Amsterdam & Holland 2026-27

Holland: a nation between land and water.

A journey for those who want to explore this territory at the mouths of the Meuse and the Rhine properly. Amsterdam and The Hague, two cities of great prestige, are respectively the economic capital and the seat of government. Washed by the North Sea, the Netherlands owe their name to their very low altitude: more than a quarter of the country lies below sea level. Thanks to daring engineering works the territory has grown over time, pushing the shores of the sea ever further back in favour of intensively farmed arable land. The immense IJsselmeer turned into a freshwater reservoir, stretches across the north-west of the country between the provinces of Friesland, Flevoland and North Holland. Wrested in the 20th century from the old “Southern Sea” (the Zuiderzee), it bears witness to the Dutch struggle against the water. Protection from the sea, the creation of a freshwater reservoir, the gaining of arable land and a link between Friesland and Holland: these are the reasons that led to the building of the Afsluitdijk (the Great Dyke) and the creation of the IJsselmeer. This tour lets you visit the country's most important and beautiful places, including the world-famous Van Gogh Museum.

Utrecht, the vibrant, beating heart of Holland, is built around the Dom Tower, visible from every corner of the city. Getting lost in the welcoming, atmospheric pedestrian centre is therefore impossible. Utrecht boasts enchanting canals with their characteristic wharf cellars and the tables along the quaysides that let you eat and drink at the water's edge. Besides the Dom Tower, Utrecht has hundreds of other monuments that help create a special atmosphere in this centuries-old university city. In a word, shopping in Utrecht is fantastic. Along the canals and in the pedestrian centre there are shops and boutiques of every kind. The centre of Utrecht is small enough to explore on foot, yet large enough to spend several days there enjoying art and culture. The Rietveld Schröder House, the Dick Bruna House, St Catherine's Convent, the Centraal Museum and the Speelklok Museum of musical instruments are just some of the city's interesting cultural landmarks. If you want a little nature around you, you can take a walk in Wilhelminapark, Lepelenburg park, the botanical gardens or along the outer canals that ring the city.

The Afsluitdijk: the great engineering feat north of Amsterdam

Did you know that one of the largest dykes in the world is right here, in the Netherlands? Indeed, the Afsluitdijk, about a hundred kilometres north of Amsterdam, with its 32 km length is an imposing feat of engineering that deserves a place on the list of places to visit this spring. Afsluitdijk: the dyke that transformed the Netherlands. “God created the earth, but the Dutch created the Netherlands.” This is not just an old proverb but the plain truth, since a large part of this country's territory has been wrested from the sea by human hands. The Dutch struggle against the water has distant origins. In 1287 a violent storm allowed the sea to flood Holland, forming the Zuiderzee gulf, so that in order to survive the early inhabitants of these areas had to drain large tracts of land over time and defend themselves against repeated flooding. But it was only in 1916, following a violent tidal surge, that construction began on the Afsluitdijk, the barrier dyke designed in 1891 by the engineer Cornelis Lely. The dyke turned the Zuiderzee into a freshwater lake, the IJsselmeer, and made it possible to reclaim from the waters the land that today forms the province of Flevoland.

The dyke-causeway linking the two ends of an immense gulf, Den Oever in the province of North Holland and Zurich in the province of Friesland, was opened by Queen Wilhelmina on 28 May 1932 and completed on its 75th anniversary, in 2007. The building of the great dyke was part of the major Zuiderzee Works, which had two parts: the first part of the project involved creating the Afsluitdijk, which turned the Zuiderzee, the Southern Sea, into a freshwater lake, the IJsselmeer; the second consisted of reclaiming new land, with the consequent development of urban areas and farmland. The dyke thus gave rise to the region of Flevoland. The dyke is 32 kilometres long and 90 metres wide, and was built about 7 metres above sea level. Building this imposing structure took around 25 million cubic metres of sand, 13 million cubic metres of clay blocks, 16 million typical Dutch bricks and 6,000 men. These figures give an idea of the importance of a work built at a time when the whole of Europe was physically and economically devastated by the world wars. As testimony to the country's tenacity, a plaque along the dyke reads: “a living nation builds for its future”. Driving along the dyke, about 6 km from Den Oever you come to a first rest area, where the statue of its designer, the engineer Cornelis Lely, welcomes you. Information panels tell the story of the project and, on clear days, you can admire the majesty of the dyke from the top of a viewing tower or from a raised walkway that crosses the motorway. Here you will also find a small café, its walls covered with old photographs, maps and period objects. Continuing along the route, around the sixteenth kilometre, roughly halfway along the dyke, there is a rest stop with parking, a bar and picnic areas. Here too a raised walkway lets pedestrians admire the view from above. Almost at the end of the dyke, just before reaching Zurich, you come to Kornwerderzand, a small village on an artificial island created during the building of the dyke and home to some thirty people. Here you will find the Casemate Museum, where you can learn about the Battle of the Afsluitdijk: it was right here, in May 1940, that the Dutch defeated the Germans. Once you reach the end of the dyke you are in the region of Friesland. About twenty kilometres from Zurich is Hindeloopen, a small village where time seems to have stood still. Here you can watch boats passing through the locks on their way out to sea, see women in traditional costume and admire the architecture typical of the area. The dyke, just over a hundred kilometres from the capital, is easily reached along the A7 motorway which, after Den Oever, continues along the whole dyke to the far end.