What You Need to Know About The Netherlands

Introduction

The Netherlands is also known as another name Holland which comes under the European Union. It is a nice place to travel comprising a lot of heritage in itself. Earlier ruled by its emperors is now a Unitary Parliament Constitutional Monarchy. The most spoken language of the country is Dutch but English is something you can use to communicate as a large part of population do understand and speak English Also. Netherlands is a country which has its most of the land below the sea level and the people of Holland have managed to keep the land dry with the help of their Canal system. Dutch people are also famous as Magicians of Water.

Things to see and do – There is a lot you can do in the Netherlands that you can’t experience in any other country.

Amsterdam is the capital city of Holland with a lot of old buildings and monuments which attracts tourists from all over the world. Some of which are:

• Centraal Station. Old City Centre/Old Side.
• Museum Willet-Holthuysen. Eastern Canal Ring.
• Museum van Loon. Eastern Canal Ring.
• Dam Square. Old Center / Red Light District
• Museum Het Rembrandthuis
• Beurs van Berlage (Old Stock Exchange)
• Oost-Indisch Huis.
• De Waag

The Coffee shops: It is well known saying that Netherlands is the only country where people don’t go to drink coffee, you get a lot more than that! People can enjoy Marijuana and weed etc. All the soft drugs are legal in this country.

The Red Light Districts: Holland is country where there is a legal Red Light District in each town and city. Amsterdam’s Red light district is the second largest in the world where people come to enjoy a lot of things like Live sex shows and Strip clubs.

The water transport: There is a parallel transport system to the roads of Holland. All the roads are accompanied by canals which are used for the purpose of transportation of goods and local people enjoy boating and fishing in these canals.

Bicycles: Holland is also known for the millions of bicycles used by the people of Holland as their main conveyance for local travel. You will be amazed to see so many people traveling on bicycles instead or any other means.

Top 5 Places to Visit in Country

Amsterdam:  The capital city has everything in it to fulfill needs of any kind of vacation you want. Just get out of the Schiphol Airport and you are on. Take a canal tour, visit a museum out of many, Stroll through the Red Light District, enjoy the nightlife in a good club and then relax at a coffee shop with a joint in your hand.

Leiden:  A beautiful city with a historic city center and some good museums. Take a walk in the city center and explore the city trough the canals by boat. Leiden is a student town with 20000 students out of its 120000 total population. You can get there by a direct train from Schiphol Airport; you don’t need to go to Amsterdam city for conveyance.

Delft:  Delft is a small traditional city with mind blowing architecture and heritage. It’s City Hall and Churches are famous for their ancient architecture. Delft’s blue earthenware are famous all over the world. You can take a train from Amsterdam Centraal and change at Leiden central for Delft.

The Hague: The Hague is known as the International City of peace and justice as it is the political center of The Netherlands as well as the world. This city has 45 museums, 30 theaters and about 4000 shops. Local people of the country like to shop in the city as they have many choices and a lot for a one day trip. To travel across the city, you can buy an HTM day ticket which coasts 7.70 euro. With this ticket you can travel an all trams and busses for the whole day without spending a single penny.

Gouda:  When we hear the name Gouda our mouth just fills with the taste of creamy cheese as Gouda is famous for its cheese market. It’s a small town with 70000 people living here and most of them are indulge in cheese business. This is a perfect destination for a day trip. You can get train from Amsterdam, Rotterdam or Den Haag to reach Gouda.

Country’s Attractions

Keukenhof – Known as the garden of Europe, Keukenhof is a tulip garden which is one of the most visited places in The Netherlands. Keuken means kitchen, the name is derived from the word kitchen as it was a kitchen garden of a large country estate in the past. There are more than 700 varieties of tulip flowers in the garden which is spread over 70 acres of land. The best time to visit is April and may. The garden is situated in the South Holland between Haarlem and Amsterdam. The best way to reach is Train from Schiphol airport.

Rijksmuseum – The Dutch National museum is one of the major attractions of Holland which is situated in Amsterdam. Started in 1809, today holds about 7 million works of art including 5000 paintings which are placed in 250 rooms and a vast library with around 35000 books to read. Apart from this, it also showcases traditional Dutch handicrafts and modern art.

The windmills of Kinderdijk – Kinderdijk , the word means children’s dam. There is story behind the name which narrates that there was a flood in 1421 during which the cradle of a child stuck in the dam. This is a small ancient village having 19 windmills named the Kinderdijk windmills which were build in the 17th century. These wooden windmills with 92 feet sails are well preserved till now and are in working condition till date. These majestic buildings are open for visitors from April to October. There are some mill days on which the sails are set in motion.

Hoge Veluwe National Park – Despite of being a small country The Netherlands have a good variety of fauna as well, that is spread all over the country. But Hoge Veluwe National Park is the largest in area covering nearly 13800 acres of land. This is one of the most popular day trip destinations for the locals and foreigners as well. It has Europe’s largest sculpture garden which shows the works of Hepworth, Dubuffet, Rodin and other artists.

