American Reacts Top 10 Places To Visit in The Netherlands

[@RealConstructor]

Seeing the mountains in the video (above the picture in picture-video), when it is a video about The Netherlands, as flat as a pancake, is hilarious and distracting at the same time.

[@peterkeijsers489]

The guy from the original video mostly stayed within the 2 provinces of Holland (North & South Holland). He didn't even visit numerous other highly interesting places in the rest of the country, like Maastricht, Giethoorn, Bourtange (the stronghold with a village built inside), Delta Works, Afsluitdijk,.....

[@TheLeagueOfNefariousGentlemen]

0:47 I think what you are referring to is "Tulip Mania". In the year 1623, 1 tulip bulb cost as much as 6 annual salaries. At the height of Tulip Mania, around 1634, this had risen to 10,000 guilders. Which, adjusted for inflation to today's prices, would amount to some 2.1 million euros. At the time, this was enough to buy a canal side property in Amsterdam, with a garden! It was seen as the First Financial Market Bubble.

[@SlashProducts]

As an Urker I was not expecting Urk on this list haha

[@corjp]

Dutch guy here... I am very ashamed to say that I forgot how gorgious my home country is... seeing this I realise that we do have a beautiful country with many interesting aspects.

[@JanuzTrance68]

I am from Amsterdam myself, but the best historical old cities, with the most midieval/roman architecture/infrastructure, are actually located in the south of the Netherlands. Like the city of Nijmegen for example. And there's a lot less of (heavy) tourisme out there, so it is much more relaxing being out there.

[@KoenBoyful]

The fortress city is called Naarden. And it is really an old fortress city from before the 16th century. It was besieged and gruesomely massacred by the Spanish during the 80-Years War

[@roelkerkhoff578]

Indeed Naarden is a beautiful fortress city, but the one in the video is Heusden in the province of Noord-Brabant ;)

[@colachofcb]

Brielle is also quite nice

[@alicevanhuijzen-vandenbran6646]

​@@roelkerkhoff578 Yes Indeed. It is Vestingstad Heusden

[@tim-3705]

Hate to brake it to you But it is Heusden

[@DaveJansenTPV]

@3:43 In Dutch we have a saying that originated from this: "Die heeft een klap van de molen gehad" or "he took a blow from the mill". Referring to someone who's not well in the head or acts crazy.

[@ronaldderooij1774]

Star forts originated in the 17th century. It was used to strengthen a military relevant city/village. The village was there first.

[@DenUitvreter]

Boertange on the other hand was build purely as a fortress and is now a village.

[@thedutchhuman]

as americans say...goeda (gooda), as it should be GOUDA And the sad thing about many KZbin guide videos is that they show too much of the West, while there is so much more to experience/see in the rest of the Netherlands.

[@StevenQ74]

Yeah, it's more like Gowda

[@lws7394]

I really don't understand why they can't pronounce it better (apart from the hard G-sound). They don't say "Be quiet, don't shoot so lood" either , do they ?

[@gertvanderstraaten6352]

Even the old windmills could rotate (with the help of a human) and be turned toward the wind. They were kind of a pre-industrial revolution, were used for most things that are now done by electric or fossil fuel. Yes, Gouda is pronounced gowda, not gooda.

[@fbabarbe430]

Gooda is cheese.

[@MLWitteman]

The fortress town you saw, was built like that to protect that city. The city of Naarden is quite famous for this beautiful intact star fortress. The Netherlands was constantly at war. We’ve fought our war of independence with Spain, which lasted over 80 years. That’s why the Low Countries are sometimes referred to, as the cradle of modern warfare. The famous Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus picked up quite some new tactics from this time period. This is also the fact why the Netherlands contains quite a few of these fortress towns. Some of which are: Naarden(which you saw in the video): en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naarden Muiden: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muiden Bourtange: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bourtange

[@alicevanhuijzen-vandenbran6646]

Sorry, but the village in the video is Vestingstad Heusden, not Naarden. Eventho Naarden is beautiful aswell

[@MLWitteman]

@@alicevanhuijzen-vandenbran6646 thank you for the correction, my mistake!

[@daphnelovesL]

I lived for a couple years in a 1776 old windmill.

[@playy1797]

Lucky you!

[@letheas6175]

And which one might that have been, can you give me the name of the windmill/location of the windmill.

