Netherlands Things to Do

The traditional cusine in The Netherlands is straightforward and hearty. The winter chill is kept at bay with simple dishes such as erwtensoep (pea soup) and stamppot (mashed potatoes cooked with sauerkraut), eaten with rookworst (smoked sausage).

There is plenty to do in The Netherlands in winter. The climate might not be at its most welcoming but if you’re lucky the sun will come out, the crowds will have disappeared, and you’ll have the place to yourself.

Culture, art, and city nightlife are not all there is to The Netherlands. There are many good reasons to get out of the city and explore the country more deeply and the island of Texel is one. Pronounced locally as Tessel, Texel is the largest and most populated of the Frisian Islands and the closest to Amsterdam. It’s a popular holiday and tourist destination, indicated by the fact it has 46,000 holiday rental beds available on the island!

Utrecht is The Netherlands’ fourth largest city, center of the Dutch Catholic church and home to the largest university in the country, Utrecht University.

The city had its heyday in the early Middle Ages when it was the country’s biggest city (until Amsterdam took over), and many of its buildings and its layout still date from then.

No euro-trip is complete without a visit to Amsterdam. The best way to travel through the Netherlands is by train and, there’s a lot of time to do some reading.

These days it’s all about the e-reader and travelers do not need to carry heavy books around the world anymore. Call me old fashioned, but I still love bookshops. Being able to browse through pages of photographs and stories about the place I’m in, to discover the local writers and artists, to find obscure little brochures of local history; it makes travel so much more opulent.

The times they are a’changing. Back. To before the 60s. Not sure if this is the beginning of a massive shift in the Netherlands or just one town sick of not being taken seriously but the city of Maastricht, on the border with Belgium and France has banned tourists from going to their marijuana cafes. Now only Dutch residents will be allowed to buy and smoke weed.