Top Things to do in North Holland Province
Top Restaurants in North Holland Province
Top 10 Specialty Museums in North Holland Province, The Netherlands
Mostly jutting northward from its largest city of Amsterdam and its capital of Haarlem, the Noord-Holland region has much more to offer beyond those two wonderful cities. At Muiden is the magnificent Muiderslot Castle, as if it stepped out of a fairy tale. Showing more wear but no less interesting is Brederode Castle at Santpoort. At Zaanstad is Zaanse Schans, one of Holland’s top tourist destinations and a family-friendly open air museum of windmills, traditional buildings, crafts and shops.
Restaurants in North Holland Province
1. Anne Frank House
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 62,301 reviews
The Anne Frank House (Dutch: Anne Frank Huis) is a museum dedicated to Jewish wartime diarist Anne Frank. The building is located on a canal called the Prinsengracht, close to the Westerkerk, in central Amsterdam in the Netherlands. As a visitor, you experience this story through a audio tour, quotes, photos, videos, and original items. The Anne Frank House can only be visited with an online ticket for a specific date and time.
Reviewed By Skiforever1223 - Salt Lake City, United States
This is a very special museum for many reasons but I was pleasantly surprised by how beautifully the museum created the narrative and the spaces they created. My two teenage daughters and I will never forget this experience. I loved the amazing artwork at the end portraying scenes recreated from the hiding place and also recommend taking time to watch the touching tributes video at the end where you hear visitors’ experiences and guest book comments from Nelson Mandela, Steven Spielberg and more. Read or re-read Anne Frank’s diary prior to visiting to really feel the spirit of this young reminder of so many tragically lost. You do have to reserve tickets online. Per the website: 80% of tickets are released exactly two months in advance at 12:00* hours noon, 20% on the day itself. Every day at 9:00* hours, the tickets for the day are made available on this site. (*Amsterdam time). The museum recommends this for children 10 and older. I would recommend 11 yrs. for a well-prepared child. It is a quiet, sober tour and there is one brief concentration camp scene that is graphic. Bag check and audio guides included with your ticket and there is a cafe and shop for after your tour. No photography. You line up outside at your assigned time slot until it’s time for your group to go in and it’s best to take a picture of your ticket rather than try to pull it up in your email because connectivity is spotty. The actual house/store is encased and preserved by the museum surround on Prinsengracht street. We booked an evening visit which also added to the poignancy as you leave the museum and see the canals lit by street lights. Highly recommend.
2. Museum Ons'Lieve Heer Op Solder
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 3,372 reviews
In the heart of Amsterdam's bustling centre lies one of the city's oldest museums: Museum Our Lord in the Attic. Here visitors get to experience the Dutch Golden Age in a special way: a 17th-century house with a top floor converted into a Catholic church.
Reviewed By ILoveDinglyDell - Edinburgh, United Kingdom
Amazing to find what was hidden behind the facade of an old Dutch house bordering one of the canals. Fascinating insight into the life of the house from the 1600s to sometime in the 1800s with the family rooms, storage rooms and at the top of the house, a complete church. We wandered around up and down steep stairs, with our audio guides in hand which we found extremely helpful. Wonderful experience and one not to be missed!
3. Zaanse Schans
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 8,189 reviews
This open air museum recreates a Dutch village with wooden houses and windmills dating from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Reviewed By irashafran - Winter Park, United States
Best day trip and real taste of Dutch life and a most beautiful and charming small town with windmills, small shops and great old hotel.... Setting gorgeous surrounded by picturesque waterways and homes with backdrop of a massive dam .... Ingrid lives there and showed us her beautiful home
4. Teylers Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,049 reviews
Anyone who opens the museum's heavy door on the bank of the River Spaarne sees at a glance what it is that inspires such enthusiasm. The museum breathes the atmosphere of the 18th and 19th centuries - the Age of the Enlightenment - when people were busily gathering knowledge about the world. Teylers Museum, museum of wonder, is a world in itself, one that you will never forget. Teylers Museum is the best-preserved 18th-century public knowledge institution for the arts and sciences in the world. It has been open to the public since 1784, welcoming all those who are eager to look at paintings and drawings by the Old Masters, magnificent minerals, ingenious scientific instruments, precious books, and centuries-old fossils. The museum's interior alone, with the monumental Oval Room as pièce de resistance, is a truly remarkable attraction. It is the only authentic 18th-century museum interior in the world.
Reviewed By Yolalindsay - Brooklyn, United States
Definitely worth a stop if you have some time in Haarlem! Lots of natural history here, as well as major scientific advancements - really a cool little museum with a GREAT audio guide. I think if you were very interested in geology or archaeology, you could spend a very long time here.
5. The Corrie ten Boom House
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 969 reviews
Reviewed By Dahlke8 - La Vernia, United States
The Ten Boom family’s incredible sacrifice to help the Jewish people and the Dutch Resistance during WWII is carefully preserved and retold by passionate and caring guides! Dina introduced us to the Ten Boom’s, their incredible faith in Christ, and then walked us through their home, to include the Hiding Place. This is a must visit, as is the beautiful town of Haarlem, if you are in Amsterdam.
6. Museum Stoomtram Hoorn-Medemblik
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 408 reviews
The engine whistles and the fireman shovels coal. Wooden partitions creak, wheels sing and steam hisses. In your carriage you will experience a story from a bygone era. Between the historic towns of Hoorn, Medemblik and Enkhuizen steamtrams meander from village to village across the Westfrisian countryside and a historic steamer with a fantastic saloon-deck sails along the coast of lake IJsselmeer.
Reviewed By wookey57 - Edinburgh, United Kingdom
A great day at Steamtram railways between Hoorn and Medemblik in about 30/40 min North of Amsterdam. By car parking in front of the station. By Rail from Central Station A'dam to Hoorn.
7. Shipwreck and Beachcombing Museum Flora
8. Marinemuseum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 400 reviews
Explore past and present of the Dutch Navy at the Navy Museum. Discover 500 years of naval history in our monumental Main-building. The magnificent collection consists of ship models, paintings, uniforms, weapons and more. Stand face to face with present-day pirates and witness how the navy combats them.
Reviewed By nigelb942 - Reading, United Kingdom
Really good museum. Easy to park, lots to see and interactive elements for the children. Submarine was staffed by friendly and very knowledgeable old sailors. The 1860s Ramship must be unique in the world.
9. Kaap Skil, Museum van Jutters & Zeelui
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 212 reviews
Reviewed By AlkmaarDave - Alkmaar, The Netherlands
What a fantastic collection of maritime artifacts and an extensive portait of life on Texel and seaman histort in the Netherlands. Very interesting from the start to to the replica houses outside and the amazing Jutters museum.
10. Automuseum Schagen
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 23 reviews
