Around The Netherlands In 2 Weeks
It was the summer of 2018 when my friend and I decided to go to the Netherlands. I’ll tell you what I still remember very vividly.
Even before the trip, we planned an approximate budget and the places we wanted to visit. In the beginning, we thought that we would live in different cities, but then, looking at the insignificant distances between them, we realized that we would spend much less time and money living in the capital - Amsterdam.
Amsterdam is a beautiful city of small colorful houses. Living in the center is quite expensive, so we chose a hotel in one of the areas near the center. And never regretted!
The hotel was called Hotel2Stay. It was small, comfortable and very clean. Most of all we liked that everything that we needed - shops, transport was nearby. We lived in the place «teleport» and we could get from there to different places of the city and even of the country. Therefore, whenever we decided to go to another city - it was enough to walk 5 minutes to the station.
In addition to the obvious attractions, in Amsterdam I most remember the small tents with the most delicious and thick fries, and how we swung at a height of 100 meters in the Adam Lookout and also various museums. If you go to Amsterdam, then I advise you in the first days to ride a boat along the canals of the city. As a rule, these are very useful excursions to get acquainted with the city, and in fact you will see Amsterdam as it is.
Somewhere on the third day, having already received the first impressions of Amsterdam, we went to one of the villages next to it - Zaanse Schans. All villages in the Netherlands are similar, therefore, for the first acquaintance - you should visit at least one of them. Zaanse Schans is a very green place with large mills, it is also a very small place - literally 1-2 streets. There we tried many different types of real Dutch cheese and mustard. It was delicious!
Next time we went to Leiden. Not much that can be distinguished in this city, except for a huge museum - the Corps. This museum was made in the shape of a man, and inside it we walked on a human body! The city itself is small, but it’s no longer a village. There were stables and many houses, fenced in green areas.
Rotterdam. Many people may know it as one of the very modern cities. It is really very comfortable to be in Rotterdam - everything is neat, well-groomed, modern. At the same time, there is a port and completely different design buildings. It is also a working city. Many people travel to work from Amsterdam to Rotterdam.
And finally Efteling. This is not a city - this is an amusement park, and the oldest in Europe - appeared back in the 50s. Katsgefele - the city in which it is located, is completely unremarkable in itself - an ordinary city in the Netherlands. But I advise you to visit the park if you a lover of fabulous places. The rides there were ordinary, not of any adrenaline, but in terms of scenery this place is comparable to Disneyland. There was a whole small forest where you could see how fairy-tale characters live.
So, the Netherlands is definitely worth seeing. The whole country resembles one neat puppet city with very friendly people. Pack your luggage!
Text by
Olga Kudryavtseva