[@McJibbin]

Lucky! That's as old as the country I live in!

[@colachofcb]

Tbh, many dutch avoid Amsterdam because it is so crowded with tourists and attractions aimed at them that it seems like going to Disneyland

[@alicevanhuijzen-vandenbran6646]

Yes. If you want the look of Amsterdam, but nicer go to Utrecht or Delft.

[@matthias.t]

​@@alicevanhuijzen-vandenbran6646 ...or Alkmaar.

[@matthias.t]

​@@alicevanhuijzen-vandenbran6646 ...or Alkmaar.

[@Stoofke777]

​@@alicevanhuijzen-vandenbran6646 or Haarlem 😊

[@lonneketomas1200]

@@alicevanhuijzen-vandenbran6646 or Leiden :)

[@laziojohnny79]

By now I get nostalgic whenever the ‘‘THIS ISN"T DISNEYLAND’’ story comes up. Sadly even this amazing travel channel only sums up the obvious tourist attractions (traps), some parts of the NL's resemble places like Cornwall or the Ardennes (like the 'Rijk van Nijmegen' or the surrounding areas of Arnhem). But hey; every time I see Connor has done a vid concerning our tiny country is like seeing the presents on Sinterklaas or Christmas morning in front of the fireplace/christmass-tree.

[@EllenKlever-c7k]

Yes, the greenery in our surroundings is important to the people of the Netherlands, and Yes again; the tullips grow on different areas every year not to exhaust the soil, revitalize. You are doing great! Love from the Netherlands!

[@Saartje05]

There are still a lot of original mills all around. In my brother's street there's one and near me there's also one but there are loads. If you come to The Netherlands again I advice you to visit the Open Air museum in Arnhem and a museum village called Orvelte in the province of Drenthe. They're great to visit, you can see the mills close by and also go into the old houses.

[@annemieverhoeven2566]

Down to the rabbithole you go😊,this is awesome,.. More please❤😊

[@tim-3705]

The fortress you see in the beginning is Heusden. The dutch used to build small towns that where completely fortified. Heusden is almost completely still intact, and has great historic value. It was one of the towns that controlled trade coming from 's-Hertogenbosch and other city’s, so there was a lot of conflict in that area

[@RedbadvanRijn-ft3vv]

As a Dutch boy,i could not say to my dad--That,s impossible Dad. My dad would respond--we did stil not invented impossible boy,,so go for it.

[@cdcdrr]

As mentioned, the video is more focussed on the west of the country. But since it mentioned Urk, there are many cities in Friesland that also date back to the middle ages. Though these weren't islands, they do have plenty of canals, and it's a great place for water recreation. My best pick for people who wish to see some Dutch history with their own eyes would be Arnhem. Where British and American paratroopers landed to try and force a crossing over the Rhine river during World War 2. The bridge they fought over was replaced, but of similar construction as the old, and named after John Frost, who led the British forces trying to hold it. There are several other locations around the city worth seeing, with several castles like Doorwerth or Rozendaal. There's also the Openlucht Museum, which recreated structures and houses from throughout Dutch history and gives some insight in how folks lived over the centuries. Arnhem is also located on the edges of the Veluwe, a forest that is interspersed with heaths and sand dunes, and more for the outdoors hiking types. And on the other sides the city borders the Betuwe, a region of fruit orchards. The province itself is large, and there is a wealth of various activities to do. The only thing it's missing is an amusement park, but for that I'd recommend the 2nd largest province Noord Brabant, which could probably fill an entire comment all by itself as well.

[@letheas6175]

Yaaaaaay finally more Netherlands content. Please do some more history related videos too, you still need to learn more about the 80 years' war, or admirals like Michiel de Ruyter (one of the greatest in history). Like imagine sailing up the Thames to destroy the navy and forts of the, probably at that time, mightiest nation..

[@letheas6175]

Also personally, I would never go to Urk again. I did once, and a few times went near it- but every time some rude people tried to convert me to christianity.. Even in spaces like a hospital, mad disrespectful. I do not like the bible belt because of things like that. Even the harbor of Lelystad, with Bataviastad and the national park nearby, has now more to offer than Urk.

[@Kolonel_K.]

@@letheas6175 Avoid going there on a Sunday or just accept Jesus Christ as your saviour during your stay.

