Overloads

It is home to more bicycles than people, it provides over 75% of the world’s flower bulbs, it produces annually some 6 million souvenir clogs (Crocs of centuries past, as I call them) but first things first: most of us use Netherlands and Holland interchangeably but that is not correct. The country as a whole is called Netherlands, and encompasses twelve provinces, of which two make up Holland, an area that includes some of the most important cities in the country, such as Amsterdam, Haarlem, Rotterdam and The Hague. The name of the country could be roughly translated as “Low Lands”, and low it is: nearly a third of the country is below sea level and the highest point is only 1,059 ft (323 m) high. No wonder they go everywhere by bike.

When you think of the Netherlands, you inevitably think of windmills and tulips. Me, I always wanted to see endless tulip fields dotted with windmills and that is why I decided to go this past April. But the dumbo here forgot to check when tulips are harvested so when I got there, only a few fields still had blooms. But that didn’t stop me from seeing tulips: they abound in Keukenhof, a 79-acre garden located in Lisse, where more than 7 million (!) bulbs are planted every year. The average visitor spends 5 hours there…I spent 10.5 hr, in a tulip overdose that had me seeing more flowers in one day than I had seen in my entire life. I didn’t get my dream windmill & tulip field photo but it was a fantastic day, and I have a good excuse to go back. Advice if you want to visit: Keukenhof is extremely popular and tour buses arrive as early as 9 am. Go after 3 pm when buses start to leave.

No other place in the Netherlands is as popular as Amsterdam which lures visitors with its romantic canals, world-class museums, and tolerance. The city receives over 19 million visitors per year, more than the entire population of the country. Is it overwhelming? Yes, and some places have started to tackle the problem: the Anne Frank House, for instance, now only sells tickets online for specific time slots. I experienced the tourist overload firsthand when I tried to visit the Rijksmuseum first thing in the morning, only to find out that there were already no less than three tour buses at the entrance. But it is possible to find less crowded experiences: explore Joordan instead of Damrak; go to an out of the way street market and have a real stroopwafel instead of the diabetes-inducing ones sold at tourist spots. Do that and I promise that, at times, you will feel like Amsterdam is all yours.