Frans Hals Museum – Hal

Haarlem

　　The Frans Hals Museum's modern and contemporary-art branch occupies two historic ‘halls’: the 17th-century Dutch Renaissance Vleeshal, a former meat market and the sole place meat was allowed to be sold in Haarlem from the 17th through to the 19th century, and the neoclassical Verweyhal (fish house). Rotating exhibits include...

Zuid-Kennemerland National Park

Haarlem

　　Some 3800 hectares of classic Dutch coastal dunes are being restored in this oasis less than 5km west of Haarlem. Trails snake through hilltop copses of Corsican firs and valleys of low-lying thickets; at the western edge is a massive barrier of thousand-year-old golden sand. Its visitor centre, De Zandwaaier,...

Grote Kerk van St Bavo

Haarlem

　　Topped by a towering 50m-high steeple, the Gothic Grote Kerk van St Bavo contains some fine Renaissance artworks, but the star attraction is its stunning Müller organ – one of the most magnificent in the world, standing 30m high and with about 5000 pipes, dating from 1738. It was played...

Frans Hals Museum – Hof

Haarlem

　　A must for anyone interested in the Dutch Masters, this superb museum is located in the poorhouse where Hals spent his final years. The collection focuses on the 17th-century Haarlem School; its pride and joy are eight group portraits of the Civic Guard that reveal Hals’ exceptional attention to mood...

De Waag

Leeuwarden

　　The petite weighing house dominates Waagplein; butter and other goods were weighed here from 1598 to 1884. 　　The life-sized statue of a Frisian horse on the same square is a popular meeting point (and favourite spot for drunken students scrambling onto the horse's back). ...

Historisch Centrum

Leeuwarden

　　Read up on the town's history at the city archives, home to a permanent exhibition on the history of Leeuwarden. It also organises guided tours led by local Liwwadders, and sells an excellent DIY city-walk book (€7.50) detailing all the main sights. 　　Key exhibits from some of the many temporary...

Obe Paviljoen

Leeuwarden

　　Named after the local Frisian poet Obe Postma (1868–1963), this contemporary wood-and-glass pavilion is razor-sharp in both architectural design and the cultural exhibitions it hosts. Its wave-shaped roof doubles as a public grandstand with a great view of historic square Oldehoofsterkerkhof and the lop-sided Oldehove tower. ...

Natuurmuseum Fryslân

Leeuwarden

　　Let your angels run rampant in this natural history museum, covering Friesland's flora and fauna. Highlights include a virtual bird-flight simulation (strap yourself into the hang-glider harness and away you go) and 'Friesland onder Water', an exploration of the bottom of a canal from a fish's perspective. 　　The museum's sky-lit...

Oldehove

Leeuwarden

　　At the northwest corner of the historic core stands the notoriously off-kilter Oldehove – Friesland's rival to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Things went wrong shortly after the tower was started in 1529 and it never regained its proper posture, nor its intended height. Ride the lift up its 39...

Fries Museum

Leeuwarden

　　The provincial museum occupies an imposing glass-fronted building sporting a striking wood-and-steel roof that projects out over Wilhelminaplein. The three levels are divided into a series of galleries. A good place to start is the Ferhaal fan Fryslân gallery (1st floor), an overview of the province with representative objects from...

Blokhuispoort

Leeuwarden

　　No single sight evokes the undercurrent of explosive creativity pulsating through the Frisian capital quite like this 19th-century prison-turned-cultural centre. Dozens of entrepreneurial start-ups and young businesses now occupy the old cells; artist workshops, tattoo parlours, artisan boutiques and a designer hostel fill cell block H; while trendsetting Proefverlof is...

Keramiek Museum Princessehof

Leeuwarden

　　Pottery lovers will adore the Netherlands ceramics museum. Here you'll find the largest collection of tiles on the planet, an unparalleled selection of Delftware and works from around the globe – the Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese sections are superbly displayed. Watch for top-billing temporary art exhibitions too. 　　It's all atmospherically...

Museum het Valkhof

Nijmegen

　　Changing temporary exhibitions form a substantial part of this regional history museum, at home in a striking glass shoebox-style building by Valkhof Park. Among the museum's rich collection of first-rate Roman artefacts is a column fragment from Nijmegen's Roman foundation, a replica of which doubles as a sundial on the...

De Waagh

Nijmegen

　　Built in 1612 in a Dutch Renaissance style, the ornate red-brick weigh house takes pride of place on Grote Markt. It was here that merchants and traders drove in with their wagons to have their wares weighed and sized before exiting on the market square to sell them. A huge...

Valkhofpark

Nijmegen

　　Perched in a commanding position over the Waal River, the Valkhof is a lovely park and the site of a ruined palace begun by Charlemagne in the 8th century and continued by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa from 1155 (see it in better days in the Jan van Goyen painting at the...

