Find places in Netherlands

Must-Haves

• Rijksmuseum (Museumplein)
  Rembrandt's Night Watch and Vermeer's Milkmaid lead the country's greatest collection of Dutch art.
• Van Gogh Museum (Museumplein)
  The world's largest collection of Van Gogh's paintings and letters, best booked well ahead.
• Anne Frank House (Prinsengracht)
  The hiding place of Anne Frank and her family, a moving visit that sells out online.

Fun for Everyone

• Stedelijk Museum (Museumplein)
  Modern and contemporary art and design, from Mondrian and Malevich to today.

Off the Beaten Path

• Museum Our Lord in the Attic (Oudezijds Voorburgwal)
  A secret Catholic church hidden in the attic of a seventeenth century canal house.

Fun for Everyone

• A'DAM Lookout (Noord)
  Views over the city from a tower with a swing that hangs you over the edge.
• Zaanse Schans (Zaandam)
  Working windmills, a clog workshop and cheese farm a short train ride from the city.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Free GVB ferry across the IJ (Behind Centraal)
  Free ferries run day and night to Amsterdam Noord, with harbour views on the way.

Great for Date Night

• Canal cruise on a small open boat (Canal Belt)
  Seeing the UNESCO canal ring from the water at dusk is the city's most romantic hour.

Must-Haves

• Westerkerk Tower (Jordaan)
  Climb the tower beside Anne Frank's house for views over the Jordaan rooftops.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Vondelpark (Oud-Zuid)
  The city's favourite park for picnics, cycling, people watching and summer open-air shows.

Off the Beaten Path

• Amsterdamse Bos (Amstelveen)
  A huge forest park with a goat farm, rowing lake and walking trails just outside the city.
• Westerpark (Westerpark)
  A park and old gasworks turned cultural hub, with cafés, markets and a cinema.

Must-Haves

• Keukenhof (Lisse)
  The world-famous spring flower garden, open only for about eight weeks around April.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Albert Cuyp Market (De Pijp)
  The city's most famous street market, great for fresh stroopwafels and herring.
• Dappermarkt (Oost)
  A local, multicultural market with food and fabrics from across the world.

Must-Haves

• Noordermarkt (Jordaan)
  A Monday flea market and Saturday organic farmers' market by a seventeenth century church.

Off the Beaten Path

• De Negen Straatjes (Canal Belt)
  Nine small streets of independent boutiques, vintage shops and cafés across the canals.

Must-Haves

• Café 't Smalle (Jordaan)
  A tiny canal-side brown café with a terrace right on the water.

Great for Date Night

• Winkel 43 (Jordaan)
  Famous for its warm, tall apple pie with cream on the corner of the Noordermarkt.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Café de Sluyswacht (Jodenbreestraat)
  A crooked little lock-keeper's house turned café with a terrace on the water.

Must-Haves

• Brouwerij 't IJ (Oost)
  A craft brewery at the foot of a windmill, with a busy terrace in good weather.

Great for Date Night

• Wynand Fockink (Centrum)
  A historic tasting house for Dutch genever and liqueurs, tucked down an alley off Dam Square.

Off the Beaten Path

• Café Hoppe (Spui)
  One of the city's oldest brown cafés, with sand on the floor and locals spilling outside.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Foodhallen (Oud-West)
  An indoor food hall in a former tram depot with dozens of stalls for every taste.
• Febo (Centrum)
  Grab a hot kroket from the wall vending machines for a classic late-night Dutch snack.

Must-Haves

• Moeders (Oud-West)
  Hearty Dutch home cooking in a room covered with photos of customers' mothers.

Off the Beaten Path

• Restaurant Blauw (Oud-West)
  An Indonesian rijsttafel feast of many small dishes, a delicious link to Dutch colonial history.

Great for Date Night

• De Kas (Frankendael)
  Seasonal set menus served in a tall glass greenhouse in a park.

Must-Haves

• King's Day (Citywide)
  On 27 April the city turns orange with street parties, boat parades and a huge free market.

Fun for Everyone

• Amsterdam Light Festival (Canal Belt)
  Winter light art along the canals, best seen from a boat or on foot.

Great for Date Night

• Pulitzer Amsterdam (Canal Belt)
  A luxury hotel spread across twenty-five canal houses with a hidden garden.

Off the Beaten Path

• Sweets Hotel (Citywide)
  Rooms inside former bridge keepers' houses on the canals, each one unique.

Low Cost and Authentic

• ClinkNOORD (Noord)
  A friendly hostel in an old laboratory across the IJ with private rooms and dorms.

Must-Haves

• Markthal (Blaak)
  A giant arched market hall with food stalls under a vast painted ceiling.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Blaak Market (Blaak)
  A large open-air market on Tuesdays and Saturdays beside the Markthal.

