41 Best Sights in The Randstad, Netherlands

This 18th-century canalside mansion was the former home of 19th-century painter Paul Tétar van Elven. The interior he created is charmingly redolent of Ye Olde Delft, complete with painted ceilings, antiques, and even a reproduction of an artist's atelier done up in the Old Dutch style.

Beside the Prinsenhof is Agathaplein, a Late Gothic leafy square built around 1400 and shaded by huge chestnut trees. At the center is the Prinsentuin, a cultivated garden that offers a calming respite from the city streets.

This house, about a mile east of the city center, exemplifies several key principles of the De Stijl movement that affected not only art but also modern architecture, furniture design, and even typography in the early part of the 20th century. The house was designed for the Schröder family by Gerrit Rietveld, one of the leading architects of De Stijl, who has many objects on view in Utrecht's Centraal Museum. The open plan, the direct communion with nature from every room, and the use of neutral white or gray on large surfaces—with primary colors to identify linear details—are typical De Stijl characteristics. Rietveld is best known outside Holland for his Red and Blue Chair. Tours must be reserved online in advance.

It's corny, even sometimes a little tacky—miniature clogs, anyone?—but no visit to Delft would be complete without stopping at a Delft porcelain factory to see plates and tulip vases being painted by hand and perhaps picking up a souvenir or two. De Porceleyne Fles is the original and most famous home to the popular blue-and-white pottery. Regular demonstrations of molding and painting pottery are given by the artisans. On the bottom of each object is a triple signature: a plump vase topped by a straight line, the stylized letter "F" below it, and the word "Delft." Blue is no longer the only official color: in 1948, a rich red cracked glaze was premiered depicting profuse flowers, graceful birds, and leaping gazelles. There is New Delft, a range of green, gold, and black hues, whose exquisite minuscule figures are drawn to resemble an old Persian tapestry; the Pynacker Delft, borrowing Japanese motifs in rich oranges and golds; and the brighter Polychrome Delft, which can strike a brilliant sunflower-yellow effect.

Five days a week from the predawn hours until mid-morning, the largest flower auction in the world takes place in the biggest commercial building in the world—it's the size of 120 soccer fields. You can watch the proceedings from the catwalk above as carts laden with flowers and plants zip about at warp speed. The buying system is what's called a "Dutch auction"—the price goes down, not up, on a large "clock" on the wall (although there are also Internet buyers these days). Buyers sit lecture-style with buzzers on their desks; the first to register a bid gets the bunch, and they work their way through more than 30 million purchases of flowers and plants daily.

At the west end of the Markt, the Town Hall is a gray-stone edifice with picturesque red shutters and lavish detailing, designed in 1618 by Hendrick de Keyser, one of the most prolific architects of the Golden Age. Inside is a grand staircase and Council Chamber with a famous old map of Delft. You can view the interior only by making arrangements through the Delft tourist office.

This former hunting lodge on the market square belonged to the Count of Holland, who permitted it to be transformed into Haarlem's Town Hall in the 14th century. The large main Gravenzaal (Count's Hall) is worth a visit—if you can sneak in between bouts of confetti throwing; a good number of bridal parties ascend its steps on a regular basis—to study its collection of 16th-century paintings amassed by the Count of Holland. If you wish to tour the premises, call in advance to get permission.

The University Museum deals with both the history of Utrecht University and the fields of science. The first thing you'll notice is the building itself: architects make special trips to study Koen van Velsen's square building and his garden "boxes"; a glassed-in corridor runs the length of the building, giving an immense feeling of space. One collection, bought by William I and donated to the museum, verges on the ghoulish: skulls, anatomical models, and preserved "things" in jars—medical ethics would prevent these exhibits from being preserved now, most notably the embryos, which only increases their fascination for youngsters. In the third-floor Youth Lab, kids can have a field day: they put on mini lab coats to do experiments and play with optical illusions. A former orangery is now a garden-fronted café.

Located near the Frans Hals Museum - HOF, the town's history museum makes the most of its limited resources to mount two or three small temporary exhibitions a year, offering insight into the history of the city and the surrounding area. Among the permanent exhibits are video screenings (in English), models of the city, and touch-screen computers relating stories that take you back through history. There are fascinating old prints and maps, along with some apparently random exhibits, including one of the earliest printing presses, dating to the 17th century.

You can learn about Volendam's history at this museum, located next to the VVV tourist information center. One highlight is the reconstructed period rooms, like the school filled with mannequins adorned with folkloric costumes. Look for the photograph of chanteuse Josephine Baker clad in traditional folkloric Dutch garb.

Zandvoort is only 9 km (5½ miles) from Haarlem and has the area's biggest and best beach (a favorite of sun-starved Amsterdammers). It can get crowded, but if you wander south for 10 minutes, you can find isolated spots among the dunes; after about 20 minutes, you come to the nude (in places, gay) sunbathing beach.