Groningen
This engaging tour of the lives of seamen and the ships they sailed unfolds through the set of buildings that once made up a 16th-century distillery…
Must-see attractions in The Netherlands
Overijssel
Housed in a neoclassical courthouse by the canal, Zwolle's acclaimed art museum stages large-scale temporary exhibits by contemporary figures. The small…
Overijssel
The city's main church is named after the English cleric who founded it in 738; the present Gothic structure dates from the late 15th century. Its many…
Museum Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder
Medieval Centre & Red Light District
Within what looks like an ordinary canal house is an entire Catholic church. Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder (Our Dear Lord in the Attic) was built in the mid…
Nationaal Fietsmuseum Velorama
Nijmegen
Down by the riverfront is this museum with more than 250 bicycles: everything from 19th-century wooden contraptions and hand-propelled bikes to an entire…
Noord Brabant
Breda's most photo-perfect view is canal side from beside Hoge Brug.
Northeastern Netherlands
One of the best-preserved fortifications in the country stands at tiny Bourtange near the German border. With its flooded moats, solid defences and quaint…
Amsterdam
Amsterdam's forest is a vast swathe (roughly 1000 hectares) of almost countryside, 20 minutes by bike south of Vondelpark. Planted in 1934 to provide…
Leeuwarden
The provincial museum occupies an imposing glass-fronted building sporting a striking wood-and-steel roof that projects out over Wilhelminaplein. The…
Frisian Islands
Ameland's iconic red-and-white banded lighthouse stands 55m tall on the island's west end. The only lighthouse in the island chain that is open to the…
Utrecht Province
The nation's biggest moated castle is a remarkable feast of Gothic spires, turrets and portcullis gates. It has a glorious chapel, and is surrounded by a…
Friesland
Nature lovers are in paradise in this tiny national park protecting the man-made watery shallows of Lauwersmeer, split between Friesland and the…
National Liberation Museum 1944–45
Gelderland
An essential for anyone keen to learn about the region's WWII history, the National Liberation Museum is divided into three parts. The introductory, red…
Medieval Centre & Red Light District
During the construction of Amsterdam's 2018-opened Noord/Zuidlijn (North–South metro line), more than 134,000 archaeological finds were unearthed from…
Southern Canal Ring
First called Reguliersplein, then Botermarkt for the butter markets held here until the mid-19th century, this somewhat brash square now takes its name…
Limburg
If you're driving between Maastricht and Eindhoven, the very pretty historic village of Thorn (pronounced To-ren) makes a delightful short detour. Once…
Maastricht
Maastricht Underground runs spooky, amusing and fascinating tours into sections of the vast tunnel network beneath St-Pietersberg massif. Departures run…
Noord Brabant
With several fine historic room interiors, a French garden and picture-perfect medieval walls, this splendid city-centre palace houses a treasure trove of…
Schiermonnikoog
The entire island, except for its single town and surrounding polder, was designated the Netherlands' first national park in 1989. It's easy to lose…
Hard Rock Hotel Amsterdam American
Southern Canal Ring
This building is a magnificent art nouveau beast. The founder of the original hotel, Cornelis Alidus Anne (CAA) Steinigeweg had helped establish a Dutch…
Southern Canal Ring
Historic architecture, beer, clubs and steakhouses – welcome to Leidseplein. The square is always busy, but after dark it gets thronged by a mainstream…
Amsterdam
Amsterdam's most famous museums cluster around this public square, which has that Amsterdam essential: a skateboard ramp, as well as a playground and ice…
Southern Canal Ring
There's a surprise waiting in Kleine Gartmanplantsoen park: 40 huge, lifelike lizards nestled in the grass and sunning themselves on the brickwork. It's a…
Groningen
A climb up 251 steep and spiralling stone steps to the summit of this elegant, 96m-tall medieval tower (1482) rewards with grand views – and worrisome…
Rotterdam
This dynamic cultural institution in Rotterdam's main museum enclave is known for its constantly changing and inevitably thought-provoking exhibition…
Utrecht
Entered through a gloriously restored 1874 station with magnificent art-nouveau chandeliers, the national railway museum offers countless historic locos,…
Southern Canal Ring
The Golden Bend is Amsterdam's swankiest stretch of property. Its handsome mansions are a monument to the Golden Age, when precious goods swelled the…
Southern Canal Ring
Crossing Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht canals, this waterway was dug in 1658 to link the Herengracht with the canals further south. The…
Groningen
Groningen's landmark cultural centre - home to the city's tourist office, library, five cinemas, exhibition spaces, the Nederlands Stripmuseum and a…
Overijssel
In Twente's far eastern realm, snug on the German border, spectacular sand drifts rise up along the banks of the Dinkel River to meet aromatic juniper…
Amsterdam Noord
At this modernist architectural triumph that seems to balance on its edge on the banks of the IJ (also pronounced 'eye') River, the institute screens…
Utrecht Province
This 15th-century Gothic tower is Amersfoort's defining architectural icon. It's the only surviving component of a church that was otherwise destroyed by…
Amsterdam Noord
This former shipbuilding warehouse is filled with over 80 artists studios, with some 250 artists working in the NDSM broedplaats (breeding ground). It's a…
Jordaan & the West
Adjacent to the Westerpark, this late-19th-century Dutch Renaissance complex was the city's western gasworks until gas production ceased in 1967. The…
Eindhoven
This superb modern-art gallery uses elements of its rich collection (including originals by Picasso, Braque, Kandinsky and Léger) along with plenty of…
Western Canal Ring
Learn about the remarkable feats of engineering behind the Canal Ring through this museum's holograms, videos, models, cartoons, scale model of Amsterdam…
Amsterdam
Now the five-star Grand Hotel Amrath, the grand 1916 Scheepvaarthuis is a neo-Gothic art deco beauty, the first and finest example of the expressionist…
North Holland
The Stedelijk Museum's collection of oil paintings by Dutch Masters, including impressive life-sized portraits of Alkmaar nobles, is alone worth the entry…
Southern Canal Ring
Dating from the 1670s, the nine-arched 'Skinny Bridge' has had several incarnations, first in timber and later in concrete. It has a hand-operated central…
Texel
Wineries across the Netherlands are few, so it's especially worth dropping in to De Kroon, a small but international medal-winning estate. One-hour tours …
