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While Amsterdam is quite impressive, there are so many other amazing places in the Netherlands that people tend to overlook. After living in the Netherlands for 5 years, I’ve been able to see so many beautiful places in this country.
Below I’ll share some of my favorite places to visit outside of Amsterdam. Many of these places are close together so you could combine them into a day visit or weekend trip.
Utrecht
Utrecht is one of my favorite Dutch cities. You still get all the historical architecture that would see in Amsterdam, but it’s a smaller city so it makes it easier to navigate. Utrecht is the fourth largest city in the Netherlands and only 40 km from Amsterdam. Utrecht is absolutely gorgeous with the many canals, lovely shops, and amazing architecture. You could easily spend a weekend here exploring.
What to Do in Utrecht:
- Stroll the many canals within the city or sit and enjoy a drink at many of the outdoor cafe terraces.
- Visit De Haar Castle – This is about 12 km outside of the city center but it’s so worth a visit. This is the largest castle in the Netherlands and the interior is extravagantly decorated from ceiling to the floor. You can visit the inside of the castle as well as the gardens.
- Eat fries (fritjes) with mayonnaise at Dapp Frietwinkell.
- Climb the 465 steps to the top of the Dom Tower
- Visit the Museum Speelkok to see and hear the Dutch self-playing musical organs. We’ve been fortunate to see a “speelkok” playing music throughout a city and it’s so cheerful that you can’t help but stop and listen.
- Try a beer at the Ouden brewery
- Visit St Martin’s Cathedral and Sint Willibrordkerk church
Gouda
Not too far from Utrecht is the city of Gouda (pronounced “how-duh”). It is most known for Gouda cheese. Cheese is such an important part of the Dutch culture and Gouda is the perfect place to learn about how to make this special cheese and of course, taste it. Every Thursday from April to August, the town hosts a famous cheese market in their square.
You can also visit the Waag, it’s a 17th century weigh house where they used to weigh goods such as cheese. You can visit the Town Hall and the St. John (Sint Janskerk) church. If you still need more cheese, you can check out the t’ Kaaswinkeltje. I have never seen so much cheese in one little shop!
Gouda is not a large city, so I would combine this city with a visit to Utrecht. Since it is quite small, you don’t need a ton of time here.
Den Haag (The Hague)
We kept returning to Den Haag because has so much to offer. Den Haag is the Netherland’s administrative center and the seat of the government. You can see a lot of the government buildings here such as the Binnenhof, which is the Parliament building. This is also the place where the King Willem-Alexander and his family live.
With Den Haag, you still get the charm of the Dutch historical buildings, but there are also some great museums, stunning Cathedrals, and a ton of things to do for kids. Also, nearby is the Scheveningen beach which is much easier to visit then to pronounce.
Things to Do in Den Haag:
- Visit Binnenhof, the Hofvijver (Court pond), and the Noordeinde Palace
- See where the King and his family live at the Huis ten Bosch Palace
- See the Girl with a Pearl Earring painting along with other incredible art at the Mauritshuis
- Buy beer from the Kloosterbrouwerij Haagsche Broeder – This is an active monastery that decided to brew craft beers to connect with the local community. We met some of the monks there and if you ask really nicely, you can visit their chapel in monastery.
- Stroll along the beautiful avenue “Lange Voorhout” or the Haagse Bos which is a nice park inside the city
- Try a range of diverse food at the Foodhallen
- Visit Scheveningen Beach – ride the ferris wheel, take a surf lesson, jump on outdoor trampolines, listen to live music, and eat pannenkoeken (Dutch pancakes)
Haarlem & Lisse
When you think of the Netherlands, many people think of windmills and tulips. After tulips were brought to the Netherlands in the 16th century, everyone became fascinated with these exotic plants. They would soon become a major trading product in the Netherlands and this country still dominates the export of tulips today.
In April and May, millions of people flock to the Netherlands to see the tulips each year. Although be sure to keep an eye on when they are actually blooming since it changes a bit from year to year. Keukenhof is one of the world’s largest flower gardens and it’s located in Lisse. It has over 7 million flowers which are planted each year. You can easily get here from Amsterdam.
And although it has turned into a touristy place, I would still stay it is well worth the visit. There are rows and rows of tulips and flowers. You could stroll for hours and soak in the beauty of this place. There is also a nice playground and places to eat throughout the park. Outside of Keukenhof, there are many fields of tulips you can see growing. Just be sure to respect the land and do not touch the flowers or walk in the fields.
