TOURIST ATTRACTIONS IN THE NETHERLANDS
The Netherlands, known as the land of tulips, windmills and water canals. A beautiful and rich country, where the number of bicycles is 2 times higher than the number of cars (18 million). The Netherlands is visited annually by more than 20 million tourists. What tourist attractions can you visit in the Netherlands? This blog will highlight some of the museums that can be visited in the Netherlands.
ANNE FRANK HOUSE
This is one of the top attractions in the Netherlands. It is located in Amsterdam and it is a museum with a story. During World War II, Anne Frank, her family and 4 other people hid in secret rooms in the back building of the Amsterdam canal house. Anne Frank, aged 13, wrote a diary, famous throughout the world, in which she offers an emotional glimpse of her life as a Jew during the Nazi occupation. She did not survive the war, but her diary was published in 1947.
As a visitor, you experience this story through quotes, photos, videos and original objects. In the museum you can see where they hid, there is an exhibition about her life and an exhibition space dedicated to all forms of persecution and discrimination. The museum is on the 3rd place of the most visited museums in the Netherlands.
VAN GOGH MUSEUM
Van Gogh’s museum is the most visited museum in the Netherlands and ranks 23rd in the list of the most visited museums in the world. The museum contains the largest collection of Van Gogh’s paintings and drawings in the world. Apart from seeing Vincent van Gogh’s masterpieces you can also discover the ideas and ambitions behind his art and read about his life since he was a child.
RIJKSMUSEUM
The Rijksmuseum is one of the most famous museums in the world, with approximately one million objects. It covers over 800 years of Dutch art and history. You can visit it in Amsterdam. It is so big that you cannot visit it in one day. What is recommended to see?
The Great Hall (De Voorhall in Dutch)
This is probably one of the most beautiful galleries in the museum, an enormous space with an inlaid mosaic floor, walls full of painted scenes and stained-glass windows celebrating Dutch art and history. The ceiling is an elaborately decorated vaulted ceiling.
Gallery of Honor
In the Galery of Honor you can find a collection of the most famous Dutch paintings from the Golden Age, including the work of Rembrandt and Vermeer. The semicircular walls depict the coats of arms of the eleven Dutch provinces and their capitals.
Still life paintings (stillleven in Dutch)
These 17th century paintings depict daily life in Amsterdam during the Golden Age. The style of the paintings is realism, looking almost like photographs. They contain typical Dutch food such as cheese, pie or more luxurious food such as oysters. These paintings also illustrate the way of eating in the 17th century. On many tables only a knife is visible. At that time, cutlery was very expensive and often custom made. People brought their own cutlery if they were invited to dinner. At that time, the cutlery referred to knives that were used to cut food, which they ate with their hands.
The Night Watch
This painting is the most famous painting in the whole museum. It is Rembrandt’s largest and most famous masterpiece. He worked for 3 years on this painting full of portraits of people from the civil guard of Amsterdam. The way he uses light to emphasize certain details is unprecedented.
Dollhouses
The museum has 3 dollhouses that illustrate in detail how rich people’s houses were furnished in the 17th century. At that time, dollhouses were not toys but a rather expensive hobby for women.
The most famous is Petronella Oortman’s dollhouse. All the pieces are an exact replica of her house, down to the miniature china. This dollhouse cost as much as a real house on the canals of Amsterdam.
The second house, the miniature house of Petronella Dunois, contains a large amount of miniature silver and the 3rd dollhouse, made a century later, is a model of a real house, seen from the outside.
ZAANSE SCHANS
Zaanse Schans is an area where you can see authentic houses, windmills, a tin factory, a cheese and dairy farm and other Dutch crafts from the 17th and 18th centuries. The buildings are in the old style both outside and inside.
In the 17th century, over 600 windmills were built in that area. They were used to produce various products such as paint, spices and wooden planks. Some mills still exist today and can be seen from the outside but also from the inside, where you can see how they work.
You can also visit museums such as a grocery store, a collection of special clocks, a 20th century chocolate factory, old clothes, utensils and paintings, a 19th century merchant’s house and much more.
BODY WORLDS
Body Worlds is a fascinating exhibition of 200 real plastinated human bodies that teach you everything you want to know about the anatomy of the human body. Body Worlds also explores through The Happiness Project how health influences our happiness and vice versa.
The plastination process was invented at the University of Heidelberg in 1977 by Dr. Gunther von Hagens. Plastination is the process by which real human bodies are preserved for scientific research and medical education.
MADURODAM
Among the popular tourist attractions in the Netherlands is the Madurodam, a miniature Dutch city in The Hague on a scale of 1 to 25. It contains over 700 models of buildings from different regions of the Netherlands that represent the Dutch society.
You can admire the interior of historic cities, ports, canals, roads, an airport, agricultural areas, residential areas, national reserves and more. Some parts provide auditory information about the things shown and many of the means of transport (cars, planes, boats, trams and trains) are in motion.
MADAME TUSSAUDS AMSTERDAM
Another tourist attraction that you can visit in Amsterdam is the Madame Tussauds museum. It offers an interactive and fun experience with realistic wax figures of famous people past and present. You can take pictures with the figurines and learn more about their lives.
The figurines are created in London and their creation takes between 6 and 12 months. They are created from fiberglass filled plaster for strength and wax and have real hair that is applied thread by thread.
THE HEINEKEN EXPERIENCE
The Heineken Experience is located in Amsterdam, in the first Heineken brewery that was closed in 1988. It has been transformed into a tourist attraction that attracts people from all over the world who want to know more about the Heineken phenomenon. How did a beer made in a small brewery in Amsterdam become one of the most popular and well-known beers in the world?
In a one and half hour tour you can learn more about the brewing process, innovations and sponsorship. The tour ends with a Heineken beer of course. The location can also be rented for various work events or parties.
CONCLUSION
If you like to learn new things about the past and present, the museums of the Netherlands are sure to delight you. Famous paintings, miniature cities, breweries, dollhouses, windmills, authentic 17th and 18th century houses, real plastinated human bodies, await you to grab your attention and develop your knowledge of Dutch history.
If you are interested in more than just visiting the Netherlands, you can apply for one of our jobs and make the Netherlands your new home.
