Why visit small towns in Holland? Is Amsterdam like the rest of Holland? (NO, it's not)
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What are the provinces in Holland and why should I really say "the Netherlands?"
What about Brugge, Belgium or Luxembourg City, Luxembourg?
See Amsterdam, then See Holland
Many people who visit Holland never travel outside the Dutch tourist capital of Amsterdam. After whisking through the obligatory museum visits, taking a canal tour and hanging out in the Red Light District, many first time Amsterdam visitors walk away with the impression that the entire Netherlands is one big college campus with the associated lack of "moral behavior.".
This common impression is wrong. By spending more than a few days in Amsterdam, you will begin to see the local scene. You'll notice that the typical Dutch person tolerates the red light districts without accepting them -- most Dutch do not use marijuana and tend to look upon the party types as tolerated fools.
True, there are coffeeshops and window girls in most all of the larger Dutch towns as well as Amsterdam and other large cities -- yet this is an issue of compromise and control, not a matter of lawlessness or randomness. Very little in the Netherlands is lawless, and even less is unplanned.
Getting out of Amsterdam
When you get beyond Amsterdam into small towns, you'll see how pervasively quaint everything is. When touring small Dutch towns, I suggest you don't see too many in one day: I found it's possible to see a numbing excess of quaintness if you drive through too many towns without stopping to absorb the atmosphere slowly. Waiting for you are small churches, cathedrals, windmills, tulip fields, the North Sea, cafes, cute roads, scenic bypass routes, farms, dikes, bridges, rivers, bicyclists. And, of course, more.
I have explored the small towns in the provinces Zuid-Holland and Zeeland in the southwest part of the Netherlands. Zeeland is a delightful mixture of beaches, farms, dike-top roads, and history featuring the small town of Sluis on the Belgian border and the small cities Middelburg and Zierekzee, as well as Bergen op Zoom in the neighboring Noord-Brabant.province.
Other areas of Holland to see include:
- Frisian Islands (Texel island plus 4 smaller islands)
- Groningen, the Northeast province known for its university
- Overissel, the forested area bordering Germany in the East
- Friesland, a part of north Holland with it's own language
- The Limburg region with Maastricht as the center of the most charming, warm and easygoing part of the Netherlands. This area has some hills topping out of 300-400 meters.
- Noord-Brabant, containing the wonderful town of Bergen op Zoom on its border with Zeeland, as well as the small cities of Eindhoven and s'Hertogenbosch in the east.
- Drenthe and Gelderland with their respective capitals of Assen and Arnhem.
Holland has an excellent bus system. It's possible to go to any Dutch town by bus, with very few exceptions. Most of the exceptions involve ferry trips instead to islands like Texel which in turn have a bus service on the island itself. Texel is north of Amsterdam through Den Helder, and offers an excellent glimpse of where the Dutch go on holiday when they stay in the Netherlands. Refreshingly, there are no coffeeshops in Texel!
How to spot a small Dutch town
Most small Dutch towns have a windmill and a church located at the center of town. The way to the center and through town is often well marked. Drive into a small town, find parking at the center, and stroll through the town looking at the variety of shops, cafes, and houses. Some of these towns are very old, and most of them will have a tourist office in town. Look for the VVV signs.
A final bit of advice especially for Americans like me: while people in Amsterdam are accustomed to tourists in Amsterdam, the real Dutch in the smaller towns are usually quiet and keep to themselves. We Americans tend to be gregarious and overbearing in the eyes of most Dutch.
Be polite and quiet in bars and cafes until you understand the scene -- most places have a cozy atmosphere, and it only takes one loud drunk tourist to destroy it, making everyone uncomfortable. Also realize that outside Amsterdam you might even find some Dutch people who don't speak perfect English! Imagine that! And be patient.