Belgium&Holland

Top Five

Netherland
The Netherlands really is a land of windmills, tulips, and canals, while being a progressive 21st-century nation. The capital, Amsterdam, is famous for its waterways and its laid-back atmosphere. The Hague is home to the queen and a center for international diplomacy. And Delft and Haarlem are smaller, character-rich cities.

Amsterdam
You need to carefully plan your Amsterdam itinerary and trip timing.
Drawing over 20 million tourists a year, it is no secret that Amsterdam is saturated with cultural delights. The city’s most acclaimed attractions, like the Van Gogh Museum and Anne Frank House, are notoriously crowded during peak seasons and hours. To avoid long waits and enjoy a more intimate experience, consider visiting early in the morning or late in the afternoon. And, like much of Europe, avoid travel in the height of the summer, if possible.
 
Do as the Dutch do and ride a bicycle.
Amsterdam’s seamless melding of history, culture, and modernity should be explored sans motor. That’s right: the best way to get around this pulsating capital is by the strength generated by your calves. After all, a labyrinth of metropolitan-friendly bike paths snakes through the city, beckoning locals and tourists alike to pedal aside picturesque canals and cafes. And while driving a car in Amsterdam isn’t entirely discouraged, the scarce parking availability, congestion, and traffic make utilizing Amsterdam’s cycle-friendly infrastructure a no-brainer.
 
There’s more than stroopwafel and Gouda in Amsterdam.
Despite its hardened stereotypes, Amsterdam’s gastronomy scene is more than stroopwafel and Gouda cheese. When visiting, prepare for a sensory symphony, as the city’s diverse culinary tapestry provides a compelling fusion of global and local flavors. Whether exploring the bustling food markets or treating yourself to one of the city’s Michelin-rated restaurants, Amsterdam is constantly reimagining–and reinvigorating–classic takes on flavors.  
Rotterdam 
Rotterdam looks to the future like almost nowhere else. The decision to leave the past behind wasn’t made entirely through choice however—the old town disappeared overnight on May 14, 1940, when Nazi bombs devastated an area greater than one square mile, sweeping away more than 36,000 buildings in just a few torrid hours.
 
Since then, a new landscape of concrete, steel, and glass has risen like a phoenix from the ashes, and today this world port is home to some of the 21st century’s most architecturally important creations. The city skyline—especially in the areas around the station and by the Maas on the Kop van Zuid development—is constantly changing, and as each year passes it lives up more and more to its billing as “Manhattan-on-the-Maas.” Many of the new buildings are commissioned from top-drawer contemporary architects like Rem Koolhaas and Sir Norman Foster, and each has a striking identity.
 
That isn’t to say the city is all glass and steel however. Areas such as historic Delfshaven—where the pilgrim fathers set sail for the New World aboard the Speedwell in 1620—escaped the worst effects of the war, and still retain their old character and charm. And in between old and new, Het Park (The Park), large and leafy, has a maze of paths weaving between small lakes and ponds to provide cool shade in summer and a welcome break from the urban sprawl at any time of year. As if that wasn’t enough reason to visit, Rotterdam also boasts some of the country’s best museums and top shopping opportunities.
Thanks to its location on the deltas of the Rhine and Maas rivers, Rotterdam has become the world’s largest seaport. More tons of shipping than through all of France combined pass through its harbors and the enormous Europoort. The rapid expansion of the port in the postwar years created a huge demand for labor, bringing waves of migrants and turning Rotterdam into one of the most ethnically diverse cities in Europe.
 
 

Belgium 
Belgium has attractions out of proportion to its diminutive size. From medieval cities and abbeys where the monks run their own breweries to forested hills and famous World War I and II battlegrounds for contemplation and remembrance, it’s a little country that packs a big punch.

Brussels 
Brussels’s vibrant, cosmopolitan atmosphere and multicultural beat make it much more than simply the administrative hub of Europe. The city was home to a number of greats, including Victor Horta, Jacques Brel, René Magritte, Georges Remi (better known as Hergé, creator of Tintin), and a whole host of other famous people you thought were French. It brims with museums that celebrate its famous sons and daughters. But for all its world-class restaurants, architecture, and art, the city keeps a relatively low profile; that means that you’ll still have plenty of breathing room to relish its landmarks, cobbled streets, and beautiful parks.

With around a million inhabitants, Brussels is arguably the only place in Belgium that really deserves the title of city in the truest global sense. And it has the grand boulevards and palaces one would expect from a European capital. In terms of sheer size, Antwerp is the closest thing to a rival that Brussels has, although the two differ greatly in character. While Belgium’s capital draws in tourists galore to gape at its grand squares and Art Deco buildings, its sister city remains more of a shopping destination, littered with high-fashion boutiques and enough diamond stores to bankrupt even the most prudent of billionaires. Although, some would argue that while Brussels has all the sights, Antwerp is where the cool kids go.

