A recent survey of nearly 140,000 Dutch people found that Amsterdam is no longer the most popular city in the Netherlands, having fallen to sixth place behind Maastricht, Utrecht, Rotterdam, Texel and Den Bosch. “Amsterdam used to be cheeky, but now it’s obnoxious,” a brand consultant told AD newspaper, “combining self assurance with arrogance.” With tourist numbers soaring – 22.9 million nights spent in the city last year, up three per cent on 2023 – many locals complain it’s hard for families to live and work in the capital.
The most obvious rival is Rotterdam, the Manchester of the Netherlands, about forty-five miles southwest of Amsterdam. Home to Europe’s largest cargo port, the city has an unpretentious, straight-talking character. Flattened by German bombs in 1940, Rotterdam has compensated with daring modern architecture. Highlights include the Depot of the Boijmans Van Beuningen museum, a mirrored coffee-cup-shaped building with a roof garden, and the new Fenix migration museum, topped with a shiny spiral. A water taxi to Fenix offers a thrilling view, followed by seafood at Hotel New York (doubles from £200).
For those seeking smaller towns, Deventer, about a hundred miles east of Rotterdam, is a Hanseatic gem with over five hundred listed buildings. Its streets around the Lebuiniskerk cathedral are filled with restaurants and bars, and in December the Dickens Festival transforms the town into a Victorian costume drama. City-centre hotel Finch, in a converted bank, offers doubles from £147. Further north, Leeuwarden in Friesland boasts the leaning Oldehove tower and the In De Brouwerij hotel-restaurant, which is “in the brewery” (doubles from £80). Nightlife stays buzzing along the Doelesteeg.
All these destinations are reachable by Eurostar from London to the Netherlands, with some requiring one or two rail connections from the Eurostar terminals in Amsterdam or Rotterdam. These no-fly mini-breaks offer a taste of Dutch culture without the crowds.
