North Holland, Netherlands

State guide with cities, regions, and key information.

NetherlandsEurope
Introduction
North Holland (Noord-Holland) is the province of Amsterdam — but reducing it to its capital misses most of what it offers. The peninsula between the North Sea and the IJsselmeer packs windmill villages, cheese towns, former Zuiderzee harbours, wide dune reserves and a Wadden Sea island into a territory where nothing is more than ninety minutes from Amsterdam Centraal. This is the landscape that built the Dutch 17th century: Haarlem's old masters, the Zaan district's early industrial windmills, the merchant harbours of Hoorn and Enkhuizen, and the polders — including the Beemster, a UNESCO-listed reclaimed lake from 1612 — that turned water into farmland. For travellers it is the easiest province in the country to explore by train and bike, with Amsterdam as the hub.

Discover North Holland

Haarlem sits fifteen minutes from Amsterdam by train and delivers much of the same Golden Age beauty at half the pace: the Grote Markt dominated by the Grote Kerk of St Bavo (whose Müller organ a teenage Mozart played), the Frans Hals Museum with the world's best collection of the city's great portraitist, the Teylers Museum — the country's oldest museum, its oval room unchanged since 1784 — and more hofjes almshouse courtyards than any other Dutch city. The Jopenkerk brewery pours the city's revived medieval beer recipes inside a converted church, and the Saturday market on the Grote Markt remains one of the country's best. Zandvoort's beach is ten minutes further down the same rail line — Haarlem makes an excellent base for both city and coast.

Travel Types

Amsterdam and Haarlem

The capital's canal ring and museums, and Haarlem's old-master alternative fifteen minutes away.

Windmills and Industrial Heritage

The working mills of the Zaanse Schans, the Schermerhorn museum mills and the UNESCO Beemster polder grid.

Cheese Markets and Villages

Alkmaar's Friday cheese market, Edam's summer Wednesdays, and the Waterland villages of Marken, Volendam and Broek.

Zuiderzee Harbours

Hoorn and Enkhuizen's merchant-fleet harbours and the Zuiderzeemuseum's rebuilt fishing village.

Dunes and Beach Resorts

Zandvoort and Bloemendaal beaches, the bison-grazed dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland and the artists' village of Bergen.

Texel and the Wadden Sea

Ferry from Den Helder to the largest Wadden island — seals, bird migrations, lighthouse beaches and island cycling.

Frequently asked questions

More than most visitors expect: Haarlem's old-master museums and hofjes (15 minutes away), the working windmills of the Zaanse Schans, the Waterland villages of Marken, Volendam and Edam, Alkmaar's traditional cheese market, the former Zuiderzee harbours of Hoorn and Enkhuizen, the beach at Zandvoort and the Wadden island of Texel. Everything except Texel works as a half-day from the city.

On Friday mornings from spring to late September, on the Waagplein — the white-clad carrier guilds have trotted the cheese wheels across the square on wooden barrows since 1593. Come well before the official start to get a front-row spot. Edam runs a smaller, gentler version on Wednesday mornings in high summer.

The site itself is free and open year round — you can walk the dyke past the windmills and wooden houses at no charge. The individual mills, the small museums and workshops charge their own modest entry fees. Arrive before ten or after four in summer; midday brings the coach crowds.

Cities in North Holland

1 city with detailed travel information

Amsterdam