Netherlands & Belgium
The Netherlands and Belgium have much to offer, but it's their shared maritime heritage on the North Sea that gives these neighboring "Low Countries" a special place among European nations. This is evident at UNESCO World Heritage sites like Kinderdijk, where 19 iconic Dutch windmills dating back to the 18th century preserve a vanished way of life... Amsterdam's 17th-century grachten (canals) fanning out in crescent-shaped rings... the medieval center of beautiful Bruges (Brugge) in Flanders, sporting its own canals... or La Grand-Place in Brussels, one of Europe's oldest and most significant market squares. But it is in springtime when the true gems of Holland and Belgium really shine – tulips, daffodils and hyacinths abloom along the inland waterways, in cities like Antwerp or Maastricht, or in grand gardens like Keukenhof.