©Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd Rotterdam & South Holland Includes ¨ Why Go? Rotterdam . 147 In the iconic region southwest of Amsterdam, tulips, wind- Dordrecht . 162 mills, cheese, Dutch Masters and blue-and-white Delftware Biesbosch china abound, but it’s the cities here that are the biggest National Park . 165 draws. Gouda . 165 The country’s second-largest, Rotterdam, is riding a wave of urban development, redevelopment and regeneration Den Haag (The Hague) . 168 with striking additions to its dramatic skyline, and electrifying art, food and bar scenes that are fuelling an international Delft . 175 buzz. Leiden has a centuries-old university culture, historic Leiden . 180 canal-laced core and exceptional museums. Den Haag, the Zeeland . 187 seat of government and the Dutch royals, as well as the capital Middelburg . 187 of Zuid-Holland (South Holland), also has a trove of magnif- icent museums, along with a stately air, luxe shopping and resort beach, while Vermeer’s beautiful home town Delft is an exquisite medieval time capsule. Zeeland (Sea Land), the country’s southernmost, dyke- Best Places to Eat protected province, is anchored by the mast-filled port of ¨ FG Food Labs (p155) Middelburg. Cycling throughout this gentle, mostly sub-sea- level region is unparalleled. ¨ Restaurant Allard (p173) ¨ In den Doofpot (p185) ¨ Brasserie ‘t Crabbetje When to Go (p178) ¨ Rotterdam’s museums, shopping, restaurants, bars ¨ Fenix Food Factory (p156) and nightlife – as well as its excellent public-transport network – mean you can ignore the weather while indoors, and comfortably visit year-round. Best Places to ¨ Spring brings an explosion of colour to the glorious tulip- Stay filled gardens at Keukenhof (p187), which open just eight weeks a year and are worth scheduling a trip around. ¨ Villa Augustus (p164) ¨ Between spring and autumn, you’ll find many more ¨ King Kong Hostel (p153) attractions open throughout the region than in the winter ¨ Des Indes (p172) months, and greater odds of enjoying a balmy canal stroll or ¨ De Vier Seizoenen (p186) a beach swim. ¨ Hotel The Roosevelt (p188) 146 Alkmaar Hoorn (18km) (23km) D 0 20 km 66D 6 e# 0 10 miles AMSTERDAM #_ Sneek Haarlem /·A10 /·A9 (110km) Keukenhof D Gardens Amstelveen #\ #2 #\ Zwolle Lisse #\ (87km) N6oordwijk aan Zee #\6Aalsmeer 6D Katwijk aan Zee #\ /·A44 N O R T H /·A4 /·E35 S E A /·A2 Leiden #7 Alphen aan den Rijn #\ Scheveningen #\ Utrecht /·E19 #] Den Haag #^3 /·E30 /· /·A12 A12 6 #\ /·E30 #\ Monster ##\4 Delft Gouda #\ Hoek van Holland /·A13 /·E25 /·A27 /·A20 #^1 Rotterdam Arnhem #\5 /·A15 Kinderdijk (664km) D ZUID- #\ Dordrecht /·A15 Gorinchem HOLLAND ##]6 /·A29 /·A16 ROTTE Renesse Biesbosch #÷ #\ Schouwen- National Duiveland Westenschouwen #\ #\ Park /·A59 #\#] Willemstad /·E19 R Delta #\ 0¸A261 DAM & SOUTH SOUTH & DAM SOUTH& #æ Waterland #æ Project Zierikzee /·A4 /·A59 Neeltje Jans Nijmegen (55km) Noord- #\Domburg Beveland /·A17 #] O D #\ o Breda 0¸ #] Veere st E312 er Walcheren sc Bergen #\ Roosendaal Tilburg Goes he #\ Middelburg #\ ld op Zoom e #\ #\ Zuid- /·A58 H #\ Beveland #\ H OLLAND OLLANDV lissingen Kruiningen W /·E312 e w ste rsc #\ he Perkpolder /·A4 Zeeuws- lde Vlaanderen #] #\ w ZEELAND #\ S RO luis #\ IJzendijk #] Turnhout tt BELGIUM D E Venlo rd Antwerp (51km) #] ^# A M & SOU & #\ TH #] #\ #\ HO Rotterdam & South Holland Highlights ll 1 Delving into experimental and viewing its castle and tulip 5 Exploring the creaking A nd galleries, street art, inspired museum year-round . windmills and windswept dykes food and bar scenes, and at Kinderdijk (p161) . HI 3 Touring the splendid cutting-edge architecture in Binnenhof (p168) palace in 6 Boarding the hand-built, ghl ‘the city that’s never finished’, regal Den Haag . full-biblical-scale Ark van Rotterdam (p147) . (p162) in Dordrecht . I 4 Climbing the spiralling Noach ghts 2 Strolling amid the steps inside the tower of 7 Unwinding in Leiden’s lush Keukenhof Gardens (p187) Delft’s Nieuwe Kerk (p177) 16th-century botanical gardens, in Lisse, filled with thousands for sweeping views over the the Hortus Botanicus Leiden of flowering tulips in spring, medieval townscape. (p181) ..