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The West of the Netherlands, commonly called the Randstad, is the most urban area of the country with most sights and activities. Host to the Big Four, Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht, it has the most important airports, ports, museums, restaurants and nightlife. However, also the typical Dutch rural areas can be found here, such as Kinderdijk, Marken, Volendam and Zaanse Schans.

[edit] Regions

• North-Holland
• South-Holland
• Utrecht
• Zeeland

[edit] Cities

• Amsterdam
• Gouda
• Haarlem
• Hilversum
• Leiden
• Middelburg
• Rotterdam
• The Hague
• Utrecht

[edit] Other destinations

• Keukenhof — Millions of tourists visit these enormous flower fields.
• Kinderdijk — These mills show the typical Dutch landscape in all it's glory.
• Scheveningen — Largest and most-populous beach of the Netherlands. A part of the city of The Hague
• Texel — One of the West-Frisian Islands, it houses great tourist resorts for it's beaches.
• Urk - A small fishing community. This was once an island.
• Volendam — Typical Dutch village with clogs and traditional costumes.
• Walibi World — Vibrant theme park with thrilling roller coasters.
• Zaanse Schans — Very touristic display of Dutch windmills.

[edit] Understand

[edit] Randstad

The Randstad is a conurbation that comprises most of the Western Netherlands. It consists of the Big Four (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht), as well as Almere, Haarlem, Leiden, Delft, Gouda and Hilversum. With its 7.5 million inhabitants, almost half of the population of the Netherlands live in this area. It is one of the largest urban areas in Europe. Randstad means Rim City, as it's formed like a circle with empty space in the middle. The center is the Green Heart, green farmland in the middle of the conurbation.

[edit] Talk

[edit] Get in

[edit] Get around

[edit] By car

The Randstad has various motorways. Traffic jams can occur at any time of the day; however rush hour lasts from 6.00 am to 10.00 am and from 3.00 pm to 7.00 pm. Major bottlenecks can create traffic jams up to 20 kilometers in length. Most motorways are no wider than 2x2 or 2x3 lanes, despite having some of the highest traffic volumes in Europe. Some hard shoulders are in use as peak hour lanes - traffic is allowed to use the hard shoulder as a 3rd lane during periods of congestion, when signs indicate. Because of the lack of sufficient minor roads, a lot of local traffic also uses the motorways.

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[edit] Stay safe

[edit] Get out