# Road trips in Netherlands > 7 road trips and 25 hand-picked places in Netherlands, with routes, stops and practical tips for driving and camping. Source: https://camping-spirit.com/roadtrips/netherlands/ 7 road trips and 25 hand-picked places in Netherlands, with routes, stops and practical tips for driving and camping. ## Road trips through Netherlands - [Tulips, windmills and dikes](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/dutch-classics/): Keukenhof’s bulb fields, the mills of Zaanse Schans, the Afsluitdijk and the canals of Giethoorn. - [Zeeland and the Delta Works](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b5-zeeland-delta/): Storm barriers, dams and old harbour towns: the road the Dutch built across the sea after the 1953 flood. - [Friesland and the Wadden coast](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b5-frisian-wadden/): Painted towns on the IJsselmeer, a planetarium in a living room and the mudflats of the Wadden Sea, from Hindeloopen to Groningen. - [Hoge Veluwe and the Hanseatic IJssel](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b5-veluwe-ijssel/): Van Gogh in the forest, a royal palace, heathland and the old Hanseatic towns on the IJssel, in the green heart of the Netherlands. - [Old Holland: Delft, The Hague, Leiden and Haarlem](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b14-old-holland/): Delft Blue and Vermeer, the Mauritshuis and the sea at Scheveningen, Leiden’s canals and mills, Haarlem’s great church and the dunes. - [North Holland: Marken, Edam, Hoorn and Alkmaar](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b14-north-holland/): A moated castle, the green wooden houses of Marken, cheese towns and a UNESCO polder, the Zuiderzee Museum and Alkmaar’s Friday cheese market. - [South Limburg: Maastricht, Valkenburg and the three-country point](https://camping-spirit.com/guides/b14-south-limburg/): Maastricht’s old town and marl caves, a hilltop castle ruin in Valkenburg, the highest point of the Netherlands and Charlemagne’s cathedral in Aachen. ## Places worth the detour in Netherlands - [Keukenhof](https://camping-spirit.com/places/keukenhof/): Millions of tulips in flower for about eight weeks each spring, surrounded by working bulb fields. - [Maeslantkering](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b5-maeslantkering/): The storm-surge barrier that guards Rotterdam: two floating gates, each as long as the Eiffel Tower is tall, lying open on the banks of the Nieuwe Waterweg. The visitor centre explains how it closes. - [Oosterscheldekering](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b5-oosterscheldekering/): The largest of the Delta Works, a 9 km barrier of sluice gates that stays open to the tide and closes only in storms. Park on the artificial island of Neeltje Jans to walk out over the dam. - [Eise Eisinga Planetarium](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b5-eisinga-planetarium/): A working model of the solar system built into the ceiling of a wool-comber’s living room in the 1770s, the oldest still-operating planetarium in the world. - [Kröller-Müller Museum](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b5-kroller-muller/): A major Van Gogh collection and a large sculpture garden in the middle of Hoge Veluwe National Park. Leave the car at a park gate and use the free white bicycles. - [Mauritshuis](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b14-mauritshuis/): A small 17th-century palace by the Hofvijver lake holding Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring and Rembrandt’s Anatomy Lesson. Book a time slot in busy periods; park in a city garage and walk. - [Zuiderzee Museum](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b14-zuiderzeemuseum/): An open-air museum of rebuilt fishing-village streets, workshops and boats from around the old Zuiderzee. The outdoor museum is open from spring to autumn; allow half a day. - [Alkmaar Cheese Market](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b14-alkmaar-cheese-market/): Porters in white carry wheels of cheese on wooden barrows across the Waagplein in front of the old weigh house. The market runs on Friday mornings from April to September; arrive before 10 for a place. - [Kinderdijk](https://camping-spirit.com/places/kinderdijk/): Nineteen 18th-century windmills along the polder canals. - [Zaanse Schans](https://camping-spirit.com/places/zaanse-schans/): Green wooden houses and working windmills on the river Zaan, a short drive from Amsterdam. - [Afsluitdijk](https://camping-spirit.com/places/afsluitdijk/): A 32 km dam with a motorway on top, separating the sea from a freshwater lake since 1932. - [Westkapelle