[@letheas6175]

@@Kolonel_K. Hahaha, can I buy a 1 day pass to accepting Jesus Christ for my visit? I mean, they sold tickets to get in to heaven in the past.. monetizing on this could be a great idea for them!

[@dagaz35]

Everywere people live, is history. We have “old” towns but when I visited America, I was flabbergasted of the beautiful nature America has. We went to so many national parks, wauw. We also went to a native American reservation were beautiful people performed beautiful dances. If you look there, there is also the hundreds of years history. America is rich in history if you look for it!

[@MLWitteman]

Greetings from Haarlem! A place inhabited as far back as antiquity. But first mentioned in written documents in the 10th century. It got city rights in the year 1245 by count William II of Holland. The man who would later move his court, from Haarlem to The Hague. Which is why the Dutch government, parliament & the king reside in that city. Haarlem: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haarlem

[@MrLittle3vil]

The whole top of the windmill, both old and modern, can rotate 360 degrees so it's always facing the wind direction

[@framegote5152]

The ou sound in Gouda is pronounced like the ou sound in "sound". You're the first I heard saying "forget the tulips, look at the grass" 😂 Don't forget ... everything is green because of the weather. It rains a lot, but there are also days with nice weather.

[@margreetanceaux3906]

Must love your stunned silence, and to the point question, of how the turning of the horizontal axle transfers to a vertical one. Not all Dutch ask themselves that essential question ;-) Oh, and yes, Gouda is pronounced gowdah… spread the word!

[@paulafaber8589]

Yes 🙌🏻. And I know you can even do the Dutch “g”, I’ve heard you do it in “ugh”, so no excuses anymore😁

[@MartinJames389]

Windmills are much more than 300 years old, and were all over Europe, Sometimes they were used for raising water (more relevant in the Netherlands) but more commonly for grinding wheat and other cereals into flour. No bread without a mill. Millers were powerful people as they had a local monopoly. It didn't matter how good a crop you grew if you'd fallen out with the miller and couldn't get it ground. I guess water-raising mills were probably safer. All those wooden moving parts created a lot of friction and there was always a risk of fire. In some places where mills are preserved in working order, local councils or other authorities won't allow then to be actually operated because of the fire risk.

[@janmoorlagable]

extremely funny to see those mountains above the video. Something we don't have in the Netherlands

[@gerbentvandeveen]

I come from Spakenburg, 9 km from Amersfoort. And thit my highschool in Amersfoort. For 4 years. Spakenburg is a old fhising town at the old Zuiderzee whit a market every Saterday and a history hauber. A UNESCO SITE. Like Urk, Marken Volendam Harderwijk Elburg. And the Iland of Pampers. Al for the newist Provincie of Flevoland. I can wakker to there. Whit swimming the shiplane. The city of Spakenburg to holiday park, center park "de Eemhof." In Zeewolde, Flevoland.

[@mporvichova]

I do not recommend going to Keukenhof. I went there on a Wednesday morning in hope of avoiding large crowds, but could barely walk with how full the place was. If you want to see a really cool place there is an open-air museum in Arnhem. It really big, big enough for them to have actual historic trams running through. De Haar is a nice castle, even on rainy autumn day. Though my favourites of those I have visited here so far are Oud Zuylen, Sypesteyn and Cannenburch.

[@Janie_Morrison]

The Netherlands is such a beautiful place

[@mask59]

I think what you saw in nothern France (tall, thin and white) are not wind mills but wind turbines.

[@chrismackett9044]

Tulip mania happened during the 1630s when the cost of bulbs reached astronomic levels. Alexandre Dumas wrote ‘La Tulipe Noire’, about another outbreak of tulip mania slightly later in the seventeenth century. The windmills are not really windmills but are wind pumps.

[@prutteltje1300]

About recoiling the land you are right. The problem is the salt in the ground so they mainly recoiling it with grass so the cows pee the salt back in the ground. 👍🏻 About the star fortress towns you have to look for "Bourtange" pronounced like Boor and then tange like the French say Champagne with a English 'A' and a French 'ng' sound. kzbin.info/www/bejne/j4TRn2CifsiUf68si=Ahubr0cIpZiFviot

[@Bramfly]

Greetings from Utrecht (NL) founded in Roman time ( 50 AD).