Must-Haves

• Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen (Museumpark)
  A mirrored public art depot where you can see how a huge collection is stored and restored.

Fun for Everyone

• Kunsthal (Museumpark)
  A lively exhibition hall by Rem Koolhaas with changing shows of art, design and fashion.
• Maritime Museum Rotterdam (Leuvehaven)
  Ships, harbour history and a great children's area right on the old harbour.

Off the Beaten Path

• Fenix (Katendrecht)
  A former warehouse turned museum about migration, topped by a looping viewing tornado.
• Van Nelle Factory (Spaanse Polder)
  A UNESCO-listed modernist factory open on guided tours and special days.

Must-Haves

• Cube Houses (Blaak)
  Piet Blom's tilted yellow houses, with one show home you can step inside.
• Kinderdijk (Kinderdijk)
  Nineteen UNESCO-listed windmills along the polders, reachable by waterbus in season.

Fun for Everyone

• Euromast (Het Park)
  The city's observation tower, with sweeping views over the port and skyline.
• Spido Harbour Tour (Willemsplein)
  A boat tour through Europe's largest port, a good way to grasp the city's scale.

Off the Beaten Path

• Delfshaven (Delfshaven)
  An old harbour quarter that survived the war, where the Pilgrims set sail in 1620.

Must-Haves

• Kaapse Brouwers (Katendrecht)
  A craft brewery and beer hall in the Fenix building on the waterfront.

Great for Date Night

• Witte de Withstraat (Centrum)
  A street of bars, galleries and restaurants that buzzes late into the evening.

Great for Date Night

• Hotel New York (Kop van Zuid)
  The old Holland America Line headquarters, now a hotel with a grand café and harbour views.

Must-Haves

• Hotel New York (Kop van Zuid)
  Stay in the historic shipping line building with views back across the Maas.

Off the Beaten Path

• SS Rotterdam (Katendrecht)
  Sleep aboard a restored ocean liner moored in the city.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Kralingse Plas (Kralingen)
  A lake and woods with windmills, beaches and paths on the east side of the city.

Must-Haves

• North Sea Jazz Festival (Ahoy)
  One of the world's biggest jazz and soul festivals every July.

Fun for Everyone

• Rotterdam Summer Carnival (Centrum)
  A Caribbean street parade with music and costumes every summer.

Must-Haves

• Mauritshuis (Centrum)
  Girl with a Pearl Earring and other Dutch masters in an intimate seventeenth century palace.

Fun for Everyone

• Kunstmuseum Den Haag (Statenkwartier)
  The world's largest Mondrian collection in a beautiful Art Deco building.
• Escher in the Palace (Lange Voorhout)
  M.C. Escher's mind-bending prints in a former royal winter palace.
• Museum Prinsenhof Delft (Delft)
  Where William of Orange was assassinated, with the bullet holes still visible.

Off the Beaten Path

• Panorama Mesdag (Zeeheldenkwartier)
  A vast circular painting of the Scheveningen coast in 1881 that surrounds you.

Must-Haves

• Peace Palace Visitor Centre (Zorgvliet)
  Learn about international justice at the home of the International Court of Justice.
• Royal Delft (Delft)
  The last surviving seventeenth century Delft Blue pottery factory, with painters at work.

Fun for Everyone

• Madurodam (Scheveningen)
  A miniature Netherlands of famous buildings that children love.

Great for Date Night

• Delft Markt (Delft)
  A beautiful square between the New Church and the town hall in Vermeer's town.

Must-Haves

• Scheveningen Beach (Scheveningen)
  A wide sandy beach with a pier, a promenade and beach clubs in summer.

Off the Beaten Path

• Meijendel (Wassenaar)
  Wild dunes and woods north of the city with walking and cycling trails.
• Kijkduin (Kijkduin)
  A quieter beach backed by dunes, popular with local families.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Haagse Markt (Schilderswijk)
  One of Europe's largest outdoor markets, full of food from around the world.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Scheveningen harbour fish stands (Scheveningen)
  Fresh kibbeling and herring straight from the fishing harbour.

Must-Haves

• Grand Hotel Amrâth Kurhaus (Scheveningen)
  The grand old seaside palace hotel right on Scheveningen beach.

Great for Date Night

• Hotel Des Indes (Lange Voorhout)
  A grand nineteenth century hotel on the city's most elegant avenue.

Great for Date Night

• De Zwarte Ruiter (Grote Markt)
  A busy grand café on the Grote Markt with a big terrace.

Low Cost and Authentic

• De Boterwaag (Grote Markt)
  A grand café in a seventeenth century butter weighing house.