In terms of history, Bruges and Ghent are both beautiful ancient towns whose heritage has been well preserved through the ages. On a more manageable scale than their larger cousins, you’ll find quaint cobbled streets, medieval monuments, and even more great dining options. Their beauty is no secret though, so you’re unlikely to be visiting alone. Ghent, and particularly Bruges, can get exceedingly crowded during the summer months, but even then there are quieter corners and it’s fairly easy to give the masses the slip. The weather may be fickle in the quieter, colder seasons, but the crowds are a lot thinner; it’s then that you can feel the rhythm of life as it was many centuries ago.

Brussels is the bilingual capital that delights in contradiction. Its streets are signed in French and Dutch (to everyone’s confusion); its most iconic landmark is a tiny statue of a boy urinating (the Mannekin Pis), which symbolizes not just its people’s attitude to authority but their enduring deadpan humor; and it simultaneously boasts some of the grandest and ugliest architecture in Europe. This is the city that inspired one of the finest architects of the Art Nouveau movement, Victor Horta, as well as an endless series of “Brussels’s Ugliest Buildings” blogs. Dig a little deeper, though, and you’ll find not contradictions but context: a rich history that stretches back long before World War II devastated much of the capital, prompting rampant postwar redevelopment.

Brussels has a reputation for being “boring”—a rather tired cliché that stems from its being the main home of the European Union—but it’s a vibrant, multiethnic metropolis. One-third of its population are non-Belgians, and its hip Congolese Matonge quarter and North African Marolles flea market are now as much a fixture on the city’s tourist trail as its iconic Grand’Place.

And then there’s the nightlife. The beer-frazzled masses will find no complaint in Brussels’s myriad city-center bars, while the cafés of the St-Gilles area have become a Mecca for local hipsters. It has soul, too. This is, after all, the birthplace of artists ranging from the Surrealist René Magritte to Tintin-creator Hergé, and in recent years a number of impressive art museums have opened, with more said to be on the way.
Brussels is unpredictable, but therein lies its appeal. The city’s mishmash of ideas and images can seem a little slapdash at first glance, but from it comes a sense of urgency. It’s this mix of grand and quirky, old and new, rich and poor, together with some of the most beautiful buildings in Europe, that makes it perfect for just wandering. And in doing so, it’s hard not to fall in love.

Bruges and the Coast
Bruges is a city that could have sprung from the pages of a Gothic fairy tale. Its cobbled streets, spidery canals, and medieval churches are remarkably well preserved, having been spared the devastation that saw much of Belgium leveled during the 20th-century wars. The secret got out years ago, though, and avoiding weekends and high season is often the only way to skirt the crowds that flood its many boutique hotels.

Indeed, tourism has long been the principal industry here, and preservation orders and strict bylaws ensure that the center looks much as it did during its medieval pomp (how the modern—and modern-looking—Concertgebouw Bruges concert venue on ‘t Zand got planning permission is still a matter of heated debate).

Today, the center is encircled by a ring road that loosely follows the line of the city’s medieval ramparts. The ancient gates—Smedenpoort, Ezelpoort, Kruispoort, and Gentpoort—still stand along this route, and due to the city’s size, all of its best sights, such as the impressive basilica or the Groeningemuseum, home to some of the finest paintings by Belgium’s famed Flemish Primitive artists, can easily be reached on foot.

In modern times, Bruges has developed a reputation for culinary indulgence. More than 50 chocolate shops cram its narrow streets; there’s even a museum dedicated to the history of cacao, while local artisans such as The Chocolate Line’s Dominique Persoone have gained international recognition. At the time of writing, Bruges also boasted as many three-starred Michelin restaurants as London. True, prices tend to be on the high side, but there are literally hundreds of places to dine, with some excellent seafood and traditional Belgian cuisine to be found across the city.

For many, though, beer is the main draw, with a number of Bruges’s bars and estaminets considered among the finest around by connoisseurs. The city once housed nearly 60 breweries in its heyday, though today only a few remain–-look out for local Fort Lapin, Straffe Hendrik, and Brugse Zot beers. For other beer-related activities, head to the Bruges Beer Museum or for a brewery tour at De Halve Maan

In truth, though, little changes in Bruges. It’s a city that has been both liberated and constricted by its tourist appeal, and, like its famed chocolate, it is best sampled in small doses—preferably one or two nights at the most. However, when the day-trippers head home and the shadows draw in, the wonderfully eerie, Gothic charm of this remarkable city emerges. To stroll its cobbled byways is to be transported back in time, and while you’ll never have them all to yourself during the day, it really is one of the most atmospheric places in Europe.

Although it’s often called Bruges (its French name) in many guidebooks (like this one) and by English-speakers, the city’s official Flemish name is indeed Brugge (bruhg-guh), the spelling you’ll see and hear most often while exploring the city.

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