Netherlands Weather and geography
Netherlands is a land of colourful tulip fields
and canals, sophisticated cities and some of the
most striking coastline in Northern Europe. It
punches well above its weight culturally,
laying claim to the likes of Van Gogh,
Rembrandt and Mondrian, amongst others.
Dutch culture
Religion in Netherlands: 24% Roman
Catholic, 6.7% Dutch Reformed Church, 6%
Calvinist, 4.9% Muslim, 42% other religions
or none.
Social conventions: The Dutch are a tolerant
breed and there is little you can do or say to
ruffle them. It is customary to shake hands
when seeing someone you know or when
being introduced to someone; women and men
or women and women may kiss each other on
alternating cheeks three times.
Best time to visit: There is never a bad time to
visit the Netherlands, which has a moderate
climate with warm summers (average
19°C/66°F) and relatively mild winters
(average 3°C/37°F). That said, mid-April to
mid-October is probably the best time to go,
although coastal resorts and big cities like
Amsterdam do get busy during the summer
holidays (July-August) - higher prices reflect
the increased demand. To see the country’s
famed bulb fields burst with colours, plan a
trip to the Netherlands between mid-April and
mid-May.
Language: Dutch is the official
language. Frisian is spoken in the northern
province of Friesland. English, German
and French are widely spoken.
WELCOME TO
NETHERLANDS
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Armsterdam: Holland's emblematic capital
brims with romance, culture and kicks. Take a
candlelit cruise along the canals, lined with
narrow-fronted buildings dating from the city's
heyday as a trading centre, browse the paintings
of the Dutch masters at the Rijksmuseum or
join the punters prowling the alleyways of the
Red Light District.

Anne Frank House

Van Gogh Museum
Opened in 1973, the Van Gogh Museum has the
largest collection of works by Vincent Van
Gogh in the world.
The historic house where teenager Anne Frank,
her family and four other Jews hid from the
Nazis during World War II is today a
permanent exhibition dedicated to her memory.
In August 1944, they were betrayed to the
Germans. Anne died at the Bergen-Belsen
concentration camp; however her father
survived and published her diary, which is on
display here.
Cheese Markets
Enjoy the spectacle of one of Holland's cheese
markets. The best are Waagplein, in Alkmaar,
where every Friday from mid-April to mid-
September, thousands of wheels of cheese are
lined up in rows by the central weighing house.

This includes 200 paintings, 500+ drawings and

750 letters, as well as pieces by contemporaries
and influences like Rodin, Monet, Signac,
Toulouse-Lautrec, Manet and Gauguin.

Rent a Bicycle
Rent a bicycle and join the Dutch on the
country's most popular form of transport. There
are around 29,000km (18,019 miles) of
designated cycle tracks around.