©R. de Bruijn_Photography/Shutterstock

South Holland

Home to two of the country's major cities – Rotterdam and Den Haag – and to many of its prettiest and most historic towns, Zuid-Holland (South Holland) is popular with domestic and international tourists alike. Along with the provinces of Noord-Holland (North Holland) and Utrecht, it is part of the Randstad, the economic and population heart of the Netherlands. Known for its architecture, museums, sandy beaches and bird-filled national parks, it is a region that richly rewards those who visit.

Top attractions

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

See
Van Nelle Fabriek
Designed and built between 1925 and 1931, this modernist World Heritage–listed factory northwest of the city centre is an icon of 20th-century industrial architecture. Often described as a 'glass palace' (it's largely constructed of steel and glass), it functioned as a state-of-the-art coffee, tea and tobacco factory until the 1990s and now houses creative industries. Though closed to the public, the factory sometimes offers guided tours on weekends at 1pm (adult/child under 13 years €8.50/5); check the factory website for details. Urban Guides also runs one-hour guided tours (€15 per person) at noon on most Saturdays and Sundays (book ahead).
See
Mauritshuis
Offering a wonderful introduction to Dutch and Flemish art, this splendid museum is set in a 17th-century mansion built for wealthy sugar trader Johan Maurits. It became a museum housing the Royal Picture Collection in 1822, and acquired a swish modern wing in 2012–14. The 800-strong collection of paintings focuses on works created between the 15th and 18th centuries. It includes masterpieces such as Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring (c1665) and Rembrandt's intriguing The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp (1632).
See
Sint Janskerk
Impressive for both its size and its magnificent stained-glass windows, Sint Janskerk had chequered beginnings: previous incarnations of the building burned down with ungodly regularity every 100 years or so from 1361 until the mid-16th century, when the current structure was completed. At 123m it is the longest church in the country. A free audioguide in English gives loads of information about the 72 windows, which together form the largest cache of in-situ 16th-century stained glass in the world.
See
Museum Boijmans van Beuningen
The roll-call of artists represented in the collection of Rotterdam's pre-eminent fine-arts museum is stellar and spans multiple periods and movements: Rubens, Rembrandt, Monet, Degas, Van Gogh, Picasso, Degas, Miró, Bacon and many other luminaries are represented. Highlights include Jan van Eyck's The Three Marys at the Tomb (1425–35), Hieronymus Bosch's The Pedlar (c1500), Lucas Cranach's Portrait of Desiderius Erasmus (c1530–36) and Pieter Brueghel the Elder's Tower of Babel (c1568). The design galleries on the ground floor are well worth browsing, too.
See
Escher in Het Paleis
Once home to members of the Dutch royal family, the 18th-century Lange Voorhout Palace now houses a collection of the work of Dutch graphic artist MC Escher (1898–1972). The permanent exhibition features notes, letters, photos and plenty of woodcuts and lithographs from various points of his career, including everything from the early realism to the later phantasmagoria. All are fascinating exercises in the blending of different perspectives, and the conjunction of mathematical rules and artistic subject matter.
See
Kinderdijk
One of the Dutch sites on Unesco's World Heritage List, this stretch of the Alblasserwaard polder encompasses two canals, 19 traditional windmills, a pumping station that's been repurposed as a visitor centre and a dual pedestrian and bicycle path between the canals. Two of the windmills – the 17th century Nederwaard and Blokweer mills – function as museums, offering an insight into the past lives of miller families. A video about the polder and its windmills screens in the 19th-century Wisboom pumping station.
See
Huis Sonneveld
When company director Albertus Sonneveld decided to commission an architect to design a contemporary home for his family, the obvious choice was Leendert van der Vlugt, who had designed the magnificent Van Nelle Factory. Working with Johannes Brinkman, Van der Vlugt designed a streamlined, state-of-the-art building that was hailed as an outstanding example of Dutch Functionalism as soon as its construction was completed in 1933. Replete with original fittings and furniture, it can now be visited with a fascinating audiotour.
See
Museum Rotterdam '40-'45 NU
Good things often come in small packages, and so it is with this small but excellent museum sheltered under a bridge on the Coolhaven. An eight-minute immersive multimedia experience outlines the terror and destruction caused by the bombing of Rotterdam on 14 May 1940, when 54 German aircraft dropped 1300 bombs on the city over a 13-minute period. Artefact-driven displays focus on all aspects of the wartime experience, interspersing tales of optimism and bravery among many sad stories.
See
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden
Home to the Rijksmuseum's collection of Greek, Etruscan, Roman and Egyptian artefacts, this museum is best known for its Egyptian halls, which include the reconstructed Temple of Taffeh, a gift from Anwar Sadat to the Netherlands for helping to save ancient Egyptian monuments from flood. Other Egyptian exhibits include mastabas from Saqqara and a room of mummy cases. First-floor galleries are replete with Greek, Etruscan and Roman statuary and vases, as well as treasures from the ancient Near East.