Netherlands · Charming villages
The most beautiful villages in Holland
A village without streets and with thatched-roof houses, windmills along the canals, fishing villages with traditional costumes and small canal towns such as Delft and Leiden: the most beautiful villages in Holland.
Updated 20 October 2026 · How we make our guides
Villages
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NetherlandsGiethoorn
The village without streets: thatched-roof houses and canals you explore by boat.
What to see in Giethoorn -
NetherlandsZaanse Schans
Windmills, green wooden houses and clog and cheese workshops.
What to see in Zaanse Schans -
NetherlandsVolendam
A fishing village of wooden houses, with traditional costumes and herring.
What to see in Volendam -
NetherlandsKinderdijk
Nineteen 18th-century windmills along the canals, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
What to see in Kinderdijk
Small towns
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NetherlandsHaarlem
A small, peaceful Amsterdam, with the Great Church and the Frans Hals Museum.
What to see in Haarlem -
NetherlandsLeiden
The oldest university in the country, canals and Rembrandt’s birthplace.
What to see in Leiden
Frequently asked questions
What are the most beautiful villages in Holland?
Giethoorn, Zaanse Schans, Volendam and Kinderdijk, and small canal towns such as Delft, Haarlem and Leiden.
Can you see them from Amsterdam?
Yes: Zaanse Schans, Volendam and Haarlem are very close, and Giethoorn and Kinderdijk work well as day trips.
When to go?
From April to September; the tulips bloom in April and early May.
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Reviewed 20 October 2026. Dates and seasonal warnings: the same data the Bagintravel app uses. Sources and method.
Cover photo: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas (CC BY-SA 3.0), Wikimedia Commons.