It also is the country of porcelain (think Delft), cheese (think Gouda) and fine art (think Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Vermeer) — and wooden shoes, windmills, tulips and dikes.

While they have morphed into tourist attractions, the dikes are part of a broader system of protection for a land where roughly a third of the country sits below sea level at high tide. Another quarter is so low it would be flooded were it not for the dikes plus sand dunes and projects to pump out excess water.

It has attractions that appeal to all personality types — ranging from biking and mud walking to eating Indonesian foods and visiting fine museums filled with classic works by Dutch painters. Even in this tiny nation, with a high population density, there are nature reserves and other places for enjoying the pleasures of activity, or contemplation, in relative solitude. Holland, like all northern European countries, can be dark in winter because of its short days, but the trade-off is the lovely long days of midsummer.

Take day trips using inline skates as your transport. In the De Graafschap part of the Achterhoek region, seven skating and inline skating routes have been signposted, carrying catchy names like Castle & Convent Route, Stork Route and Witch Route. Or, look for routes in the Flevoland and Friesland provinces. The flat land of the country allows this activity.

Mud walk across the Wadden Sea at low tide. It’s hard work, requiring walkers to slog through thigh-deep mud and waist-high water to reach the West Frisian Islands. Called wadlopen, meaning walking through Wadden, this is done only with a guide as it can be dangerous.

Go sailing or rent a barge or yacht and cruise the Dutch rivers and canals on your own.

You also can rent historic ships, which are usually flat-bottomed boats such as barges, botters (fishing smacks), clippers, schooners and tjalken (spritsail barges). They have sleeping quarters and come with crew and skipper, but you would be expected to help out with some tasks.

Holland has more than 350,000 windsurfers; try your hand at the sport.

From Glope Events, you can choose to ride in a hot-air balloon, pilot a single-engine aircraft (for 20 minutes), or skydive in tandem with an instructor.

Visit the Hash Marijuana Hemp Museum in Amsterdam’s Red Light District. While smoking this weed is illegal in the U.S., Holland has legalized the substance for everyday use. You can eat so-called “space cakes” in Amsterdam bars or even attend the city’s annual Cannabis Cup, at which experts test the smokes in the way wine connoisseurs sip wines.

If you are in shape for this, try fierljeppen (Dutch for far jumping) in Friesland. This popular, regional pastime involves running for a pole, climbing it, then propelling yourself across water to land on the other side. The story is this originated with farmers wanting to get from one field to another quickly, or with thieves, depending on whom you ask.

In winter, go ice skating on a canal, of course.

Go biking. Everyone does it, for fun and transportation. More than 10,500 miles of cycling routes will get you almost anywhere.

Stay in the Grand Hotel de Kromme Raake in the village of Eenrum. Calling itself the smallest hotel in the world, it has only one room and its bed, called a box bed, is behind doors in what looks like a large cupboard.

For another quirky choice, stay at a hotel called De Vrouwe van Stavoren in the Dutch harbor town of Stavoren, a former Hanseatic League city. Besides regular rooms, it has four rooms fashioned from 15,000-liter Swiss wine barrels.

Weigh yourself at the Witches Weighhouse in Oudewater, using scales that date from 1482. The purpose? To prove you are not a witch. This harkens back to a time when folks believed witches weighed next to nothing, and you too can receive a certificate saying you weigh too much to be a witch. Then, tour the museum which highlights the history of witch hunting.

Choose a restaurant that offers rijstafel, which is a Dutch word for rice table and refers to the Dutch adaptation of an Indonesian meal of rice with numerous side dishes, often pretty spicy. As an alternative, order nasi goreng, an Indonesian fried rice and comfort food for many.

Consider the open-air museum at Arnhem, which features more than 80 historic houses from across Holland. See how the Dutch have lived in the last 250 years, then eat a typical farmers’ meal.

Tour the lovely town of Delft, using its canals, on the Delft Blue Boat. Then tour the Royal Delft porcelain factory, and sign on for a workshop session where you will paint a tile or a Christmas ornament.

Travel through Holland by barge. Converted to accommodate guests, these small vessels have cabins with private baths, restaurants and, sometimes, additional comforts such as spas and telephones.

Holland is a land of flower bulbs, and not just tulip bulbs. Schedule a visit to coincide with the Bollenstreek Flower Parade, which winds its way from Noordwijk to Haarlem in late April and is the largest of many Dutch flower processions seen from April through September.

Visit the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.

Go to the world-renowned Rijksmuseum to see as much as you have time for of paintings by the Dutch masters.

Tour the Gouda cheese factory in Gouda, then enjoy samples. Don’t overlook the town either.

Walk the Vermeer Trail in Delft, which was the painter’s hometown. The trail includes the church where he was baptized, located on the Great Market Square, plus the setting for Vermeer’s “View of Delft” and the place where it is believed the artist modeled his “The Little Street” painting.

Go to Giethoorn, the village the Dutch regard as the country’s most beautiful. Built along small canals, the town can be visited on foot, by bike or while traveling in quiet, electricity-powered boats along the canals. (The more adventurous can rent a small motorized boat and travel on their own along Giethoorn’s canals.)

Visit the Keukenhof Gardens in spring. The tulips and daffodils are the stars, but they are not alone. More than 7 million bulbs bloom here each year.

Visit the village of Kinderdijk for a cluster of 19 windmills. The 18th century mills were built to drain excess water from the Alblasserwaard polders which are below sea level. Opt to walk or, in summer, view the mills while on a canal cruise. You can visit the inside of one mill in late March through October. You also can go to Kinderdijk on a boat excursion from Rotterdam.

If the themed Efteling Enchanted Park, which is built around fairy-tale characters, is to your taste, consider staying at the Efteling Hotel, which has the Sleeping Beauty Room, Circus Room and Fata Morgana Suite. Then, there is the Fifties Room, where the bed is inside a 1952 Chevrolet Bel Air.

For more information, consult the Netherlands Board of Tourism at www.holland.com

back to top