Lighthouse](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b5-westkapelle-lighthouse/): A former church tower turned lighthouse, standing behind the great sea dike of Walcheren. A Sherman tank on the dike recalls the 1944 bombing that flooded the island. - [Seal Centre Pieterburen](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b5-zeehondencentrum/): A rescue centre for seals found sick or orphaned on the Wadden coast. Pieterburen is also the base for guided mudflat walks at low tide, which you should never try without a guide. - [Paleis Het Loo](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b5-paleis-het-loo/): The Dutch royal family’s former summer palace, with restored Baroque gardens laid out in strict symmetry and a new underground museum wing. - [Posbank](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b5-posbank/): Rolling heath on the edge of the Veluwe with long views over the IJssel valley. Best in late August, when the heather flowers purple; Highland cattle graze the slopes. - [Netherlands Open Air Museum](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b5-openluchtmuseum/): Farmhouses, windmills and workshops moved here from all over the country, spread through woodland on the edge of Arnhem. Allow half a day. - [Scheveningen Pier](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b14-scheveningen-pier/): The pier in front of the Kurhaus at The Hague’s seaside resort, with a wide sandy beach and dunes on either side. Paid parking along the boulevard; trams 1 and 9 run from the centre. - [Molen De Valk](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b14-molen-de-valk/): A tall 18th-century grain windmill on Leiden’s old city wall, now a museum where you can climb to the gallery. It is a few minutes’ walk from the station and the canals of the old town. - [Grote Kerk (St. Bavo), Haarlem](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b14-st-bavo-haarlem/): A great Gothic church on Haarlem’s market square with a Müller organ that Mozart played as a boy. Summer organ concerts are held on set days; use the park-and-ride outside the centre. - [Zuid-Kennemerland National Park](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b14-kennemerduinen/): Dunes, pine woods and lakes between Haarlem and the sea, with wisent bison and Highland cattle grazing in fenced areas. Start at the De Zandwaaier visitor centre at Overveen; walking and cycle paths are free. - [Muiderslot](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b14-muiderslot/): A moated 13th-century castle at the mouth of the Vecht, furnished as it was in the 17th century when poets met here. Paid parking by the harbour; gardens and ramparts are part of the visit. - [Beemster Polder](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b14-beemster/): A UNESCO-listed polder drained in 1612, laid out on a strict grid of roads, ditches and tree lines. Drive or cycle its straight dikes; the village of Middenbeemster has a small museum. - [Fort Sint Pieter and the Sint-Pietersberg caves](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b14-fort-sint-pieter/): An 18th-century fort on the hill south of Maastricht, above a maze of marl tunnels dug over centuries. The caves can only be seen on guided tours; book ahead and bring a jacket. - [Valkenburg Castle ruins](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b14-valkenburg-castle/): The ruins of the only hilltop castle in the Netherlands, above the Geul valley, with secret passages in the marl. The ticket includes the castle and caves below; parking in the town is paid. - [Vaalserberg Three-Country Point](https://camping-spirit.com/places/b14-vaalserberg/): The point where the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany meet, at 322 m the highest ground in the European Netherlands. A viewing tower and a hedge maze stand beside it; paid parking. ## FAQs **What are the best road trips in Netherlands?** Popular routes include Tulips, windmills and dikes, Zeeland and the Delta Works, Friesland and the Wadden coast and Hoge Veluwe and the Hanseatic IJssel. CampingSpirit has 7 trip guides that pass through Netherlands, each with a stop-by-stop itinerary and a route map. **Which places in Netherlands are worth a detour?** Our editors recommend Keukenhof, Maeslantkering, Oosterscheldekering, Eise Eisinga Planetarium, Kröller-Müller Museum and Mauritshuis. **Do you need a vignette or pay tolls in Netherlands?** No motorway tolls for cars. 100 km/h on motorways between 6:00 and 19:00. Rules and prices change. Check official sources before you travel. **What is the motorway speed limit in Netherlands?** 100/130 km/h on motorways for cars, unless signs show otherwise. **Are there low-emission zones in Netherlands?** Low-emission zones in some cities.