[@GetitOnJeff]

A big miss in this video is “the Veluwe”. A beautiful piece of protected nature with al lot of forest, open fields and many sand drifts. Best place to go imo.

[@meticulousgeek]

Yes, the mills rotate, the old ones do and the modern ones do too. And yeah, it's more pronounced "Gawda" instead of "Gooda".

[@gerbentvandeveen]

For a Star city? Go to Naarden Vestiging and then to Muiden slot Amersfoort and then Bunschoten-Spakenburg. I'ts a not toeristen route from Amsterdam. And a lot to see.

[@Saartje05]

the mill 'heads' of the old and the new ones can be turned into the wind

[@JacobBax]

Windmills turning counter clockwise, parts of this video is recorded in mirror image.

[@Saartje05]

I lived in a city that's more than 1700 years old already. I know live in between two very old cities, 9th century and older.

[@Saartje05]

We have an expression in Dutch 'hit by the mill', means you're a bit cuckoo. Sometimes it happened that someone got hit by one of the wings, literally hit by the mill, and when it was bad the person would end up with brain damage and went cuckoo. Those accidents as far as I know are from the past but the expression is still being used.

[@renevaanhold]

Maastricht, Nijmegen and Utrecht are 20 centuries old cities.

[@AwoudeX]

1:29 No, the star fortress was built around the town

[@Leonardo-ql1qu]

At 2:08 min.: Zaanse Schans, Koog aan de Zaan is the oldest true industrial area in the world. This is where the modern world started! Read 'How the Old World Ended: The Anglo-Dutch-American Revolution' by Jonathan Scott (2020).

[@TheVirtualTruckInstructor]

The oldest parts of the Netherlands are in the south and you never see anything about that, Both Nijmegen and Maastricht are 2000 years old. Den Bosch is beautiful. All the advanced tech stuff in Eindhoven and so on. Everybody stays close to Amsterdam.

[@AwoudeX]

Fun fact, i was born within the confines of a star fortress (though not as well preserved as the one shown in the video)

[@Aviertje]

Most of these are just the typical tourist traps. If you're into that, great, but I would cast my eyes outside of the Holland region so much more. If you like massive feats of engineering, cycle across the Afsluitdijk (a huge dyke built which turned a sea into a lake back in 1933) which eventually led up to the creation of the province Flevoland in the 1980s. Or visit the Deltawerken, the massive system of dykes and levies that deal with the flooding dangers that are caused by storms on the north sea and the fact some of the biggest river corridors in Europe end up meeting the ocean here. If you like theme parks, look at the Efteling, which is a Disneyland that Walt Disney used as his inspiration. If you like cities, look at places like 's Hertogenbosch and Maastricht which have a distinctly different flavor due to their more southernly location. If you want to experience the real Netherlands, plan out a few days for a cycling holiday where you follow 'fietsknooppunten' so you can see the normal non-touristy places through scenic / recreational routes. The big cities and tourist traps have their purpose, and I definitely won't look down on the amazing architecture and museums you'll find there, but that's like saying you've seen California or the USA purely because you spent a weekend in Los Angeles and visited Disneyland and Hollywood there. The Netherlands might be a small country, but it has a lot more innovation and variety going for it than Americans in particular might imagine.

[@lonneketomas1200]

I find the Deltawerken so impressive, does museum Neeltje Jans still excist? I advise every foreigner to go there.

[@groenekever]

All windmills rotate also old ones

[@Tyu-f1s]

10th century ? Oh, i guess it's one of those modern town

[@corjp]

Connor , if you want to visit again..... COME ON OVER you are very welcome!! Learn about our history and our fight against the water at "Neeltje Jans" in the south We battled the elements since ever , from the early 1400's on.. Even before Chris Columbus thought he found India and landed on your place ( the silly sod)

[@leefbuiten4203]

You have to look fort Bourtange if you like the old wans 😉

[@lompos71]

I agree,, that is 1 of the best fortified towns there is

[@bertoverweel6588]

I was born in Kinderdijk, ther are 19 windmills.

[@100percentnonofyourbiz]

On your question..Yes the windmills rotate towards the wind.

[@laziojohnny79]

Both the modern and classic windmills do I might add.

