Amsterdam? That's in Germany right?

Eeuhm... actually not... It has a country of it's own. The Netherlands to be exact and you'll love it. Let me convince you!

FIVE REASONS TO VISIT THE NETHERLANDS:

1. AMSTERDAM

Offcourse that's number 1 on the list! Everybody knows it and we are very proud of it. Enjoy the city just by walking or (even better and 'more Dutch') riding a bike through it and watch our canals, historical alongside modern architecture, coffeeshops, de Wallen and feel the unique atmosphere. Also recommended are a visit to the Rijksmuseum, the Anne Frank House or the Van Gogh Museum.

In summer there will be a lot of music- or foodfestivals to attend, and offcourse the Vondelpark is a great place to be when you just want to relax and enjoy the sun.

2. OUR FESTIVALS

With mutliple Dutch DJ's in the DJ Mag Top 100 offcourse we know how to organise a party. During summer there are so manny to visit!

For a great show you will have to go to one of the big ones like Dance Valley, Mysteryland, Pinkpop or Lowlands. But the small ones are great as well and will save you a lot of time travelling from one stage to another or getting to your locker. This is the main reason why I prefer the smaller ones.

3. KEUKENHOF

With 7 million (!) flowers, many of them are our famous and typical Dutch tulips, this flowergarden is beautifull to watch. Yearly 1,000,000 people visit the Keukenhof in a period of 8 weeks when the flowers bloom. So timing is everything for this one.

At the Keukenhof they have a windmill too, also one of the typical Dutch things we are proud of. Don't forget to check it out! If you are more interested in windmills then in flowers pay a visit to Kinderdijk, a windmillcomplex that is on de UNESCO world heritage list since 1997.

4. DELTA WORKS

In 1953 a big part of The Netherlands flooded, many people died and to prevent it from happening the Delta Works project started. Taking over almost 20 years to complete a series of constructions on different places in the province of Zeeland one of the biggest engineering projects ever.

The American Society of Civil Engineers even declared it to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. To learn more about it you can visit Neeltje Jans. Now a days Dutch engineers travel around the world to help building dikes (like in New Orleans). With the biggest part of our country being below sea levels we have build up a lot of expertise through the years, making dikes and watermanagement in general, one of the things we are proud of the most.

5. VOLENDAM

You will not find a village that's more Dutch then historical Volendam. Millions of people have visited already to experience the authentic Dutch life of mostly fishermen.

Taste a herring, take a picture in traditional clothing and keep in mind that a lot of the Dutch famous painters were before you painting Volendam. I'm sure you'll see one of them in the museums I mentioned earlier.

O, and please do NOT forget to get a 'stroopwafel' along your trip! Everyone loves them (can't say that about the herring)!