Sint Stevenskerk

Nijmegen

　　From Grote Markt duck beneath the ornate Gothic Kerkboog (1542; Church Arch) – originally with cattle grid and pit beneath to prevent pigs from the market place escaping into the churchyard – to uncover this iconic church. It was built between the 13th and 15th centuries, but heavily bombed during...

muZIEum

Nijmegen

　　On one of Nijmegen's main shopping streets, ride the escalator up to this unusual museum where visitors can experience what it is like (or as close as, at any rate) to be blind or partially sighted. English-language tours are held in absolute darkness and are themed: 'A Day in the...

Grote Markt

Nijmegen

　　Thankfully, Nijmegen's sweeping market square was among the few parts of the old town to survive WWII. Open-air markets are still held here each week on Saturday and Monday, while ornate Dutch Renaissance De Waagh – built in 1612 – is now a popular cafe. In the middle of the...

Nationaal Fietsmuseum Velorama

Nijmegen

　　Down by the riverfront is this museum with more than 250 bicycles: everything from 19th-century wooden contraptions and hand-propelled bikes to an entire room devoted to penny farthings, plus more modern machines. It's a must-see for anyone who has marvelled at the Dutch affinity for two-wheelers. ...

Honigcomplex

Nijmegen

　　No address reflects the city's youthful zest more than this soup factory-turned-entrepreneurial hub, 1.5km west of Grote Markt by the river. Until 2022 the gargantuan industrial space is open to creatives. Among the 140 companies to already move in are coffee roaster Blommers; microbreweries Oersoep and Bloom; Galerie Bart showcasing...

Museum Aan Het Vrijthof

Maastricht

　　Exhibitions in this small museum change every few months but even if the current subject doesn't interest you it's worth popping your head inside. 　　The grand cafe, accessible without entry ticket, straddles a skylit courtyard incorporating the stone loggia of a building known as the Spaans Gouvernement. It was here...

St Janskerk

Maastricht

　　This attractive 17th-century Gothic church has a soaring if relatively unadorned interior and a 43m limestone tower whose deep red hue was originally achieved with coats of ox blood (now just paint). Climbing the tower reveals wide views, well explained by explanatory panels that make for a great introduction to...

Helpoort

Maastricht

　　This rough-cut-stone tower-gateway dating from 1229 dominates the most impressive of several fragmentary sections of medieval city wall. You can look inside but the main charm is snapping a picture of the southern exterior, a red box-window sitting above a tunnel-passage that photogenically frames the lantern-lit old houses of Sint...

Zonneberg Caves

Maastricht

　　This gigantic network of quarry-tunnels date back centuries but are most intriguing for their occasional charcoal murals and the stories linked to their use in WWII as a virtual city for hiding the population during times of bombardment. 　　Check the website for tour times and meet the guide behind the...

Fort St Pieter

Maastricht

　　Set within a deep-cut dry moat, this hefty five-sided brick fort once formed the city's southern defence and is linked to a network of underground tunnels. Dating from 1701, it is sturdily striking more than beautiful and best viewed from the footpaths that loop around it for fine city panoramas....

Maastricht Underground

Maastricht

　　Maastricht Underground runs spooky, amusing and fascinating tours into sections of the vast tunnel network beneath St-Pietersberg massif. Departures run on a constantly shifting schedule, with up to five tours daily in summer, but very few in the off season – check the website. 　　The more popular North Cave tours...

Onze Lieve Vrouwebasiliek

Maastricht

　　Dominating an intimate cafe-filled square, this millennium-old basilica-church is a fabulous example of Mosan architecture, made 'extra authentic' through 1886–1916 restorations led by Pierre Cuypens (of Rijksmuseum fame). Still a deeply spiritual place, you'll usually come in past pilgrims kneeling at the candle-filled medieval shrine to 'Maria Star of the...

St Servaasbasiliek

Maastricht

　　Built above and around the shrine of St Servaas (Servatius), the first bishop of Maastricht, the basilica presents an architectural pastiche whose earliest sections date from AD 1000. Its beautiful curved brick apse and towers dominate the Vrijthof. Tickets include access to the cloister garden and the four-room treasury whose...

Nederlands Stripmuseum

Groningen

　　This museum covers the work of Holland's and Belgium's most renowned comic artists and their creations, including Tintin (here known as Kuifje), Suske & Wiske and, oddly, Donald Duck. 　　In 2020 the museum will move into the newly opened Forum building on Nieuwe Markt. ...

Grote Markt

Groningen

　　The main square holds some gems, of which the Town Hall, dating from 1810, is the most dazzling. The string of cafes along the south side are perpetually buzzing. A 1950s melange that sprang up on the east side following wartime devastation is in the process of being updated, and...