[@laziojohnny79]

LOL checked my statement afterwards I presume? 😉

[@100percentnonofyourbiz]

@@laziojohnny79 Not not realy, but I thought it would be handy to have an expanation for people to find. We had a miller in the family so I was familiar with it a long time ago, because my parents told me a lot of times about it and windmills when i was growing up. The comment I gave is not to degrade your statement, but to add some usefull information to it.

[@laziojohnny79]

@@100percentnonofyourbiz Fair enough, I only saw the notification that you commented starting with ‘‘No...’’ but the comment was already gone ;) But to explain to non-Dutch speakers; ‘‘Wind turbines use an anemometer and a wind vane on top of the nacelle to determine the best position for the turbine. When the wind changes direction, engines turn the nacelle and the blades with it as well, so that they face the wind (this motion is called yawing). Have a good one!

[@100percentnonofyourbiz]

@@laziojohnny79 hmmm, i wonder why my comment is gone, i don't see it either... but what i meant to say was that the classical windmills like shown in the video must be turned to the wind by the miller himselve. That is different than stating all windmills turn automaticly to the wind.....And that is not the same as the classical farm windmills that are not handled in this video who do turn to the wind automaticly. If you would have checked your own answer before you would have given it, you wouldn't have posted it because it is not true....

[@ganikus8565]

Castle de Haar looks like the french castle de Bretresche

[@Stoofke777]

How-da but than with a G, makes Gouda 😄

[@godlesz]

when do you Americans learn that the Netherlands is so much bigger than only the western site of the country, you miss more than 3/4 of all the beauty of our country!!

[@dimmerridder7377]

Blijft n maf gezicht met die bergen boven de video 😂

[@hardyvonwinterstein5445]

The obvious tourist traps. Stay away from 'm. Go to Disneyland instead.

[@MartinJames389]

No, Den Haag ("The Hague") is the capital of the Netherlands, NOT Amsterdam. Amsterdam is the biggest city, but it is not the capital. It is also where the International Court of Justice (ICJ)and the International Criminal Court ICC), as well as several other specialist international tribunals, sit. Both are seeing a lot of action at the moment.

[@Chris_mas73]

You're right about a lot of things in The Hague (Den Haag), but Amsterdam is definitely the capital of the Netherlands. And I should know because I'm Dutch and I learned this in school about 45 years ago (as did my children not so long ago). 😉

[@tighabhinn]

tulips

[@lolsmurf5283]

He forgot the Efteling... 😊

[@marcelmieris6082]

It showed you the west and the north, tmiddel and the east and the south, were not inthis clip.

[@miquelcanosasanteularia1678]

Haarlem, zansee chams

[@daphnelovesL]

Den Haag or The Hague and showing Scheveningen.

[@KeesBoons]

To be fair, Scheveningen is part of the municipality of Den Haag.

[@Saartje05]

Gouda. Like Ggggggowdah, not Goodah

[@vincentvandenberg4532]

Hahaha, Americans cant count back any futher than 300 years ... In the Netherlands windmills to keep polders dry date back to at least the 15th century and we are in the 21th century now! So doesn't that amount to somewhere about 550 years?

[@ToPerfect]

The dutch even eat the tullip bulbs when they were poor

[@Bramfly]

No during the Second World War the Germans imposed a famine on the western part of the country.

[@silspenk9034]

You mean, at the end of world war 2? And only in the west-coast of our land, because there was no more food over there..

[@dutchdryfly]

No they didn’t. The only time Dutch ate flowerbulbs was in de hongerwinter in 1944/1945 when the Germans didn’t allow food into the country as punishment for the uprising in 1944.

[@AnneDowson-vp8lg]

The Hague is the capital of the Netherlands, NOT Amsterdam. Amsterdam is the largest city in the Netherlands. He didn't show much of the Hague which has some good historic buildings.

[@KeesBoons]

Not true. Amsterdam is the capital.

[@LalaDepala_00]

Amsterdam is the capital.. I am Dutch

[@obud3777]

No, The Hague is the seat of the government, but not the capital, that’s Amsterdam!

[@DaveJansenTPV]

You're wrong. The Hague is indeed where the government is seated but Amsterdam is the capital of The Netherlands.

[@obud3777]

@@DaveJansenTPV You’re wrong, since the Netherlands is no longer a sovereign state, but under European Union rule and laws, its capital is in Brussels !