Other Amsterdam blogs
The largest cities in Netherlands are Amsterdam, the Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht. I lived in Amsterdam for four years and it’s quite an old city with traditional Dutch canals and architecture. The Hague is quite cute too, like Amsterdam, but quieter and less touristy. While Rotterdam is quite different from them all, it’s a new and modern city, built of concrete and glass. And I never managed to go to Utrecht!
Outside of these main cities, there are many other smaller cities and towns which are quite visit worthy. (I would actually consider all of them villages but some of them fall in the list of Dutch cities, so I call them cities too😊). Here are my experiences of exploring the Netherlands and its various villages.
Delft (June 2022, Oct 2023, Feb 2024, Nov 2024)
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| Delft canals |
Delft is a small city with the typical Dutch canals and architecture. It is also a student town, and so quite charming to walk through. I visited Delft for the first time in summer 2022 in June, on a gorgeous sunny day. And what I remember from the visit was that we spent a very relaxed idyllic day in town, enjoying ourselves immensely. It was so serene everywhere, with very little tourists around.
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| Cafe in Delft |
We walked around mostly in the central area, which was full of canals and loads of eating places. We ate at a cafe next to the canal, in the sun and I so fell in love with the town. We also visited a few of the must-see places in town. There were a few notable cathedrals here, and we went to a couple of them. My favourite was the Maria Van Jessekerk cathedral, it was gorgeous from the inside.
We visited the Prinsenhof museum, which mostly showcased the history of William the Silent who had fought against the Spanish King, Philip the second. And in a way set the foundations of Netherlands and the current royal family of House of Orange. The city of Delft had sided with him, a Protestant and so they share a special bond with the royal family till today.
The other highlight of the town is the famous Delft pottery – it’s similar to the Chinese style of pottery and was picked up by this city to benefit from the high demand for pottery across Europe. The museum had a few of those pieces too, along with paintings.
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| Delft canals |
Delft it also famous for a lot of art masters coming from this city, most famous of them was Vermeer. So there were a few shops with his stuff too, plus a museum of his house which we could not visit due to lack of time. But we immensely enjoyed just walking around town, enjoying an idyllic day. Overall, I liked the time I spent in Delft, it’s definitely a good timepass place on a nice weather day.
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| Delft canals |
I visited Delft a few more times after that initial trip, and every time I did the same - walk through the old city centre, along the canals, visit the main square, eat and just enjoy a leisurely day around. It's a nice little place to spend time on a sunny day. And the peacefulness in town is definitely something unique.
Enkhuizen and Maarkerwaarddijk (July 2024)
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| Enkhuizen park |
The Dutch built two major dykes along the North Sea to block the sea and create huge inland lakes. And I always wanted to drive along those dykes, to see those giant feats of engineering. So one day we drove to the town of Enkhuizen in the north, and then crossed the lake along the Markerwaarddijk dyke.
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| Enkhuizen beach |
We loved the town of Enkhuizen. We first walked along its main street, which was already empty by then as it was 5 pm. Even though it was bright daylight as it was summertime. We then spent some time in a cute little park with some water bodies and thereafter walked to the beach which was quite small and empty at that time. Then we walked along the waterfront with all the boats and charming houses. There were so many bridges and canals and yachts all around. We could feel it was a rich town.
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| Loosen social housing |
We then stopped at the Snouck van Loosen social housing project which was a settlement of free housing made by the government for the underprivileged. I was blown away with the housing estates. Grand old houses landscaped with waterbodies and a lot of greenery, built on the waterfront. Even the rich in many countries don’t get to live like this! And that’s when I realised, the Netherlands as a country is at a different level altogether..
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| Enkhuizen waterfront |
After this astonishing discovery, we left the town and drove along the Markerwaarddijk dyke for 30 kms, coming back via Lelystad. And what an experience it was. To drive along where the sea was contained was an experience by itself. I really wonder how the Dutch even thought of doing something like this.
It was interesting to drive on the dyke, and see that the water level on both sides was different. There was a lot of wind there, so we couldn't get out for long and explore much. But the feeling of the greatness of the human mind was definitely there. And hats off to the Dutch spirit. To imagine something like this.
