Travel tips & recommendations.
Travel Tips, Tricks & Accommodations
Of course our wedding is taking place in Veghel (which is in the South of the country). However, for those of you travelling we recommend doing the typical tourist thing and coming to the South for the wedding. We will get you to the wedding from Amsterdam, so no worries there (information on this on the wedding page). However since you are coming such a long way and we can’t unfortunately play tour guide as much as we would love to during your stay, we thought we would put everything we love & recommend here to help you on your journey.
In the Netherlands there is an area called ‘‘The Randstad’’ this basically is the giant circle area in the country where all the main cities are located. Our country (compared to Canada) is so small, that as long as you are within the Randstad, you can’t go wrong. This is the area between all major cities, Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam, Utrecht, etc. We will highlight our 3 favourites but of course the others are options too. If you want to hit up any of the others, let us know and we can tell you what we know to help you along.
City Recommendations
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Amsterdam
You can't go all the way to The Netherlands and not visit Amsterdam. I assume this is where most of you will end up staying, here are some recommendations of my favourite tourist spots, restaurants and suggestions of places to sleep.
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Haarlem
This is where Erwin and I live, we are a quick train stop away from Amsterdam. We have completely fallen in love with this city so if you are looking for somewhere just outside of the tourism madness, come stay near us. Here are some recommendations of our favourite spots in the city and spots to stay if you like.
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The Hague
The Netherlands has so many incredible places to see and tons of other amazing cities. I decided to feature my personal favourite, The Hague (or here you will see it signed as Den Haag or 's Gravenhage). This is where my mom grew up, where my parents live now and the place in this country we feel most at home. I have some great recommendations to share and places to stay if you want to do something a little different.
Other spots we love!
Rotterdam
This is the most modern city in the Netherlands due to WW2. It will remind you a bit of North America which is why it isn’t the top of my list but it does have incredible food, modern archetecture and young vibes that can’t be beat. Our favourite spots are: Roommate Bruno & CitizenM (to sleep), Food Hallen, Market Hall, Brasserie Pierre & Het Matroos en Het Mesije (to eat). Don’t forget to take a water taxi around just for the vibes.
Veluwe
If you are a nature person, this huge piece of nature in the Netherlands will surprise you for how small our country is. This is the area where you will find wildlife, beautiful landscapes and cute little cottages to stay at in vacation parks in the woods. Rent yourself an electric bike and spend hours exploring this amazing area.
Utrecht
This city has some great shopping, a huge mall & a really cute city center to walk around. I haven’t spent enough time here unfortunately to shower you with reco’s but what I can promise is really cute canals & cool restaurants where you can sit down below at water level.
Volendam
This is where you get to live the true old traditional dutch lifestyle. It is a tiny little fishing village where you can get your photo taken with traditional old dutch clothing, try on clogs & do the true tourist trip. It gives you a good idea of what life used to be like here back in the day.
The Efteling
This is actually where it all began. In the south of the country is a magical theme park, which actually inspired Walt Disney to create It’s A Small World. This is one of the original world recognized theme parks. It’s an incredible place to visit for both kids and adults. You can easily spend 2 days here. This is where we had our very first date, so obviously it holds a special place in our hearts.
Zeeland
If you are looking for pure water, beaches & seafood this is the place to be. Zeeland is literally, ‘land in sea’. In total, Zeeland has 650 kilometres of coastline. It is several islands that are connected by dikes and bridges and super cute villages.
