemplation and camaraderie, over dusk-time borrel (drinks) with bar snacks or a fabulous meal any time of day. The ultimate café kick: revelling in that deliciously snug, Dutch state of gezelligheid (conviviality, cosiness) in a timeless bruin café (brown cafe), named for the nicotine stains of centuries past.

Zaanse Schans | NEIRFY/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Why I Love the Netherlands
By Nicola Williams, Writer
I have family in the Netherlands, so this country has always been a natural port of call for me. Living the high life in Amsterdam, marvelling at sand dunes and Van Gogh art in the Hoge Veluwe National Park, two-wheel island hopping in Friesland and tasting fiery beerenburg (herb-infused gin) in a century-old distillery are among my highlights. But it’s the Dutch attitude to life I love most. Fusing an old-fashioned ‘great outdoors’ simplicity with an insatiable desire to design and innovate for the good of the land, this country has its finger right on the ‘live well’ pulse.
For more, see Our Writers
The Netherlands’ Top 10

Canal Ring in Amsterdam
The Dutch capital is a watery wonderland. Amsterdam made its fortune in maritime trade, and its Canal Ring was constructed during the city’s Golden Age. Stroll alongside the canals and check out the narrow, gabled houses and thousands of houseboats; relax on a canal-side café (pub) terrace; or, better still, go for a ride. Cruises and boat rentals abound. From boat level you’ll see a whole new set of architectural details, such as the ornamentation bedecking the bridges and, come nightfall, glowing lights reflecting in the ripples.

VERONIKA GALKINA/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Top Experiences
Rotterdam’s Architecture
Unlike many European cities that emerged from the ashes of WWII with hastily reconstructed city centres, Rotterdam pursued a different path. Its architecture is striking rather than simply functional and contributes to its glittering, skyscraper-defined skyline. The world’s best architects compete here for commissions that result in eye-popping, one-of-a-kind designs, such as a ‘vertical city’ (the country’s largest building), a forest of cube houses, a pencil-shaped residential tower, a fantastical horseshoe-shaped covered market, and an ethereal ‘cloud-like’ building housing the city’s history museum.

Cube houses, Overblaak Development | HIT1912/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Top Experiences
Artistic Masterpieces
The Netherlands has produced a wealth of famous artists. In Amsterdam, Rembrandt’s The Night Watch (pictured), Vermeer’s Kitchen Maid and other Golden Age treasures fill the mighty Rijksmuseum , the Van Gogh Museum boasts the world’s largest collection by native son Vincent, while the Stedelijk Museum shows Mondrian, De Kooning and other Dutch visionaries. Outside the capital, Haarlem’s Frans Hals Museum collects the painter’s works, Rotterdam’s Museum Boijmans van Beuningen spans all eras, and Den Haag’s Mauritshuis unfurls a who’s who of Dutch Masters.

MARK READ/LONELY PLANET ©

Top Experiences
Cycling
Grab a bike, tinkle your bell and go. You can rent them anywhere and no nation on earth is better suited for cycling . Not only is it as flat as a classic Dutch pancake but there are thousands of kilometres of bike lanes and paths linking virtually every part of the country. See polders (areas surrounded by dykes where water can be artificially controlled) and creaking traditional windmills (as well as tulips blooming in springtime), and hear cows lowing in expansive green fields before arriving at the next enchanting village.

Kinderdijk | COMANICIU DAN/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Top Experiences
Brown Cafés
Gezelligheid has no English translation but is better experienced than defined. It refers to the uniquely Dutch state of conviviality, cosiness, warmth, good humour and sense of togetherness that is a hallmark of the country’s famous brown cafes ( bruin cafés, ). Named for their aged, tobacco-stained walls, these small, snug, history-steeped pubs are filled with good cheer. There are around a thousand in Amsterdam alone, and countless others throughout the country. It takes little time, on even your first visit, to be drawn into their welcoming atmosphere.

Hoppe | DAVE G. HOUSER/GETTY IMAGES ©

Top Experiences
Hoge Veluwe National Park
A vast swath of beautiful land that was once private hunting grounds, Hoge Veluwe National Park combines forests, sand dunes, marshes and ponds. It’s a bucolic escape from the densely packed cities and you can easily spend a day here just soaking up the natural environment. But the real treat lies at the park’s centre. The Kröller-Müller Museum is one of the nation’s best, with a Van Gogh collection that rivals the namesake museum in Amsterdam. Outside there is a stunning sculpture garden.

RONALD WILFRED JANSEN/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Top Experiences
Dutch Cheese
Names like Gouda and Edam inspire notions of Dutch cheese more immediately than the municipalities that spawned them. Seasonal cheese markets have taken place on main squares of cheese towns for centuries and a mooch around the Kaasmarkt in Alkmaar or Edam in North Holland is a tantalising foodie essential. Cheeses come in a vast range of styles and flavours: some are aged like a fine Parmesan, others are laced with aromatic caraway seeds or mustard. Shops stocking huge waxy wheels of cheese span the country.

Cheese stall, Albert Cuypmarkt | PPICTURES/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Top Experiences
Maastricht
The city where Europe’s common currency began has been a meeting place for centuries. The Romans buil