The Netherlands (or Holland, if you prefer) might just be twice the size of New Jersey, but somehow stacks up more variety per square mile than most US states. There are polder farmlands drained by dykes, rolling hills in its far south, and more than 250 miles of wind-whipped dunes hemming its coast.
Few of its 20 million annual visitors see beyond Amsterdam‘s canal belt, though. They shuffle through the Rijksmuseum, snap some pictures on a bridge, then roll their suitcases back to Schiphol or the Centraal Station, off to the next European capital. But they’re missing out: Even within cycling range from Amsterdam, you’ll find old-timey fishing villages and cheese markets where time has seemingly stood still. There are polder scenes, windmills and all, that seem to have been plucked straight out of a Vermeer painting, and come spring, technicolor fields carpeted in tulips.
A solid train network makes pushing farther out just as painless. It takes just four hours to cross the entire country from north to south. That puts cities like Groningen and Haarlem, with crowd-less canal belts and histories as rich as Amsterdam’s, within day-trip distance, but also helps you discover some of the country’s wilder side: deer roaming in the pine forests of Hoge Veluwe, endless hiking trails through the De Biesbosch’s tidal wetlands, or the Wadden Sea islands, where seals laze the day away on the beach. Below are 23 of Holland’s highlights, one in almost every corner of the country (with hotel tips to boot) to add to your next Netherlands itinerary.
This gallery has been updated with new information since its original publish date. Additional reporting by Katherine LaGrave and Caitlin Morton.
