Best things to do in the Netherlands
21.07.2023 - 07:33
/ roughguides.com
/ Nelson Mandela
There’s nowhere quite like the Netherlands, a country always threatened by the turbulent waters of the North Sea, whose people beat back the ocean to reclaim wide, grassy-green polders from the blue-black depths. This country is one of the most urbanized and densely populated nations on earth, but its crowded flatlands still pack in a wide range of the best things to do in the Netherlands.
The information in this article is inspired by The Rough Guide to the Netherlands, your essential guide for visiting the Netherlands.
There’re plenty of things to do in the Netherlands apart from visiting Amsterdam, but it would be a strange trip that missed out on the capital altogether. It’s not all clogs ‘n’ canals, though – head off the tourist track to the eastern docklands or Amsterdam Noord, newly developed and home to some cutting-edge, Modernist architecture.
Amsterdam Noord, easily reachable using a short ferry ride from behind Centraal Station boasts the city’s probably most eye-catching building and best cinema at the EYE Film Institute. Also here is the sprawling former NDSM Shipyard, which has been turned into creative arts and events hub, with a skate park and good bars and restaurants, and A'DAM Toren with the highest observation deck in Amsterdam.
Travelling on a budget? Our guide to free things to do in Amsterdam has a couple of tips on how to spend your time in Amsterdam without compromising your wallet.
Eye film museum, Adam Tower, Amsterdam © Photix/Shutterstock
A poignant and personal evocation of the Nazi persecution of the Jews. Among the moving exhibits is the bookcase behind which the Frank family and friends hid for two years. A visit begins in the main body of the building with several well-chosen displays setting the historical scene. You then proceed through the premises of what was once the Frank business, before reaching a series of exhibits providing brief biographies.
Filmed interviews with some of the leading characters, including Anne’s friends Hanneli Goslar and Otto Frank, fill out more of the background. There are also displays of the persecution of the Jews – from arrest and deportation through to the concentration camps. Further sections are devoted to Anne as a writer/diarist and the importance of Anne’s diary to other prisoners, most notably Nelson Mandela.
Anne Frank House, Amsterdam © Anamaria Mejia/Shutterstock
Vincent van Gogh is arguably the most popular, most reproduced and most talked-about of all modern artists, so it’s not surprising that visiting the Van Gogh Museum, comprising a fabulous collection of the artist’s work, is one of the best things to do in the Netherlands.
The museum occupies two modern buildings that back onto the northern edge of Museumplein, with