The Netherlands is a small, flat country in northwestern Europe that has punched far above its geographic limitations through centuries of hydraulic engineering, maritime trade, and cultural production. Much of the country literally does not exist naturally — approximately a third of its land area lies below sea level, reclaimed from the sea and lakes through an extraordinary 1,000-year program of dykes, polders, and pumping stations.
Amsterdam, the capital, is one of Europe's most beautiful and atmospheric cities. Its ring of 17th-century canals — the UNESCO-listed Grachtengordel — was built during the Dutch Golden Age when Amsterdam was the world's most important trading city and its merchants were the wealthiest on Earth. The canal houses with their distinctive narrow facades, hooked beam heads for hoisting goods, and gabled rooftops line some of the world's most photographed streets. The Anne Frank House, where a Jewish girl hid for two years before her deportation to Bergen-Belsen, is one of the most moving historical sites in Europe.
The Rijksmuseum houses the world's greatest collection of Dutch Golden Age painting: Rembrandt's Night Watch, Vermeer's The Milkmaid, and hundreds of works by Hals, Steen, and others capture a society at the height of its powers. The nearby Van Gogh Museum holds the world's largest collection of works by the post-Impressionist master, tracing his development from dark early canvases to the blazing color of his Arles period.
The tulip fields in bloom — concentrated in the Bollenstreek region between Amsterdam and The Hague — paint the flat Dutch countryside in stripes of red, yellow, orange, and purple from mid-March through May. Keukenhof Gardens, open only during this season, is the world's largest flower garden.
Delft, Rotterdam, and Utrecht each offer distinct personalities — Delft with its Vermeer connections and blue-and-white pottery tradition, Rotterdam with its bold post-war modernist architecture and Europe's busiest port, Utrecht with its Gothic cathedral and compact historic center.
Dutch food beyond cheese and herring includes bitterballen (fried beef ragout balls), stroopwafels (caramel-filled waffle cookies), jenever (Dutch gin), and fresh North Sea shrimp.
The best time to visit is April through June, when the tulips bloom and the weather is crisp and clear.
