©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd The Netherlands Northeast Friesland Netherlands (Fryslân) p207 p193 Haarlem & North Holland p100 #_ Amsterdam Central p38 Netherlands Utrecht p219 Rotterdam p134 & South Holland p145 Maastricht & Southeastern Netherlands p236 THIS EDITION WRITTEN AND RESEARCHED BY Catherine Le Nevez, Daniel C Schechter PLAN YOUR TRIP ON THE ROAD Welcome to the AMSTERDAM . 38 Texel . 121 Netherlands . 4 Muiden . 129 The Netherlands’ Map . 6 HAARLEM & NORTH Het Gooi . 130 The Netherlands’ HOLLAND . 100 Flevoland . 132 Top 10 . .. 8 North Holland . 102 Lelystad . 132 Need to Know . 14 Haarlem . 102 Urk . 133 Around Haarlem . 107 What’s New . 16 Zaanse Schans . 107 UTRECHT . 134 If You Like… . 17 Waterland Region . 108 Utrecht City . 135 Month by Month . 20 Alkmaar . 112 Around Utrecht City . 142 Itineraries . 23 Broek op Langedijk . 115 Kasteel de Haar . 142 Hoorn . 116 Utrechtse Heuvelrug Cycling in National Park . 142 the Netherlands . 26 Enkhuizen . 118 Medemblik . 120 Amersfoort . 143 Travel with Children . 31 Den Helder . 121 Oudewater . 144 Regions at a Glance . 34 STEVEN SWINNEN / GETTY IMAGES © IMAGES GETTY / SWINNEN STEVEN JEAN-PIERRE LESCOURRET / GETTY IMAGES © IMAGES GETTY / LESCOURRET JEAN-PIERRE CUBE HOUSES, ROTTERDAM P148 AMOSS / LONELY PLANET © PLANET LONELY / AMOSS DUTCH TULIPS P255 BRIDGE OVER SINGEL CANAL, AMSTERDAM P73 Contents UNDERSTAND ROTTERDAM Northwest Groningen . 215 The Netherlands & SOUTH Hoogeland . 215 Today . 252 HOLLAND . 145 Bourtange . 216 History . 254 South Holland . 147 Drenthe . 217 The Dutch Rotterdam . 147 Assen . 217 Way of Life . 264 Around Rotterdam . 161 Kamp Westerbork . 218 Dutch Art . 269 Dordrecht . 162 Dwingelderveld Architecture . 276 Biesbosch National Park . 218 National Park . 165 The Dutch Slot Loevestein . 165 CENTRAL Landscape . 281 Gouda . 165 NETHERLANDS . 219 Dutch Cuisine . 286 Den Haag (The Hague) . 168 Overijssel . 221 Delft . 175 Deventer . 221 SURVIVAL Leiden . .. 180 Zwolle . 224 GUIDE Around Leiden . 186 Kampen . 227 Zeeland . 187 Weerribben-Wieden Middelburg . 187 National Park . 228 Directory A–Z . 292 Around Middelburg . 190 Northern Overijssel . 228 Transport . 299 Twente . 229 Waterland Neeltje Language . 306 Jans . 191 Gelderland . 229 Schouwen-Duiveland . 192 Nijmegen . 229 Index . .. 314 Around Nijmegen . 232 Map Legend . .. 319 FRIESLAND Arnhem . 233 (FRYSLÂN) . 193 Oosterbeek . 234 Leeuwarden Hoge Veluwe (Ljouwert) . 195 National Park . 234 Waddenzee Coast . 198 Apeldoorn . 235 Harlingen (Harns) . 198 Southwestern MAASTRICHT & Friesland . 199 SOUTHEASTERN Sneek (Snits) . 199 NETHERLANDS . 236 Hindeloopen (Hylpen) . 201 Maastricht . 237 SPECIAL FEATURES Frisian Islands . 201 Around Maastricht . 243 Vlieland . 202 North Limburg . 243 Cycling in Terschelling . 203 Noord Brabant . 244 the Netherlands . 26 Ameland . .. 204 Den Bosch Schiermonnikoog . .. 205 (’s-Hertogenbosch) . 244 Travel with Children . 31 Around Den Bosch . 247 Cheese, Gin & Monuments NORTHEAST Eindhoven . 247 Walking Tour . 64 NETHERLANDS . 207 Tilburg . 248 Groningen City . 208 Breda . 248 Dutch Art . 269 Around Groningen . 