Haarlem is is the capital of North Holland and is a short train ride from Amsterdam. This picturesque city has beautiful canals, cathedrals, cute cafes, museums, and more. After seeing the tulips in Lisse, we stopped by Haarlem on which happened to be King’s Day (Koningsdag) which is a celebration of the King’s birthday. Everyone is dressed up in tacky orange attire (the tackier the better), playing loud music, smearing painted Netherlands flags on faces, and really having a good time. To see Haarlem on King’s Day was probably the most Dutch culture I felt like I’ve ever experience on one day. If you ever get a chance to be in the Netherland’s on King’s Day, you should really experience it for yourself.
Maastricht & Valkenburg
We’ve been to Maastricht a few times and kept coming back because it is such a beautiful city. Maastricht is located in the Limburg province close to the borders of Germany and Belgium. I think the top thing to see here is the Boekhandel Dominicanen. It’s a formercenturies-old Dominican Church turned into a bookstore. They say it one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world and I would have to agree with that.
They also have an amazing Christmas market especially for kids. You can go ice skating in the city center, ride on the ferris wheel to see incredible views of the city, meet with Santa, and of course get some tasty treats. There are also many great restaurants and bars. It’s really a city to walk around and explore.
Valkenburg is located about 15 km East of Maastricht. The main reason people visit is to come to the underground Christmas market. You can walk through a network of decorated underground caves with holiday stalls. While the underground market is unique, my favorite part was choosing a restaurant from the street of Berkelstraat. This street has a number of restaurants with outdoor seating. For the holidays, they have everything decorated with twinkling white Christmas lights, outdoor heaters for the terrace, and cozy blankets.
Efteling
Efteling is a really fun amusem*nt park in Kaatsheuvel (about an hour car ride from Amsterdam). This action packed amusem*nt park is filled with attractions, fairy tale forest, rides, and even a sensational water show in the evening. There’s a rumor that Walt Disney visited Efteling when he was planning Disneyland, but even if it’s not true, you can see some resemblance.
We really enjoyed Efteling every time we visited. There are rides for all ages and unlike Disney, the wait times aren’t ridiculously long or complicated. The food and drinks are reasonably priced too. I think our favorite part was finding the talking trash cans. You hear them shout ‘Papier hier’ and if you feed it any trash, it would say things like Dank Je (thank you) or belch. There are some bigger rides like the Dive Coaster or Joris en de Draak or family rides like Max & Moritz or the Pagode where you can see panoramic views of the park.
If you have kids or love amusem*nt parks, this is such a fun place to visit. If you have time, I would highly recommend adding it to your itinerary.
Zeeland
How could I not mention Zeeland? It’s where we lived for 5 years and I’m so grateful we were able to call this place home for a bit. Although it’s not your typical tourist place, Zeeland has a lot to offer. You can enjoy beautiful beaches, visit charming towns like Middleburg, cycle in the country-side or attend a festival.
Zeeland has over 650 kilometers of coastline, but our favorite beach was in Cadzand. Breskens is a pretty popular beach too. Many of these beaches have restaurants so you can enjoy drinks and meals with a view of the water. And although the water tends to be too cold for me, you’ll see many families swimming in the ocean during the summer. It’s also nice to walk along the beach even when the weather gets cooler.
Things to do in Zeeland
- Eat at the cozy tea house “Honey Pie” in Middelburg and then see the Stadshal and the Abbey
- Stroll a historic city center in one of the many towns (Middelburg, Vlissingen, Goes, Hulst)
- Sit on a terrace and enjoy bitterballen (bite-size beef and gravy croquettes) and a beer
- Cycle down a bike path near the beach or in the country-side, click here for some cycle path ideas
- Attend a festival such as Vestrock (awarded to top 10 of best European Boutique festivals) where you can rock out to music in a fortified city
Delft
The only reason this is on the bottom of the list is because for some reason every time we visited this city, my kids had an epic meltdown (or several). I’m not sure why but this city made my kids fall apart so I feel like I’m a bit tainted.
However, it is absolutely a place you should check out and it’s close by Den Haag (The Hague), so you could easily add it. Delft is most famous for it’s Delft Blue pottery. It has a vast open square in the middle of the city center where you will see an incredibly tall church (Nieuwe Kerk) and the town hall on the opposite. Our favorite thing to do is to visit the Royal Delft Museum where you can learn about Johannes Vermeer and actually see their production studio lined with stacks and stacks of pottery.
Delft also has a great market, beautiful canals, restaurants, and courtyards. Our favorite place to eat was the Stads-koffyhuis which serves delicious breakfast and lunch. If you are lucky, you can get a seat on their boat on the canal outside their restaurant.
These are just a few of my favorite places in the Netherlands. I’m sure I’ve missed many others. If you have a favorite place to visit in the Netherlands, let me know in the comments and why you like to visit there.
