Take it from a born-and-raised Dutchman: There are plenty of places to visit in the Netherlands that aren’t Amsterdam. If you stick to just the capital city, you’re only scratching the surface of this small-but-mighty country.
Look beyond Amsterdam’s tourist-thronged canal belt, and you’ll find plenty of villages plucked straight out of a classic painting by one of the Old Masters—windmills, tulips, swirling waterways, and all. There are sprawling national parks brimming with birdlife and criss-crossed with cycling trails, while envelope-pushing cities like Eindhoven and Rotterdam show that the country is a creative powerhouse too.
The best part? The national train network reaches all corners of the country, and its relatively small size puts even the most far-flung places within a day-trip distance from Amsterdam. Below, 18 places to visit in the Netherlands that aren’t Amsterdam—from frozen-in-time villages to museum-packed cities—to consider adding to your itinerary.
This gallery has been updated with new information since its original publish date. Additional reporting by Katherine LaGrave and Caitlin Morton.
