The Netherlands is a densely populated country with famous cities like Amsterdam known for the Rijksmuseum (the national museum), canals, the castle and its cosy pubs. Other famous cities are
the Royal city The Hague with its elegant downtown, modern
But the Netherlands also has to offer a great coastline along the North Sea, the IJsselmeer and the Veluwemeer - great resorts for sailing with picturesque little typical Dutch towns like Elburg or Harderwijk. The Netherlands is a great country for cycling, sailing or ice skating in winter. They
have mainly flat landscapes with many canals, windmills, little villages, rivers like the Rhine or IJssel, Maas or Schelde. Visitors should try some original Dutch pancakes, either with meat, famous
Dutch cheese or with jam, and Dutch beer like "Grolsch" and "Heineken". The busiest open-air daytime market is the Albert Cuyp Market in Amsterdam. Tulips grow around Lisse behind the dunes and Keukenhof is a well-known tourist attraction; in spring there are many beautiful tulips on display there. Prostitution, which has also made the Netherlands infamous, was legalized on
October 1, 2000. One can purchase and use cannabis legally in the Netherlands, which is rare for most western countries, and has lead to a large number of "drug tourists" from abroad.
Many
tourists
visit
Madurodam,
a
miniature
city in
The
Hague,
which
show
most
typical
and
famous
Dutch
buildings.
Like the
kaasmarkt
(cheese
market),
mills
and
Paleis
op de
Dam
(Palace
on the
Dam).
Popular
souvenirs
from the
Netherlands
are
delftware
and
clogs
(wooden
shoes).Almost
the
whole
westcoast
has a
sandy
beach.
Towns
near the
coast
are
beach
resorts,
in
between
there
are long
stretches
of quiet
beach.
Though
most of
them are
natural
parks
nowadays.
The
Dutch
themselves
like to
subscribe
to a
fietsvierdaagse
— an
annual
cycling
family
event.
Keukenhof
is a
major
tourist
destination
in the
Netherlands
