Tourism and recreation in the Netherlands
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Tourism in the Netherlands
The Netherlands is a densely populated country with famous cities like Amsterdam known for the Rijksmuseum (the national museum), canals, the castle and its cosy pubs. Other famous cities are the Royal city The Hague with its elegant downtown, modern Rotterdam with his harbour, shopping and skyline, and Delft and Utrecht - formerly rich trading cities. In the South you have one of the oldest (Roman) citys Maastricht and one of the oldest touristplaces from Europe a very old village called Valkenburg lying in a romantic landscape with old castles and hills. In the North you have Groningen an old universitycity with a beautiful citycentre and renovated railwaystation, and a famous museum Groninger Museum.
But the Netherlands also has to offer a great coastline along the North Sea, the IJsselmeer and the Veluwemeer - great resorts for sailing with picturesque little typical Dutch towns like Elburg or Harderwijk. The Netherlands is a great country for cycling, sailing or ice skating in winter. They have mainly flat landscapes with many canals, windmills, little villages, rivers like the Rhine or IJssel, Maas or Schelde. Visitors should try some original Dutch pancakes, either with meat, famous Dutch cheese or with jam, and Dutch beer like "Grolsch" and "Heineken". The busiest open-air daytime market is the Albert Cuyp Market in Amsterdam. Tulips grow around Lisse behind the dunes and Keukenhof is a well-known tourist attraction; in spring there are many beautiful tulips on display there. Prostitution, which has also made the Netherlands infamous, was legalized on October 1, 2000. One can purchase and use cannabis legally in the Netherlands, which is rare for most western countries, and has lead to a large number of "drug tourists" from abroad.
Many tourists visit Madurodam, a miniature city in The Hague, which show most typical and famous Dutch buildings. Like the kaasmarkt (cheese market), mills and Paleis op de Dam (Palace on the Dam).
Popular souvenirs from the Netherlands are delftware and clogs (wooden shoes).
Almost the whole westcoast has a sandy beach. Towns near the coast are beach resorts, in between there are long stretches of quiet beach. Though most of them are natural parks nowadays.
The Dutch themselves like to subscribe to a fietsvierdaagse — an annual cycling family event.
[edit] External links
- National Board of Tourism
- The Netherlands at Lonely Planet
- The Netherlands at World66
- NL Planet - The lowdown on the lowlands
- Netherlands Travel Guide
- Netherlands.Info Tourist Guide for The Netherlands
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