The Netherlands – the first place in eight months that could spell and understand Matts last name on the first go. Not only that, it has the most gorgeous cities we have visited on this entire trip so far. Arriving in Amsterdam, we weren’t sure what to expect based on the city’s reputation we had heard about (red light district, coffee shops etc.)

Amsterdam truly exceeded our expectations by giving us a relaxed cultural experience in a beautiful setting. The canals that run through the city are well maintained and the streets decorated with hanging flower baskets. On our first night it was absolutely pouring down with rain so we had an early night and a couple of gourmet burgers watching soggy cyclists pass by. The following morning with perfect blue sky to we treated ourselves to breakfast out (which we never do, always instant oats with fruit) and the cafe we chose was a owned by a New Zealander. This meant for an excellent flat white and an eggs benedict that would give Mount Eden cafes a run for their money. With the toilets being labelled as ‘wharepaku, it all felt very homely.

We spent the rest of the day wandering the small cobbled streets, visited the spectacular Van Gogh museum and then went to check out the infamous red light district in the evening. This was much less seedier than we were expecting and very touristy, especially at 9:30pm. Overall, Amsterdam is a beautiful city which I now correspond with great food, cool boutiques, flowers and bikes. Not partaking in the more risqué activities this city offers helped this.

The following day we caught a train to Utrech, which I think was even more beautiful than Amsterdam. We spent the two days wandering around, drinking coffee and then rosé in the sun. The small boutique fashion designers here were absolutely divine. I could have very easily spent thousands of euros within a couple of hours. I might have to come back for a shopping trip in the future, I love the Dutch style.

After one night in Utrech to caught a train to Den Haag where we spent two nights in a cool hostel which had an awesome buffet breakfast. We enjoyed walking around the parks here and went to a food market where we bought some aged gouda (pronounced howda, so crazy) and some other yummy items for a picnic in the park. We also visited the beach here which was very busy but had a great atmosphere, even a place to bungee jump off the pier.

From Den Haag we did a day trip to Leiden, which was about 20 Minutes away by train. Leiden was just as beautiful as Utrech and being there on a Sunday morning when the fabric market was on really added to the whimsical atmosphere. We now absolutely love having a coffee, canal front listening to the bells of the old clocks chiming, it’s like being inside a fairytale book.

The next day we travelled to Rotterdam where we spent one night. Rotterdam is really different to the other cities we visited but no less cool. It is a lot more modern with lots of quirky architecture. The central market, which you can see in the photos actually has apartments around the outside, so the windows at the top are people’s houses! There are lots of cool bridges down by the port as well as museums and art galleries. We chose to stay in a super modern pod hotel which added to the ambience of the city. I was super impressed with the accomodation. The pod was quite spacious, super comfy and had full automation via their app for playing music and changing lighting – definitely the future of lower cost, yet high quality hotels.

The Dutch people are so easy going which gave everywhere we went a very peaceful vibe. Almost everyone also speaks perfect English so this really helped. After six magical days in the Netherlands it was time to head into Belgium which is where we are currently. Next post on Belgium!