Hague (March 2022, June 2022, Sep 2023, May 2023, Nov 2024)
I’ve been to Hague a few times, and it feels like a quiet city. A few times, we have walked along the main market area, as well as the Hague pond and the Binnenhof which is the Dutch Parliament. They were all cute, but nothing much to write home about. We also visited the Mauritshuis museum which houses the famous ‘girl with the pearl earring’ painting and Scheveningen, the famous Hague seaside resort. We walked along the royal palace and the market streets, all fun to explore. Overall, I wasn't as impressed. Maybe because the Hague is supposedly a nice city to live in, but as a tourist (in my opinion) it doesn’t have a lot to offer.
Giethoorn (April 2022, May 2023, June 2024)
Giethoorn is a very old and typical Dutch village, about 1.5 hours drive from Amsterdam. It shows up in a lot of travel blogs as a must visit place. So on a sunny weekend in 2022 spring, we drove there. We saw tulips on the way which was nice as always. And Giethoorn did not disappoint.
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| Geithoorn in spring |
The village is made up of old thatched roof houses surrounded by picturesque canals all around. Apparently the houses are built on small peat islands which are connected by over 170 small wooden bridges!! We spent the whole day walking around the village, taking in the sights. Of the magnificent houses and the charming canals around them. The place was full of tourists that day and many of them were boating. And of course, there were lot of shops to keep tourists busy. It was a lively place to spend the day. I liked it, it felt very idyllic and might be fun to stay at too, just like that.
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| Geithoorn in summer |
I liked Geithoorn so much that I went there every year. The second time we went in summer and the weather was just stunning. There were poppies and white flowers everywhere. The houses looked just breath-taking, surrounded by nature in full bloom with so many flowers. We went boating in the village this time. (You can rent a boat from anywhere, as almost every second house does boat rental as a side business.) And then you can drive the boat yourself.
So we took the boat, first into the large lake, the Beulakerwijde and then through the town. The lake was huge with a small island in it. It was open and very windy. And then boating through the village was like being in a dream. It was a place where the canals were the roads. And the picturesque wooden houses each was on its own island. The islands are surrounded by waterways, and connected to each other with small wooden bridges. It was just so much fun to navigate the town.
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| Geithoorn in summer |
It was also fun, as there were so many boats and they were all crashing into each other, given the drivers were not professional boaters and the canals were very narrow. Still the summer vibe made it all fun. After the boat ride, we walked along the sides and the town was very crowded. Boating through the crowds was definitely more fun than walking through the crowds.
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| De Wieden national park |
My last visit to Giethoorn the next year, though still in summer was on a rainy day and a completely different experience. The village was empty, and felt so different from the last time when there was no place to even walk. This time we took the boat into the national park around the lake. It was all forested, with some grass fields and reeds everywhere. There were lots of water lilies around too. We walked up to a viewpoint to get a view of the place around, it was very marshy. We also passed by some highland cows, swans and ducks on this ride. The entire time it was raining, and we did the whole boat tour in the middle of the worst of Dutch weather. But somehow still enjoyed.
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| Geithoorn in the rain |
Then we explored the shops in town. There were many small boutique shops selling interesting stuff, like one selling all kinds of rocks, some flowers and so on. They were a a pleasure to browse through. After that, we walked all the way to Smits Pavilion, a huge restaurant on the lake, for lunch. It had got so freezing by then, we stayed inside and then left soon. And even though we enjoyed the day despite the rain, I definitely prefer Geithoorn in the sun.
Kinderdijk (June 2024)
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| Kinderdijk |
I had heard about Kinderdijk as being similar to Zaanse Schaans, but since it was a bit farther off and no one raved about it much, I didn't go there till the very end of my stay in the Netherlands. And boy, would I have regretted not visiting it.
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| Kinderdijk |
Kinderdijk is about an hours drive from Amsterdam, a beautiful location in the countryside with some waterways and around twenty working windmills all lined along the 2-3 rivulets in the area. We had gone there on a sunny breezy day, which was just perfect. The windmills looked so magnificent, standing tall in rows along the rivulets.
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| Kinderdijk |
With the green grass around, the lotus flowers in the water and reflections of the clouds and the windmills in the flowing water. The whole place looked like a painting. We walked along the path enjoying the views and just being there. It's a feeling difficult to describe. I loved being there, and wish had gone there more often and earlier.
Leiden (Dec 2021, Nov 2022)
Leiden was one of the first places I visited in Netherlands outside of Amsterdam. It was during the winter of 2021, in November, when it had already started becoming cold. It was also the time of a partial lockdown in Netherlands, when shops were only allowed to be open in the afternoons.