Zeeland’s Spectacular Dikes – Zeeland is situated in the southwestern part of the Netherlands comprising many islands and peninsulas incorporating the deltas of the Mass, the Rhine and the Schelde Rivers. This area is dependent on the impressive dikes and modern techniques of flood prevention as most part of the land is below the sea level. The project has been included in the Seven Wonders of the World just because of the techniques used to prevent the land from being merged in to the sea.

Accommodation: Accommodation in The Netherlands has a vast variety. You can get Hotels, Hostels, Home stays, Resorts, apartments, boat houses, villas etc.

Hotels:  In Holland have a wide range the country offers you from small budget hotels to big brand Luxury hotels and business hotels ranging from 30euro.

Hostels:  Hostels are most famous amongst young travelers as they are cheap in costing and you get to know a lot of new people from different places and cultures. Hostels range from 10euro.

Home Stays:  Home stay is another option that tourists can opt for. This is one of the best options you can take if you want to observe the Dutch culture closely as you get an opportunity to live with the local people. Home stays are not too expensive as the range goes from 30euro.

Resorts:  There are a lot of resorts available in Holland for you to have a pleasant and comfortable stay in the arms of nature. You can book a resort starting from 80euros for one night.

Apartments:  You can also book an apartment if you are going to stay for a longer period of time. The apartments can be rented on daily, weekly or monthly basis. It can cost you from 350euros for a month.

Boat House:  Boat houses are a completely different experience to stay in for a night or more. Where you can just relax in your holidays and there is no one to disrupt your privacy. The cost of boat houses in the Netherlands starts from 50euros.

Food : The Netherlands has a rich heritage of food, from sea food to small cookies and traditional food. Some of which are mentioned here

Kroket : Kroket is a deep snack which is actually a deep fried roll with meat inside covered in breadcrumbs. The basic Dutch kroket was made of beer or veal. Now a days there are a lot of different flavors like chicken, shrimps, satay and vegetarian.

Patat : Patat means Potato in Dutch. Patat is what we call fries. Dutch patat are a little bit thicker than the French fries and are originally from Belgium but Dutch people like it like hell. They have patat with mayonnaise sauce, peanut sauce or tomato ketchup.

Poffertjes : Poffertjes look like small pancakes but much fluffier than pancakes. Butter and powdered sugar are the most common topping for Poffertjes.

Drop : Drop is also known as licorice. It comes in 2 basic flavors one is sweet and the other is salty. Dutch people consume licorice more than any other country in the world as the average consumption of licorice in Holland is 2 kg per person per year.

Bitterballen :Bitterballen are small balls with breadcrumb coating and are soft from inside. Bitterballen are served in almost every café or bar because of its amazing combination with beer.

Budget

Transportation :Public transport in Holland is really good as there are not only roads and railways to travel but you can also travel by water through the country.

Trains : Holland’s rail network is worth appreciation as the network is spread all over the country so you can just take a train to any part or province of Holland. There are two different classes to travel by train the first class and the second class. If you are using a normal OV-chipkaart that means you are travelling in the second class but if you want more comfort during your journey you can switch the class by using your OV-chipkaart at NS ticketing machine.

Bus, Tram or metro : These are some modes of transport you can use to travel within the city and for short distances. Tram and metro are available only in the big cities like Amsterdam, Den hag, Rotterdam etc. But you can get a bus even in small towns. For trams and busses you can also buy a day ticket by the help of which you can travel for the whole day without paying anymore.

Travel trough waterways : You can also travel through the waterways in Holland but not everywhere. There are a lot of different services you can use to travel through water like The Amsterdam Ferry, Waterbus from Rotterdam to Dordrecht, Water Taxis, Driehoeksveer to Kinderdijk and wooden islands.

Money Saving Tips

Transport :When the word Travel comes to mind the first thing is transport which comes to our minds. Bud don’t worry of heavy transportation coasts if you are in Holland as you can get public transport very easily for all kind of transport needs. Use the public transport as much as possible to save money. And you can also rent a Bicycle if you want to wander in a city.

Stay :The second thing is say. There is a suitable and less costly way to comfortably accommodate you. You can go for the youth hostels instead of costly hotels for stay.

Works Cited

1. Amsterdam.info. (n.d.). Top 10 tourist attractions. Retrieved from https://www.amsterdam.info/tourist-attractions/top-10/
2. Expatica. (2022, February 15). The best cities to visit in the Netherlands. Retrieved from https://www.expatica.com/nl/about/the-best-cities-to-visit-in-the-netherlands-103050/
3. Fodor's Travel. (n.d.). The Netherlands travel guide. Retrieved from https://www.fodors.com/world/europe/netherlands
4. Holland.com. (n.d.). Discover Holland: The best tourist attractions and sights.
5. Holland.com. (n.d.). Must-see museums in Holland.
6. Lonely Planet. (n.d.). Netherlands travel.
7. The Dutch Review. (2021, August 23). Top 10 most beautiful cities in the Netherlands.
8. The Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions. (n.d.). Holland.com: The official website of the Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions.
9. Tripadvisor. (n.d.). Things to do in the Netherlands - Netherlands attractions.
10. Visit Rotterdam. (n.d.). Top 10 Rotterdam highlights.