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North Holland

Its lively capital, Haarlem, aside, this province has enough historic towns and attractions to fill a week or more of touring.

Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout North Holland.

  • See

    Zuiderzeemuseum

    This captivating museum consists of two sections, 300m apart: open-air Buitenmuseum, with more than 130 rebuilt and relocated dwellings and workshops, and indoor Binnenmuseum, devoted to farming, fishing and shipping. Visitors are encouraged to leave their vehicles at a car park (€5) off the N302 at the south edge of town. A ferry (included in admission; every 15 minutes April to October) links the car park with the train station and the Buitenmuseum. Plan to spend half a day here.

  • See

    Texel Dunes National Park

    The patchwork of dune-scape running along the western coast of the island is a prime reason for visiting Texel. Salt fens and heath alternate with velvety, grass-covered dunes; plants endemic to the habitat include the dainty marsh orchid and orange-berried sea buckthorn. Much of the area is bird sanctuary and accessible only on foot. The visitor centre at Ecomare has schedules and makes reservations for excellent two-hour ranger-led dune walks in English and Dutch (from €7.50), and supplies maps.

  • See

    Ecomare

    Initially created as a refuge for sick seals retrieved from the Waddenzee, Ecomare has expanded into an impressive nature centre devoted to the preservation and understanding of Texel's wildlife. It has displays on Texel's development since the last ice age and the islanders' interaction with the sea, as well as large aquariums filled with fish from the Waddenzee and the North Sea (including sharks); outside there are marked nature trails. The highlight is the zeehonden ('sea dogs', ie seals) themselves.

  • See

    Museum BroekerVeiling

    The waterlogged area north of Alkmaar was once home to 15,000 tiny, yet productive, farms, each one an island, whose farmers tended their crops by rowboat. You can tour the auction house where farmers arrived with boatloads of produce then waited – afloat – inside, until they could paddle through an auction room where wholesale grocery buyers would bid on the produce. Built in 1877, it sits on 1900 piles. Prices include auction-house and museum entry as well as a boat ride.

  • See

    Zaanse Schans Windmills

    The working, inhabited village Zaanse Schans functions as a windmill gallery on the Zaan river. You can explore the authentic windmills at your own pace, seeing the vast moving parts firsthand. Individual windmill hours and days vary. Artists will love the mill with paint pigments for sale – you can see the actual materials used in producing Renaissance masterpieces turned into powders.

  • See

    Muiderslot

    Built in 1280 by Count Floris V, son of Willem II, the exceptionally preserved moated fortress Muiderslot is equipped with round towers, a French innovation. The count was a champion of the poor and a French sympathiser, two factors that inevitably spelt trouble; Floris was imprisoned in 1296 and murdered while trying to flee. Today it's the Netherlands' most visited castle. There's a free audio tour and the I Amsterdam card allows free admission.

  • See

    Frans Hals Museum – Hof

    A must for anyone interested in the Dutch Masters, this superb museum is located in the poorhouse where Hals spent his final years. The collection focuses on the 17th-century Haarlem School; its pride and joy are eight group portraits of the Civic Guard that reveal Hals’ exceptional attention to mood and psychological tone. Other greats represented here include Pieter Bruegel the Younger and Jacob van Ruisdael. Tickets include admission to the modern- and contemporary-art Frans Hals Museum – Hal.

  • See

    Kaap Skil Museum Van Jutters & Zeelui

    A stunning slatted-timber-encased reception building made from recycled materials frames the superb Maritime and Beachcombers Museum. Its extraordinary variety of flotsam and jetsam recovered from sunken ships and the shore is mind-boggling. Demonstrations by rope-makers, fish-smokers and blacksmiths take place in the outdoor section, while the indoor displays cover everything from underwater archaeology to windmill technology.

  • See

    Grote Kerk van St Bavo

    Topped by a towering 50m-high steeple, the Gothic Grote Kerk van St Bavo contains some fine Renaissance artworks, but the star attraction is its stunning Müller organ – one of the most magnificent in the world, standing 30m high and with about 5000 pipes, dating from 1738. It was played by Handel and a 10-year-old Mozart. Free hour-long organ recitals take place at 8.15pm Tuesday, 1.15pm Saturday and occasionally 4pm Thursday and 2.30pm Sunday from May to early October.