Travel guide, from the UK

Netherlands

The Netherlands is small, flat and easy to get around. You can cross the whole country by train in about two hours, so one trip can take in Amsterdam's canals, Rotterdam's modern skyline and the old centres of Utrecht, Delft and Haarlem. Come for the Dutch Masters in the museums, the windmills at Kinderdijk, the tulip fields in spring and a country made for cycling. Strictly speaking, Holland means only two of its twelve provinces, North and South Holland.

Photo: Max van den Oetelaar, Unsplash License

The Zuiderkerk tower at the end of an Amsterdam canal lined with golden autumn trees and moored boats

When to go: Spring is flower season. The bulb fields bloom from March to May, and Keukenhof is open from 18 March to 9 May in 2027. King's Day on 27 April fills the streets with markets and a lot of orange. Summer is the warmest time, with highs in the low to mid 20s°C, beach days and long evenings. Autumn is quieter. In winter there are Christmas markets, and the Amsterdam Light Festival runs from 26 November 2026 to 17 January 2027. Rain can come in any month, so pack a light waterproof.
Getting there from London: KLM and British Airways fly from Heathrow and London City to Amsterdam Schiphol in about 1 hour 15 minutes, and easyJet flies there from Luton and Southend. London City also has several flights a day to Rotterdam The Hague. By train, the Eurostar runs direct from St Pancras to Rotterdam Centraal in about 3 hours 15 minutes and to Amsterdam Centraal in about 3 hours 50 minutes.

What to do in Netherlands

1Amsterdam's canal ringThe 17th-century canal ring is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. See it from a canal boat, then walk the Jordaan and the Nine Streets for small shops, galleries and cafés.
2The Anne Frank HouseWalk through the hidden annexe where Anne Frank and her family lived in hiding. Tickets are sold online only, with no sales at the door, so book as soon as your dates are fixed.
3The Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh MuseumBoth sit on Museumplein in Amsterdam. The Rijksmuseum is home to Rembrandt's The Night Watch, and the Van Gogh Museum holds more than 200 of his paintings. Book a timed ticket for each.
4Keukenhof and the bulb fieldsAround seven million bulbs flower at Keukenhof in Lisse each spring. Tickets are for a fixed date and arrival time, and fake ticket sites exist, so buy from Keukenhof's own website.
5The windmills of KinderdijkNineteen windmills line the polder at Kinderdijk, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. From Rotterdam, the WaterShuttle boat gets you there in under 30 minutes.
6Rotterdam's modern architectureSee the arched Markthal, Piet Blom's Cube Houses and the Erasmus Bridge. Then visit Fenix, a museum about migration in a 1923 warehouse, which opened in 2025.

Getting around

Trains are frequent and quick. Schiphol airport to Amsterdam Centraal takes about 17 minutes, Amsterdam to Utrecht about 30, and Amsterdam to Rotterdam about 40 on the Intercity Direct, which needs a supplement between Schiphol and Rotterdam. To pay, tap in and out with a contactless bank card or phone (OVpay) on trains, trams, buses and metros. Use the same card or phone at both ends of a journey, and one per traveller. In Amsterdam, free ferries cross the IJ from behind Centraal station. 9292.nl plans journeys across every kind of transport.

Living in the UK on a non-UK passport? You'll need a visa for Netherlands.

Netherlands visa from the UK →