215 ©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd 23 Itineraries IJ M E E R Waterland É •# Haarlem •# É #_ AMSTERDAM Deventer Keukenhof Gardens •# •# É É •# É Den Haag Leiden •# •# Utrecht •# N O R T H (The Hague) Kröller-Müller S E A •#ÉDelft Museum •# Rotterdam •# Kinderdijk É É •# •# Den Delta Project É É Bosch Middelburg •# É É W E S T E R S C H E L D E GERMANY É BELGIUM É •# Maastricht 3 WEEKS Southern Sojourn Catch the Netherlands most iconic sights on a leisurely spin around the country’s south. Spend three days in lively Amsterdam. Visit the big museums, relax in Vondelpark, discover the foodie De Pijp neighbourhood and hang out with the locals at earthy brown café Hoppe on the Spui. Plunge into the city’s celebrated nightlife in the Southern Canal Ring and escape the city by bicycle to enjoy the classic beauty of the Waterland region. During your second week, visit Golden Age Haarlem, Keukenhof Gardens (in season), museum-filled Leiden, the Dutch seat of government Den Haag (The Hague), and Vermeer’s charming home town Delft. Kick off week three in cutting-edge Rotterdam. Take the ferry to see the windmills at Kinderdijk, then head for Zeeland’s restored capital Middelburg and the nearby Delta Project. Travel through the Netherlands’ southern provinces, stopping for the hid- den canals of lovely Den Bosch. Continue to Maastricht to sample some great cuisine and meander through its medieval centre. Head north to Hanseatic Deventer and then west to the extraordinary Kröller-Müller Museum in the Hoge Veluwe National Park. Polish off your trip in historic, cosmopolitan university-city Utrecht. 24 Ameland •#Schiermonnikoog Nes N O R T H Terschelling •# f# f# Lauwersoog S E A •# Holwerd •# Oosterend •# É Vlieland f# f# •# É É f# É PLAN YOUR TRIP #f É •#Leeuwarden •# Texel É •#De Cocksdorp Harlingen Ecomare •# É WA D D E N Z E E É Den •# Hoorn •# Afsluitdijk f# Oudeschild •# Den Helder •# Hindeloopen É IJ S S E L M E E R IT É É I NERAR É •#Enkhuizen •# Alkmaar Houtribdijk GERMANY I É Edam ES •# •# Zwolle •# Marken •# #_ Waterland Circumnavigating AMSTERDAM É •#Muiden the IJsselmeer Naarden •# Island Escapes Circumnavigating 2 1–2 Island Escapes WEEKS the IJsselmeer WEEKS This itinerary focuses on beautiful IJssel- The low-lying Wadden Islands are strung meer – Central Netherlands’ vast, shallow out like pearls in the Unesco-listed Wad- 1100-sq-km artificial lake. denzee and are perfect for island hopping. Some ferry links require advance planning. Spend three days in Amsterdam for museums, parks, canal tours and nightlife. From Amsterdam, head to Texel. Head north along the IJsselmeer coast Bike along the island’s western coast from through the Waterland region to the tiny, sleepy Den Hoorn through dark copses traditional fishing village of Marken. to the Ecomare seal and bird refuge. Cycle the dykes to cute-as-a-button Edam. Comb the eastern side, visiting the superb Stay overnight, then reach Alkmaar early Maritime & Beachcombers Museum in to experience its centuries-old cheese mar- Oudeschild. ket (in season), then explore the enthralling From De Cocksdorp at the northern Zuiderzeemuseum in . Enkhuizen end of Texel, board the morning ferry to Travel to Den Helder, and take a ferry car-free Vlieland to explore its nature to Texel. Spend two days on the island, and hiking trails before catching the boat enjoying the beach and bike exploration, to Terschelling, Friesland’s main tourist then catch a ferry to Vlieland to appreci- island. Hole up in peaceful Oosterend and ate the wilder side