I recently ordered the travel guide "Europe on a shoestring" Lonely Planet because I wanted to get some ideas for weekend trips. I thought of it as a shame that I visited a lot of the places described in it already, but actually it is great. I get super excited every time they mention a landmark or restaurant I actually visited. It's very interesting to read about the places you have been. But it is especially funny when you are reading about the countries you lived in. So let's see what Lonely Planet has to say about the Netherlands.
Why go?
LP says you should visit the Netherlands because of the art of famous painters such as Rembrandt and Van Gogh, tulips and windmills, 17th century towns such as Leiden and Delft, the nightlife in Amsterdam, the bikes, the friendly and funny people and the exquisite cities. The also call it a "big small country".
I wouldn't say Leiden and Delft are towns (both have around 100.000 citizens so it's not thát small) and that this whole windmill thing is so over-hyped (really, there are a million things to see that are so much better). But it does sum up some good points.
When go?
According to LP:
March-May: If you want to see a gazillion flowers.
July: For long summer days to cycle and have drinks outside on the terrace.
Dec-Feb: For ice skating on the canals.
I want to add that you are also welcome in June, August, September, October and November. And that with all this global warming ice skating on the canals is usually not safe (unless you wish t visit a Dutch hospital as well) since the ice doesn't get thick enough.
Set your budget
Especially mentioned are:
Heineken: 3 euro
Bicycle hire: 10 euro per day
Please don't combine the two unless you are an experiences user of both.
Essential food and drinks
Vlaamse frites
Beer
Gouda
Indonesian food
Erwtensoep
Kroketten
Country highlights
Amsterdam: Red light district, Anne Frank huis, Begijnhof, Vondelpark, Van Gogh museum, Heineken experience, Zaanse schans, de Jordaan and the Albert Cuypmarkt.
Keukenhof gardens.
The windmills of Kinderdijk.
Rotterdam
Utrecht
Texel
Maastricht
Understand the Netherlands
Dutch people consume almost 17kg of cheese per person per year (Yes, we (heart) cheese.)
Seafood (especially herring and kibbeling) is very popular.
Coffee shops. The place where you are allowed to smoke weed, but smoking a regular cigarette is forbidden. You can choose from a whole menu of different kinds of weed and you can also eat space brownies etc. LP even has a 'coffee shop do and don't' list.
Deep friend snacks are available around the clock. You an even buy fast food out of the wall. It like big vending machine with hot foods, but then it has many separate small glass doors that you can open my inserting a coin in the machine. When I read about this I started realizing this might really be a Dutch thing but I never thought of that before.
According to LP, our beer is "topped by a big head of froth". Yes, compared to beers in the UK it is. But not just a big head. This head has to be exactly to fingers wide. And yes people really mind if it is not and beers will be returned for this reason.
There is the Dutch concept of 'gezelligheid' (ok, they misspelled it as 'gezelligheld', but his word doesn't mean anything in Dutch), translated by LP as: 'combines cosy, fun and quaint with an overlay of familiarity and good cheer.'
Buying a train ticket in the Netherlands is a real challenge. And I have to agree here. Every time I visit he country something has changed again. I can understand the new electronic public transport system can be confusing for tourists.
There is more than 20.000km of cycling paths in the country which makes it the most bike-friendly place on earth. (FYI, we have more bikes than people).
Of course this as just a small extract since it came from a guide about an entire continent. I am curious about the complete guide about the Netherlands!
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