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Stedelijk Museum
The Stedelijk Museums collection of oil paintings by Dutch Masters, including impressive life-sized portraits of Alkmaar nobles, is alone worth the entry fee. Other works show the city in post–Golden Age decline; sombre scenes of almswomen caring for the poor recall how the churchs
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Heineken Experience
On the site of the company’s old brewery, the crowning glory of this self-guided Experience (samples aside) is a multimedia exhibit where you ‘become’ a beer by getting shaken up, sprayed with water and subjected to heat. True beer connoisseurs will shudder, but its a lot of fun. A
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Onze Lieve Vrouwe
People from Zwolle say they know theyre home when they see the Onze Lieve Vrouwetoren (also known as the Peperbus , or Peppermill), the huge former church that dominates the skyline. From atop the tower (234 steps!) you can appreciate the Museum De Fundaties strange new appendage.
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Jheronimus Bosch Art Center
The extraordinary Jheronimus Bosch Art Center re-creates all of Heironymus Boschs works and uses interactive exhibits to explore his work and life. Housed in an old church, it even has a modest thrill ride: an elevator takes you up 40m for a view over the town. This remarkable priv
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Van Gogh Museum
Framed by a gleaming new glass entrance hall, the worlds largest Van Gogh collection offers a superb line-up of masterworks. Trace the artists life from his tentative start through his giddy-coloured sunflower phase, and on to the black cloud that descended over him and his work. T
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Noordelijk Scheepvaartmuseum
This engaging tour of the lives of seamen and the ships they sailed unfolds through the set of buildings that once comprised a 16th-century distillery. Going through the labyrinth of 18 rooms is a navigational feat in itself. Highlights include an intricately carved replica of the
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Albert Cuypmarkt
The best place to marvel at De Pijps colourful scene is the Albert Cuypmarkt, Amsterdams largest and busiest market. Vendors loudly tout their odd gadgets and their arrays of fruit, vegetables, herbs and spices. They sell clothes and other general goods too, often cheaper than anyw
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Hermitage Amsterdam
The long-standing ties of Russia and the Netherlands – Czar Peter the Great learned shipbuilding here in 1697 – led to this local branch of St Petersburg’s State Hermitage Museum. Blockbuster temporary exhibitions, such as treasures from the Russian palace or masterworks by Matisse
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Ark van Noach
This astonishing 20,000-sq-metre ark was hand-built to biblical measurements (30m wide, 23m high, 135m long) by Johan Huibers, following his 1992 dream of the ocean flooding the Netherlands. After trialling a smaller prototype, Huibers completed the football-field-size watercraft i
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Vondelpark
The lush urban idyll of the Vondelpark is one of Amsterdams most magical places – sprawling, English-style gardens, with ponds, lawns, footbridges and winding footpaths. On a sunny day, an open-air party atmosphere ensues when tourists, lovers, cyclists, in-line skaters, pram-pushi
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Vermeer Centrum Delft
As the place where Vermeer was born, lived, and worked, Delft is ‘Vermeer Central’ to many art-history and old-masters enthusiasts. Along with viewing life-sized images of Vermeer’s oeuvre, you can tour a replica of Vermeer’s studio, which reveals the way the artist approached the
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Museum het Rembrandthuis
You almost expect to find the master himself at the Museum het Rembrandthuis, where Rembrandt van Rijn ran the Netherlands’ largest painting studio, only to lose the lot when profligacy set in, enemies swooped and bankruptcy came a-knocking. The museum has scores of etchings and sk
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Domtoren
A remnant of Utrechts original 14th-century cathedral , this tower is 112m high, with 50 bells. Its worth the 465-step climb to the top for unbeatable city views; on a clear day you can see Amsterdam. Visit is by guided tour only, departing on the hour. Tickets can be purchased onl
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Keukenhof Gardens
One of the Netherlands’ top attractions, Keukenhof, 1km west of Lisse, is the world’s largest bulb-flower garden. It attracts nearly 800,000 visitors during its eight-week season, which is almost as short-lived as the blooms on the millions of multicoloured tulips, daffodils and hy
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St Janskathedraal
One of the finest churches in the Netherlands, the cathedral took from 1336 to 1550 to complete. The interior has late-Gothic stained-glass windows, an organ case from the 17th century and an impressive statue of the Madonna, which in May is the focus of pilgrimages. Take the oppor
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Fries Museum
The provincial museum occupies an imposing glass-fronted building sporting a striking wood-and-steel roof that projects out over Wilhelminaplein. The three levels are divided into a series of galleries. A good place to start is the Ferhaal fan Fryslân gallery (first floor), an over
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Museum Willet
Built around 1685 for Amsterdam mayor Jacob Hop and redesigned in 1739, this sumptuous residence, now managed by the Amsterdam Museum, is named after the widow who bequeathed the property to the city in 1895. Highlights include paintings by Jacob de Wit, the place de milieu (centre
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Binnenhof
The Binnenhofs central courtyard (once used for executions) is surrounded by parliamentary buildings. The splendid 17th-century North Wing is still home to the Upper Chamber of the Dutch Parliament . The Lower Chamber formerly met in the ballroom, in the 19th-century wing; it now m
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Kaap Skil Museum Van Jutters & Zeelui
A stunning new slatted-timber-encased reception building made from recycled materials frames the superb Maritime and Beachcombers Museum. Its extraordinary variety of flotsam and jetsam recovered from sunken ships and the shore is mind-boggling. Demonstrations by rope-makers, fish-
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Anne Frank Huis
The Anne Frank Huis draws almost one million visitors annually (prepurchase tickets online to minimise the queues). With its reconstruction of Anne’s melancholy bedroom and her actual diary – sitting alone in its glass case, filled with sunnily optimistic writing tempered by quiet
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