of the Frisian Islands. cycle the untouched dunes, then hightail it From Vlieland, get a ferry to charming by ferry to Harlingen, a pretty little port Harlingen, from where Friesland’s lively on the Frisian coast, and on to Holwerd, capital, Leeuwarden, is only a short to ferry across to languid Ameland. Stay journey away – as are the nearby chain of in the whaling port of Nes. Return to the coastal towns including boat-filled mainland and continue east to the port Hindeloopen. of Lauwersoog. From here catch the ferry to the smallest of the Frisian Islands, Head to Hanseatic Zwolle and also visit Schiermonnikoog, home to an evocative, the historic fortress towns of Naarden windswept national park, before returning and Muiden. to the mainland. 25 •# Groningen WA D D E N Z E E É É •# Bourtange Borger É •# N O R T H •#Kamp PLAN YOUR TRIP IJ S S E L M E E R Weerribben-Wieden S E A National Park Westerbork ÷# É É É •# Zwolle AMSTERDAM É Haarlem É •# #_ Keukenhof Gardens IT •# •#Deventer É I •#Leiden NERAR Den Haag GERMANY (The Hague) •# ÷# É Hoge Veluwe É National I Rotterdam •# Kinderdijk Park ES •# É ÷#Biesbosch Dordrecht •# National Park Eastern Experience É •# É Den Bosch The Lay of the Lowlands Oosterschelde Breda•# The Lay of 2 Eastern Experience 1 WEEKS WEEK the Lowlands The Netherlands’ eastern expanse is largely Hit the country’s most unmissable high- ignored by tourists, but there are myriad lights. Begin with two days in Amsterdam. highlights to be discovered. Visit the big-hitting museums and rent a bicycle to explore the charming Jordaan Begin in Groningen, a vibrant city with neighbourhood. On your second day board students, bars, cafes and fine museums. a canal boat tour and stroll through the Travel southeast to Bourtange, a perfectly Red Light District before getting cosy in a preserved 17th-century fortified town, then brown café. move on to Borger and its prehistoric hunebedden, stone arrangements once Travel west to beautiful Haarlem – used as burial chambers. Make your way stroll the compact historic core, and view through the woods to Kamp Westerbork masterpieces at the Frans Hals Museum to encounter its moving, horrible heritage. and the stained glass of the Grote Kerk Head to Zwolle, an unhurried Hanseatic van St Bavo. In tulip season witness the town ideal for backstreet meanders, and kaleidoscopic colours of the Keukenhof then to Weerribben-Wieden National Gardens. Spend a day among old-world Park for canoe-paddling. splendour in Leiden. Next, take a day in Den Haag (The Hague) and catch the From Zwolle it’s a short hop to Deventer, Mauritshuis’ exceptional art collection. one of the most appealing small towns in the Netherlands. Next, explore Hoge Head south to happening Rotterdam Veluwe National Park, a natural oa- to tour the harbour and visit the Museum sis that’s home to a renowned art mu- Boijmans van Beuningen, the Maritiem seum. Head to Den Bosch, which has Museum and the architecturally striking a dynamite museum dedicated to its food hall, Markthal Rotterdam. The next namesake artist. Stop at Breda to enjoy morning, take a walking tour of the city’s the city’s cafés. Go back to nature at incredible contemporary architecture, then Biesbosch National Park before finish- travel to Kinderdijk to explore Unesco- ing in the lovely old streets and canals of recognised windmills.