Must-Haves

• Dom Tower (Domplein)
  Climb the country's tallest church tower on a guided tour for huge views.
• Castle De Haar (Haarzuilens)
  The country's largest castle, a fairy tale building with formal gardens outside the city.
• Utrecht Centraal bike parking (Stationsplein)
  The world's largest bicycle garage is a sight in itself.

Off the Beaten Path

• DOMunder (Domplein)
  Explore archaeology from Roman times beneath the square with a flashlight.

Great for Date Night

• Oudegracht wharves (Binnenstad)
  Eat at water level in old canal cellars along the city's signature canal.

Must-Haves

• Centraal Museum (Museumkwartier)
  Art, design and Rietveld furniture, plus timed tickets for the Rietveld Schröder House.

Off the Beaten Path

• Rietveld Schröder House (Oost)
  A UNESCO-listed De Stijl house that still looks futuristic a century later.

Fun for Everyone

• Miffy Museum (Museumkwartier)
  A playful museum for young children based on Dick Bruna's famous rabbit.
• Museum Speelklok (Binnenstad)
  A joyful collection of music boxes, clocks and street organs that play for you.
• Railway Museum (Maliebaan)
  The national railway museum with old trains and rides for children.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Amelisweerd (Bunnik)
  An old forest estate east of the city, perfect for walking and cycling.

Off the Beaten Path

• Canoe on the canals (Binnenstad)
  Paddle under the bridges of the Oudegracht and Nieuwegracht at your own pace.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Vredenburg Market (Vredenburg)
  A big Wednesday and Saturday market with fresh food and snacks.

Off the Beaten Path

• Kanaalstraat (Lombok)
  A multicultural shopping street with Turkish and Moroccan bakeries and grocers.

Must-Haves

• Café Ledig Erf (Tolsteeg)
  A classic corner café with a big terrace where two canals meet.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Belgian Beer Café Olivier (Binnenstad)
  A huge selection of beer served inside a former church.

Must-Haves

• Netherlands Film Festival (Binnenstad)
  The national film festival with screenings across the city each autumn.

Off the Beaten Path

• Grand Hotel Karel V (Binnenstad)
  A historic hotel in a former knights' monastery with a quiet garden.

Must-Haves

• Dominicanen bookshop (Binnenstad)
  A bookshop inside a thirteenth century Gothic church, with a café in the choir.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Maastricht Market (Markt)
  A big Wednesday and Friday market by the town hall, with fish and local produce.

Must-Haves

• Vrijthof (Binnenstad)
  The grand square of café terraces, Saint Servatius and summer concerts.

Off the Beaten Path

• North Caves of Mount Saint Peter (Sint-Pietersberg)
  Guided tours through hand-cut tunnels used as shelters for centuries.
• Helpoort (Jekerkwartier)
  The oldest surviving city gate in the Netherlands, at the edge of a quiet quarter.

Fun for Everyone

• Fort Sint Pieter (Sint-Pietersberg)
  An eighteenth century fort with tunnels and views over the Maas valley.
• Valkenburg caves and castle (Valkenburg)
  Caves, a castle ruin and a cave Christmas market in winter.

Must-Haves

• Basilica of Saint Servatius (Vrijthof)
  One of the oldest churches in the country, with a rich medieval treasury.

Off the Beaten Path

• Bonnefanten (Céramique)
  A museum of old masters and contemporary art in a striking riverside building.
• Wyck district (Wyck)
  Boutiques, cafés and restaurants across the old bridge near the station.

Low Cost and Authentic

• City walls walk (Jekerkwartier)
  Stroll along the medieval walls and the river Jeker through green parks.

Off the Beaten Path

• Geul valley (Valkenburg)
  Rolling hills, half-timbered farms and trails beside the river Geul.

Great for Date Night

• Onze Lieve Vrouweplein (Binnenstad)
  A shady square of café terraces beside the basilica, ideal for a long lunch.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Bisschopsmolen (Stenebrug)
  A working watermill bakery famous for its Limburg vlaai fruit tarts.

Low Cost and Authentic

• Café In Den Ouden Vogelstruys (Vrijthof)
  A centuries-old brown café on the corner of the Vrijthof.

Must-Haves

• Café Sjiek (Sint Pieterstraat)
  A cosy local café known for zuurvlees, Limburg's sweet and sour beef stew.

Must-Haves

• Maastricht Carnival (Citywide)
  Days of costumes, brass bands and street parties before Lent.

Fun for Everyone

• TEFAF Maastricht (MECC)
  A major fair of art and antiques each March.

Great for Date Night

• Kruisherenhotel (Binnenstad)
  A design hotel inside a fifteenth century monastery and church.