Martinikerk

Groningen

　　This huge 16th-century church commands the northeast corner of Grote Markt. The iconic church and its tower, Martinitoren, are among the few remnants of the Golden Age to survive fierce fighting late in WWII before Groningen's liberation on 17 April 1945. The large square on which it stands, framed with...

Forum Cultural Centre

Groningen

　　Groningen's landmark cultural centre - home to the city's tourist office, library, five cinemas, exhibition spaces, the Nederlands Stripmuseum and a fabulous pavement cafe - will open its doors in 2019. Towering 10 storeys high on Nieuwe Markt, the eye-popping trapezoidal building is downtown's most striking piece of contemporary architecture...

Martinitoren

Groningen

　　A climb up 251 steep and spiralling stone steps to the summit of this elegant, 96m-tall medieval tower (1482) rewards with grand views – and worrisome proximity to its giant bells, which ring every 15 minutes most days. Buy admission tokens at the tourist office across the street. 　　From the...

Noordelijk Scheepvaartmuseum

Groningen

　　This engaging tour of the lives of seamen and the ships they sailed unfolds through the set of buildings that once made up a 16th-century distillery. Going through the labyrinth of 18 rooms is a navigational feat in itself. Highlights include an intricately carved replica of the church at Paramaribo...

Nieuwe Markt

Groningen

　　This dynamic city's most ambitious redevelopment project to date, the gleaming 'New Market' square is slated to become an A-lister hub for alfresco lounging when it finally takes shape in 2019. Its eastern side will be hemmed by the pyramidical hulk of the Forum Cultural Centre, and several cafe terraces,...

Groninger Museum

Groningen

　　Those arriving by train can't help but notice the Groninger Museum. Occupying three islands in the ring canal in front of the station, the museum is, at the very least, a striking structure that will draw an opinion from any observer. Within is a scintillating mix of international artworks from...

Sonnenborgh Museum & Observatory

Utrecht

　　The Sonnenborgh is actually two museums in one: upstairs has an exhibit on the history of astronomy in an 1850 building that was once among the foremost astronomical research sites on earth. Below are the foundations of the much older city-wall bastions on which it was constructed. 　　Big redesign plans...

Miffy Museum

Utrecht

　　Designed to delight young children (age two to six), this bold, touch-everything play-museum celebrates beloved cartoon rabbit Miffy (or Nijntje as she's known in Dutch) plus other related characters designed by local artist Dick Bruna. Limited explanations are in English, Dutch and notably Japanese. Online reservations advised. 　　Note that since...

Centraal Museum

Utrecht

　　More than half the museum's 10 gallery-rooms feature temporary exhibitions (so check the schedules). Meanwhile the core collection takes a thought-provoking if disorientating thematic hopscotch through Utrecht's 2000-year history using the lens of design and counterpointed art. 　　Highlights include surrealist delights by 'Dutch Dali' Johannes Moesman and others, plus the...

Spoorweg Museum

Utrecht

　　Entered through a gloriously restored 1874 station with magnificent art-nouveau chandeliers, the national railway museum offers countless historic locos, a vast collection of model trains and a range of rides and interactive experiences for railway fans of all ages. The superb eye for detail even extends as far as the...

Domtoren

Utrecht

　　Utrecht's most striking medieval landmark, this 112m tower is worth the 465-step climb for unbeatable city views: on a clear day you can see Amsterdam. Visits are by guided tour only, departing at least hourly on the hour. Buy tickets at the tourist office across the square or prebook online...

Museum Catharijneconvent

Utrecht

　　Museum Catharijneconvent has the finest collection of medieval religious art in the Netherlands – virtually the history of Christianity, in fact – housed in a Gothic former convent and an 18th-century canal-side house. Marvel at the many beautiful illuminated manuscripts, look for the odd Rembrandt and enjoy the wide-ranging scope...

Dom Under

Utrecht

　　Talented volunteer guides and fascinating educational films with CGI effects set the historical scene. Then it's your turn to become an amateur archaeologist as you're let loose in the subterranean half-dark beneath Domplein with your finger on the trigger of a smart-torch audio-gun. Finding clue-targets, you unravel the meaning of...

Rietveld-Schröderhuis

Utrecht

　　Years ahead of its time, this small but uniquely conceived house was built in 1924 by celebrated Utrecht designer Gerrit Rietveld. He'd be amazed to find that it's now a Unesco-recognised monument. Visiting feels like walking into a 3D Piet Mondrian abstract, and things get especially interesting when the walls...

Madurodam

Den Haag

　　A miniaturised Netherlands, this theme park sports 1:25 scale versions of Schiphol, Amsterdam, windmills and tulips, Rotterdam harbour, the Delta dykes and more. It's an enlightening example of the Dutch tendency to put their world under a microscope. Kids love it. 　　Museumkaarts are not accepted. You'll save €2 on entry...