modern architecture
Rotterdam is the only Dutch city that could be thought of as having a decent modern skyline. It was already a center of modernist architecture in the early 1900s, but since its city center was heavily bombed throughout World War II, it got a completely different feel than traditional Amsterdam. Rotterdam is a play garden of modern architects, which has led to the largest residential building Montevideo Tower and the largest office building Maastoren of the country. The Euromast and the Erasmus Bridge are must-visits as they are an integral part of the look and feel of Rotterdam's skyline. The city is also home to some quirky architecture, such as the cube houses.
Utrecht has the Rietveld Schröder House, arguably the only true De Stijl building and another UNESCO-designated site. Other modern architecture nuts might want to spend some time in Hilversum, where architect W.M. Dudok designed a lot of buildings and even whole neighborhoods in the New Objectivity style. His most important creation there is the Hilversum Town Hall. Many other architects have also contributed to Hilversum as it is today, including Jan Duiker, MVRDV, Pierre Cuypers and Ben van Berkel.
Flevoland is a new province, its land has been reclaimed from the sea after World War II. This gave the province a completely different feel than the other traditional provinces. Almere is a suburb of Amsterdam, and while many Dutch claim it as the most boring city of the country, it does have a lot of modern architectural highlights. Some neighborhoods in Almere gave their inhabitants the freedom to design their own building. Others have been designed by famous architects, such as La Defense Offices by Ben van Berkel.
castles and fortifications
The region is filled with history and there are plenty of castles and fortifications to be found. Surrounding Amsterdam in the province of North Holland is the Defence Line of Amsterdam Stelling van Amsterdam, a 135 km long ring of fortifications around the capital city. 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. While the line was constructed from the 19th-century, many of its 42 forts are actually structures from the Middle Ages.
One of them is the Muiderslot, a 13th-century castle in Muiden thats definitely worth a visit. Nearby are the 17th-century fortifications of Naarden, which are among the best preserved in Europe. The town is an example of a Spanish star fort, in an exceptional quality and complete with fortified walls and a moat. Weesp is another fortified town near Amsterdam, and could be a nice daytrip.
Then there is Castle De Haar in Utrecht, which has a history since at least 1391. It did fell into ruins in the 17th-century and had to be largely rebuilt in 1892 by the Dutch architect P.J.H. Cuypers â he did a magnificent job at it.
historic towns
There are dozens of historic towns in the Netherlands that deserve a visit. The most well-known obviously is the historic 17th-century city center of Amsterdam. Its historic architecture can be explored by a boat tour which goes through its lovely canals known as grachten. The center became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2010.
Many visitors include a day-trip to one of the West's other historic cities. North Holland is filled with them â Haarlem, Alkmaar, Hoorn and Enkhuizen are less than one hour away as a day-trip from the capital. South Holland also has a few interesting historic towns. Delft is a tourist-favorite with its traditional architecture, canals, bikes, and the world famous blue and white ceramics. Gouda is known from the world famous Gouda cheese â but besides the cheese market, its historic town center is a really fun walk. Leiden, while historical, has much of a student-feel due the presence of the oldest university of the Netherlands there.
Utrecht is not visited a lot by foreigners, but its hard to understand why â it has the amenities of a big city, but its canals feel even more calm and relaxed than those in average medium-sized cities. Its an excellent destination to visit some antique stores or grab a beer while seeing the boats pass by. Amersfoort is a lot smaller, but again, its ancient center makes for a nice day out.