Eight essential excursions for visitors to The
Netherlands
Tulips, windmills, dikes and the masterpieces of the golden age:
This article introduces you to eight essential excursions in The
Netherlands. Your Dutch trip is not complete without these
eight!
The Rijksmuseum has a lot more to offer than golden age
masterpieces. Visit their
website for details.
Windmills at Kinderdijk
2. Windmills at Kinderdijk
Holland is windmills. There are almost a thousand of them
left, most of them in the provinces Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland and Utrecht. When travelling through these three
provinces, you will see windmills everywhere.
Still, a visit to the group of nineteen windmills at
Kinderdijk (a village just outside Rotterdam) will be one of
the highlights of your Dutch visit.
The Keukenhof is
a flower park with visitor centre in the heart of the so-called
bollenstreek (bulb region), the region famous for its
flower agriculture. In April, the blue, yellow, pink, purple and
red fields with tulips, daffodils and hyacinths are a spectacular
sight.
The Keukenhof is well worth a visit, but it has become
a tourist trap. A more leisurely (and cheaper) way to enjoy the
flowers is by touring the area. You can do it by car, but better
by bicycle. Rent a bicycle in Haarlem, then head south along the
canal Haarlemse Trekvaart until Voorhout, than go north
again via the villages Sassenheim, Lisse and Hillegom.
The bulb fields around Zijpe are less well known, but
just as spectacular.
Canal buses, canal bikes, pizza cruises, cocktail cruises,
candlelight cruises: There are many ways to enjoy the famous
Amsterdam canals. Traditional canal cruises start at several
places in Amsterdam. For other canal events, booking is usually
required - have a look at the offerings of companies like the Canal Company, Aemstelland or Kooij.
Most canals originated in the 17th century, the Dutch golden
age. They were used for transport: Many canals are still lined
with warehouses built in the golden age. The (daily) Amsterdam
flower market is floating on one of the canals - a relic from the
time goods (including flowers) were brought in by barges.
The Binnenhof (litt. Inner court) is a court in the
centre of The Hague, home to the Dutch parliament.
The Binnenhof is dominated by the Ridderzaal
(Hall of Knights). The Ridderzaal was once build as a
palace for the mediaeval counts of Holland. Today, it is mainly
used for representative functions, like the opening of the
parliamentary year by the Queen, or the reception of foreign
dignitaries.
Around the Binnenhof is a mix of ancient and modern
buildings. Most of them are offices and meeting rooms used by
parliament.
Just outside the Binnenhof is the Torentje
(Little Tower), the office of the prime minister. His department
is also housed at the Binnenhof.
The Binnenhof is (usually) open to the public, but as
the area is in use by the parliament, the prime minister and
sometimes the queen, it will occasionally be closed (sometimes
without notice). Guided
tours are available to some of the buildings, including the
Ridderzaal.
The Mauritshuis, the building that now houses the Royal
Picture Gallery, is an architectural golden age masterpiece. It
was built by the famous Dutch architects Jacob van Campen
(architect of the Amsterdam town hall, now royal palace) and
Pieter Post (architect of Huis ten Bosch in The Hague, now the
residence of the Dutch Queen), for Count Johan Maurits of
Nassau-Siegen. Johan Maurits was governor of the Dutch colony in
Brazil from 1636 to 1644.
7. Deltawerken
A recurring theme in Dutch history is the fight against water.
A large part of the country is below sea level, protected against
the sea and rivers by dikes and dunes. In the winter of 1953 this
protection proved insufficient. During a combination of
spring-tide and a northwestern storm, the dikes broke at several
places in the southwest of the country, inundating 1750 sq.km.
(675 sq. mi.). Over 1800 people were killed.
The 1953 flooding disaster triggered an ambitious project: The
deltawerken (delta works). It is a combination of dikes,
dams, sleuces and storm barriers. Several river mouths have been
closed off completely. The Eastern Schelde was also scheduled to
be closed, but the environment and the fishing industry would
suffer too much. Instead, an open barrier was built that
maintained the tidal movement, and therefore protected the unique
marine environment from the Eastern Schelde. It has 62 openings,
each 40 metres wide, and can be closed during spring-tide.
The deltawerken took over 30 years to complete. The
last part (the Eastern Schelde barrier) was opened in 1986.
8. Anne Frank
The Anne Frank House,
the hiding place in Amsterdam where Anne Frank wrote her
diary, is now a
museum. You can visit the secret annex where the Frank family was
hidden. The museum also houses an impressive collection of Anne
Frank memorabilia, many of them collected by her father Otto
Frank, who was the only family member who survived the
holocaust.
Did you visit any of the mentioned attractions? What did you think of it? Let us know and leave a message in the
guestbook.
, is now a
museum. You can visit the secret annex where the Frank family was
hidden. The museum also houses an impressive collection of Anne
Frank memorabilia, many of them collected by her father Otto
Frank, who was the only family member who survived the
holocaust.