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| Leiden |
Leiden is a historical town for the Netherlands, with a lot of historical events happening here. It was the location from where the pilgrims left for the US. It was Rembrandt’s birthplace. It’s also the location of the Leiden university where a lot of great scientific discoveries were made, like refraction, electron theory and so on. It is a student town now and so had a very relaxed and fun vibe to it.
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| Canals of Leiden |
The city is very small with just a hundred thousand residents. It has two main gates to the city on each end and you can walk from one to the other in a few minutes. And everywhere in the centrum, there are canals, lined with Dutch style houses. As both times I visited Leiden on a Saturday, the local farmers market filled the city centre, all along the main canal in the centre. It was fun to do some window shopping there. Flowers, cheeses and lot of other food stuff are always the highlights to buy from there.
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| Windmill at Leiden |
We walked around a bit, through the markets, shops, some museums, and a few windmills all the way. They were all quite picturesque. The walls of the city are decorated with painted poems written in different languages, they were fun to look out for. And as it is a university town, there were also many formulae painted on the walls – it was clear the city had a historic scientific bend to it. Rembrandt was born here, but the house where he was born has been torn down. Even then, there are a few plaques on the walls to remind people where he lived.
And that’s all we did the whole day, walk around and see all the city had to offer. Also, as it’s a small town, it's very easy to run into people you know when out in town. It did happen to my friend who was a local. Over the course of a few hours, he ran into 4 people he knew – just the number he had predicted at the start of the day 😊.
I visited Leiden once more in winter, but it was so freezing, my friends weren't keen on exploring it. So we left very soon after visiting just a cafe 😆.
Lemmer (Dec 2021)
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| Lemmer at Xmas |
I went to this small village in Friesland, on the northern coast of Netherlands, to meet a colleague for lunch during the lockdown of winter 2021. It was an hours drive away, and I passed by lot of windmills on the dykes along the road while driving till there. The village had a very beautiful city centre, with the old architecture-d houses. We walked along the canals at night, as they were all decorated for Christmas, And it felt like we were already ‘in’ Christmas. As it was cold and windy, we did not feel like walking around too much, so just explored the centre. But I think it could be a nice place to visit in summer.
Marken (May 2023)
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| Canals of Marken |
Marken is a nice little island village in Waterland district, slightly north of Amsterdam. The island was only reachable by boat for a long while, till it was connected by road over a dyke. We visited it this summer and were pleasantly surprised by how charming the place was.
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| Marken |
There is one parking for all visitors right when you enter the island, and then you can explore it all, the village centre, the buurts, circle of the whole island, and its fields and farms. The village has a lot of small bridges, stunning canals and waterways, and colourful orange houses close together between them. The streets are narrow and great to walk through, with picturesque views wherever you go. It also has enough for tourists to do, like small museums, local souvenir shops etc..
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| Waterfront at Marken |
We walked through the waterfront where there were loads of boats as well as eating places for the tourists who arrived on ferry from Volendam. You could even see the cities of Volendam and Monnickendam across the water. And inside the village, every street was picture worthy. We walked around the old church and the Kerkbuurt which was the first settlement in the area. There were also some nice farms everywhere, with farm animals , sheep on bright green grass, canal and wooden houses next to it – so gorgeous.
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| Walk around Marken |
Then we kept walking to the other end of the island, finally coming back after taking a round of half the island. All around the island, you can walk or cycle on the raised dyke surrounding the island. You can also see that the level of water outside the raised dyke and the land inside is different – this island is definitely below sea level.
The walk was quite picturesque, with bright green grass everywhere, small beaches for swimming when warm, fields, farm animals and canals everywhere. The walk was extremely refreshing to do. It was quite windy there though.
Texel (May 2023)
In the North of the Netherlands, there are many islands (known as Frisian islands) in the North Sea which are quite popular with the Dutch. I wanted to visit a few of them, but only managed to go once to Texel (because it's so extremely windy there, finding the right warm enough day to go there was tough). So we drove till Del Helder, and then took the regular ferry to Texel (with our car). The ferry was huge, and fun to be on. We got to experience the North Sea and the seagulls flying next to us on the ferry.
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| Texel beach |
The island felt very flat and green. And everyone seemed to be biking there. Some people had even got their bikes on the ferry. When we got off, we first drove to the beach with the Texel Lighthouse. The beach was huge, next to sandy dunes. We spent some time walking on the beach and around the lighthouse.
After that, we drove to the town of De Koog, which was a nice little touristy place. We walked around a bit there till the beach, which was lined with holiday houses. And the sand was a beautiful yellow in colour. We also walked in the high street for a while, though everything felt the same as any other Dutch city. It got chilly soon, and then we left, taking the ferry back and then driving on to Amsterdam.
