North Holland has dozens of historic town centers that are worth visiting. The most well-known is obviously the historic center of Amsterdam, which became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010. Its characteristic architecture and lovely canals (known as grachten) demand some pictures to be taken. But there are a lot more of them in the province — every region of North Holland at least has one town with a historic town center.
Many visitors to Amsterdam incorporate a day-trip to Alkmaar or Haarlem, the largest towns of their respective regions with a historic core. Its a great walk (or cycle) through the romantic narrow streets in Alkmaar, and once a week a traditional cheese market is held. In Haarlem you can visit the Great Market (Grote Markt), a beautiful square in the center of the city. Hoorn and Enkhuizen are also beautiful historic towns well worth a visit.
The nearest fortified town from Amsterdam is Weesp in the Gooi and Vecht Region, which just a 14-minute train ride. It has a quiet historic center on the river Vecht with windmills. From there, it's an easy bicycle ride to Muiden, which is home to the Muiderslot, an amazing 13th-century castle, as well as other medieval remains. Closeby is Naarden, which is also worth a trip as its 17th-century fortifications are among the best preserved in Europe.
The Muiderslot is just one of the dozens of pieces that together form the Defence Line of Amsterdam (Stelling van Amsterdam) , a 135 km long ring of fortifications around Amsterdam. In total, it consists of 42 forts about 10 to 15 kilometers from the city center. It's surrounded by low polder lands, which could easily be flooded in time of war. It was constructed between 1880 and 1920, but the invention of the airplane made the forts obsolete almost as soon as they were finished. It received recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about North Holland
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in North Holland - updated Apr 2024
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North Holland Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
