Den Haag
Home to the Panorama (1881), an immense, 14m-high, 360-degree painting of the sea, dunes and fishing village of Scheveningen, this museum is one of Den…
Must-see attractions in The Netherlands
Friesland
The Eise Eisinga Planetarium is named after its builder, an 18th-century wool comber with a serious sideline in cosmic mathematics and astrology. Between…
Western Canal Ring
The main gathering place for Amsterdam's Dutch Reformed community, this church was built for rich Protestants to a 1620 design by Hendrick de Keyser. The…
Northeastern Netherlands
Of the 107,000 Jews living in the Netherlands before WWII, all but 5000 were deported by the Nazis to concentration and death camps in central and eastern…
Den Haag
Home to the UN's Permanent Court of Arbitration and International Court of Justice, the Peace Palace is housed in a grand 1913 building donated by…
Leeuwarden
At the northwest corner of the historic core stands the notoriously off-kilter Oldehove – Friesland's rival to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Things went…
Jordaan & the West
Allow around half an hour at this diminutive museum, which offers an overview of the history of the country's favourite bloom. Through exhibits, timelines…
Amsterdam Noord
See the neon sign and you'll be forgiven for thinking this is an outpost of the Red Light District. But Sexyland is a members' club that has 365 co-owners…
Den Haag
Home to both houses of the Dutch government, this complex of buildings next to the Hofvijver is arranged around a central courtyard that was once used for…
Rotterdam
Once home to the largest red-light district in Europe, Katendrecht is now one of Rotterdam’s culinary hotspots. The Deliplein is a small plaza right…
De Pijp
While the Vondelpark is bigger in size and reputation, this tranquil English-style park delivers an equally potent shot of pastoral summertime relaxation,…
Amsterdam
This curved waterside building is called Stopera because it houses both the stadhuis (city hall) and the opera and ballet hall, aka Muziektheater. It…
Western Canal Ring
The bell tower of the Westerkerk is famously topped by the blue imperial crown that Habsburg emperor Maximilian I bestowed on the city for its coat of…
Zuid-Kennemerland National Park
Haarlem
Some 3800 hectares of classic Dutch coastal dunes are being restored in this oasis less than 5km west of Haarlem. Trails snake through hilltop copses of…
Amsterdam
A remarkable place in Amsterdamse Bos is this organic working goat farm, where kids can feed bottles of milk to, well, kids (€1 for a bottle) in season…
Frisian Islands
Just north of Nes village, this centre features an excellent seaquarium in which a number of North Sea species swim around, including manta rays,…
Friesland
Housed in the 18th-century mansion of a prominent Harlingen family, this museum deals primarily with the town's maritime heritage, in particular its role…
Amsterdam
The curved Amsterdam Architecture Foundation, a striking waterside building designed by Dutch architect René van Zuuk, hosts changing architectural…
Jordaan & the West
This quirky museum, a 23m-long sailing barge from 1914, offers a good sense of how gezellig (cosy) life can be on the water. The actual displays are…
Amsterdam
It's well worth making the effort to visit this out-of-the-way canal-side museum. The building, designed by Dutch architect Wim Quist, makes a light…
North Holland & Flevoland
Batavialand's centrepiece is a replica of a 17th-century Dutch merchant frigate, the Batavia, which took 10 years to reconstruct. The original was a 17th…
Amsterdam
Like a scene from another century, just outside Amstelpark's south edge, on the west bank of the Amstel River, stands this 1636 windmill. In a field…
North Holland
Aalsmeer is home to the world’s biggest bloemenveiling (flower auction), run by vast flower conglomerate Royal FloraHolland. Get to the viewing gallery…
Noord Brabant
Together Baarle Nassau (NL) and Baarle Hertog (B) form an extraordinary geopolitical quirk divided by the world's messiest border jigsaw: 22 miniature…
Texel
Battered by storms and war, Texel's resilient crimson-coloured lighthouse was built in 1864 and stands 35m high. Climb its 153 steps for sweeping views…
Northeastern Netherlands
Some 25km northeast of Groningen, in the town of Uithuizen, is one of the Netherlands' most authentic manor houses. Originally a fortified castle dating…
Gelderland
This dazzling palace, 3.5km north of downtown Apeldoorn, was built in 1685 for William III, and Queen Wilhelmina lived here until 1962. Until 2021 its…
National Jenevermuseum Schiedam
Rotterdam
Housed in an 18th-century distillery, this museum is dedicated to the industry that Schiedam is best known for: production of the traditional Dutch gin…
Overijssel
One of the world's most famous beers, easily recognisable by its iconic swing-top Pilsner bottle, has been brewed in Enschede since 1895. Guided tours…
Noord Brabant
Breda's main museum tells the city's remarkable history through paintings and artefacts, but to make sense of it you'll need to request the explanatory…
Western Canal Ring
Built in 1617 as a meat market and militia barracks, this historical building was rented by the Dutch West India Company (Geoctroyeerde West-Indische…
North Holland & Flevoland
Schokland's islanders eked out an existence for hundreds of years on a long, narrow strip of land in the Zuiderzee. By the mid-19th century the clock had…
Amsterdam
The lush greenery of Oosterpark, with wild parakeets in the trees and herons stalking the large ponds, brings an almost tropical richness to this diverse…
Noord Brabant
Delightfully calm and pretty, if a little grander than many of the better-known beguinages of Belgium and Holland, these almshouses for unmarried or…
Portuguese-Israelite Synagogue
Amsterdam
With dizzying wooden barrel-vaulted ceilings, this was the largest synagogue in Europe when it was completed in 1675. It's still in use today, and has no…
Northeastern Netherlands
In Eelde, 5km south of Groningen, this space is devoted to figurative art from around Europe. The main organic structure, which blends into its natural…
Utrecht Province
Kasteel Amerongen is a moated, rectilinear castle-mansion whose sumptuous salons can be perused by joining an hourly guided tour (in Dutch). If you just…
Noord Brabant
Winner of the Netherlands' 2017 'museum of the year' award, this innovative place celebrates, and continues the production of, original textiles – an…
Amsterdam
Few theatres have had a history of such highs and lows. It was opened as the Artis Theatre in 1892 and became a hub of cultural life in Amsterdam, staging…
Den Haag
Known predominantly for its De Stijl exhibit, this museum is housed in an unusual art deco building designed by HP Berlage. It opened in 1935. The De…