Overall though, I think the island is more suited for activity, so coming here and going biking is a lot more fun than sightseeing here. Anyways, it was a nice day out and good fun to be there. There are many other Frisian islands worth visiting too, some of which are car-free. For some other time then!
Volendam (May 2022, May 2023)
We first visited Volendam on a May weekend when it was too cold. The next time we visited after Marken, and it was warm and very crowded. So both times, we spent a lot less time there than we should have. Apparently it is quite a popular place with tourists.
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| Volendam street |
We mostly walked in town, through a local market and then along the waterfront. The waterfront was lined with boats, large and small. And all along there were touristy things happening - people taking photos in Dutch clothes, eating lot of seafood and just enjoying a nice day out.
When we walked inside in town, it was extremely quiet. We walked past some gorgeous houses on the sea with balconies looking out. And they all looked so idyllic, so much like a retirement place looking onto the sea. I don’t think there is a lot to do here, other than just enjoy being there.
The second time we went, again we just walked around the waterfront and that was it. Not a lot more to do.
Zaandam (July 2024)
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| Zaandam |
Zaandam is a town near Zaanse Schaans, about a 30 mins drive from Amsterdam. But somehow I never visited it. Thankfully I finally did before leaving the country. And liked it. It's a nice little town on the IJ river, with extremely colourful houses. Everywhere in town are houses painted in bright green, red, orange and blue.
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| Innhotel |
The most famous of those of course is the Inntel hotel, a hotel looking like brightly coloured boxes put on top of each other. We first walked around the city centre canals, around the hotel. Then we kept walking along the streets, all the way till the river, and then along it enjoying the small canals and the town around it. Everything there was beautiful, and calm. It was a nice stop and a definite recommendation for anyone visiting Amsterdam.
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| Streets of Zandaam |
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| Streets of Zaandam |
Zaanse Schaans (April 2022, November 2022, April 2023, May 2023, May 2024, July 2024
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| Dutch village house |
Zaanse Schaans is an old Dutch village very close to Amsterdam which is extremely popular with tourists. It has a row of some 10-15 old windmills next to the river with some green and orange Dutch houses in between. The whole area has been preserved like it must have been decades ago. And on the other side of the river is the actual village where people still live. Both sides are totally picture worthy.
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Windmills of
Zaanse Schaans |
Zaanse Schaans is a tourist favourite, everyone who comes to Amsterdam definitely goes there. And so its always crowded with people. As its a touristy place, you can find the standard shops for cheese, souvenirs, clogs and so on to keep the tourists busy. And some museums as usual.
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| Zaanse Schaans windmills |
You can go up the windmills and see how they work too. Or take a boat ride in the river there. It's quite a lively place always. We once also ran into an artist who is learning 30 languages. He stopped us asking us if we spoke telugu. And asked for a few phrases to learn in Telugu.
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| Zaanse Schaans windmills |
I have been there six times already, taking all my guests for a visit to this gorgeous site. It’s good for a day out, and I would recommend it especially when the weather is sunny. It’s just so lovely to be there, even if it is touristy. It's just so charming to walk through the old Dutch houses, in green and orange, with the waterways all around. Always.
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| Zaanse Schaans along the river |
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| Zaanse Schaans windmills |
Zeeland Islands (Sep 2023)
The Zeeland islands are a set of large islands in the West of the Netherlands. They are relatively less populated and more green and natural. We went there once on a day trip, and that was the only time I swam in the Netherlands in the sea 😄 .
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| Beach in Zeeland |
We first went to the beach and it had a very nice vibe. We had lunch at the restaurant. Then went into the water, it was shallow and quite calm. And we could also see the big ships moving in, to the port nearby.
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| Canals of Middleburg |
Then we drove to the nearby town of Middleburg. It was similar but different from the rest of the Dutch towns. The Abbey, the Tower, the City Hall - all were impressive buildings. We walked by the churches and some canals. Every street has pretty coloured houses. And so many flowers everywhere. It made for some very picturesque view. Also somehow the architecture felt quite calm and quite soothing, especially around the canals. I liked it.
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| Streets of Middleburg |
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| Canals of Middleburg |
There are some other villages I visited while cycling, like Abcoude, Haarlem, Monnickendam, Muiden, Ouderkerk and Vught. My experiences there can be found on
this blog.
(Blog first published in May 2023, updated in Jan 2026)
Other Amsterdam blogs
