Netherlands tourist attractions include Amsterdam’s canals, Museum Square in Amsterdam, Port of Rotterdam tour, Hague’s Binnenhof, and Kinderdijk windmills.
Historic canals of Amsterdam have created a reputation for the city as the “Venice of the North“, as there are a total of more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) of them, with over 1,500 bridges going over them.
The most popular way to explore the canals is to cruise routes that use the three main canals — Herengracht, Prinsengracht, Keizersgracht — along which there are an estimated 1,550 important city landmarks and historic sites.
To participate in these canal cruises, you can choose from around 200 different cruise boats, mostly anchored near the Amsterdam central station, as well as around Leidseplein.
Most of the boats that are used for the Amsterdam canal cruises are open-roofed or glass-enclosed boats, with the glass-enclosed ones being a little more popular of the two.
Of the Netherlands tourist attractions, Museum square (Museumplein) is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Amsterdam, surrounded by a number of important museums in the city, such as:
- Rijksmuseum (rijksmuseum.nl),
- Van Gogh Museum (vangoghmuseum.nl),
- Diamond Museum (diamantmuseumamsterdam.nl), and
- Stedelijk Museum (stedelijkindestad.nl).
Of these, the Rijksmuseum is famous for having the world’s largest collection of classical Dutch art, a collection of about million artworks.
Of the individual artists, especially Rembrandt is well represented in the collection.
Van Gogh Museum, on the other hand, the most visited of the museums, has the largest collection of Van Gogh’s in the world.
The museum is located in Amsterdam to celebrate the fact, that one of the artist’s most productive period was during his stay in the city.
Highlights at the museum include such celebrated paintings as “Aardappeleters” and “Zonnenbloemen“.
For many, a tour of the Rotterdam port is a central part of the getting to know Netherlands, as this maritime port had a central role in the Dutch Golden Age (17th century)…
…when the city was a world leader in marine commerce, science, and arts.
Although Rotterdam is still Europe’s largest and most important port, its harbor buildings are mostly more modern than its long history, due to the fact that the area was badly damaged during World War II.
You can participate in port cruises of various lengths with, for example, Dutch tour operator Spido (www.spido.nl).
Netherlands tourist attractions also include Hague’s Binnenhof, which is a collection of historical administrative buildings, where the country’s Staten-Generaal, the Netherlands Parliament, has been meeting since 1446.
The area, whose name translates as “courtyard“, is full of many important old buildings, proof of the the city’s historical position as a center of political power.
Highlights of the Binnenhof include:
- Ridderzaal (“Knight’s Hall“), and
- Mauritshuis museum, a famous art museum whose collection includes works from the Dutch masters such as Johannes Vermeer, Rembrandt van Rijn, Jan Steen, Paulus Potter, and Frans Hals.
Kinderdijk windmills (kinderdijk.com) are some of the best-preserved historical Dutch windmills, remnants from the period when they were widely used in Netherlands, a country that still has more than 1,000 windmills in operation.
As a tourist destination, however, Kinderdijk is the best way to see a large number of these historic, well preserved windmills at one time.
The village’s windmills were built in 1740s, and there is a total of 19 of them, all in excellent condition, which is why they have been added to the UNESCO World Heritage list.
Kinderdijk windmills are open to visitors, and from the village, you can also participate in a canal cruise, along whose route you can see the eight famous windmills of Overwaard.