Customer Reviews

The Rough Guide to Holland, 2nd Edition (Rough Guide to the Netherlands)

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After years of visiting family in the Netherlands and visiting obvious tourist attractions, I felt it was time to find a guide to help me unearth those not so noticeable sights. I quickly discovered that it was challenging to locate a book that focuses solely on the Netherlands. Then I stumbled upon the Rough Guide to the Netherlands. I thought I had finally discovered the ideal comprehensive Dutch travel book. But after opening the beautifully photographed cover, I dove into the introduction only to find the following statement, "Indeed for such a small and accessible country, the Netherlands is, apart from Amsterdam, relatively unknown territory." Unfortunately, I did not find that this book helped to dispel this myth and encourage travel anywhere outside of Amsterdam.

By the tone of the writing, it felt as though the writer(s) had a negative image of this country even before writing a sentence. They overlooked many of the quaint, personal aspects of this country, as well as many of the attractions that I considered obvious places to visit. I was able to attain more useful information about cities in the Netherlands from my outdated copy of Let's Go Europe 1994, which covers information on over a dozen countries in just one book.

In the back of the Rough Guide, there is a section of assorted English/Dutch translations, which can be extremely helpful for travelers. They list simple terms like hello, good-bye, thank you, etc and important translations for questions like, "where is the bathroom?"

If you are looking for a travel book to list a handful of plain-as-the-nose-on-your-face attractions in Amsterdam, then you found your book. If you are looking for an all-inclusive guide to aid your explorations throughout the Netherlands, this is not it. Unfortunately, at the time of writing this review, I have not found a book I can recommend and I am also sad to say this is the first book that I will return to Amazon.

This is the closest thing out there to my ideal guide. The authors really did their research, and it showed in the copious amounts of background info for each city and region. Listings for lodging, restaurants and attractions were scrupulously accurate. The Rough Guide does not have as much of a budget focus as Let's Go; it does list inexpensive places to stay, but has a little bit of a tendency to sneer at them. The only drawback for me was that the authors' taste is more boyish and more upscale than mine. They like military and shipping museums and dungeons a lot, and are a little too harsh on places they find kitschy or dull. Nevertheless, I'm glad I brought this guide along. It made my trip much more enjoyable and did a lot for my peace of mind.

It is always dangerous to criticize a travel guide to a place you have always lived, but reading this guide once again confronted me with the prevailing prejudice that Holland (the Netherlands) equals Amsterdam. Allow me to let you in on a little secret: it doesn't.
Personally, I don't care for Amsterdam that much: much of it is a noisy, messy, tourist trap filled with people you would prefer to avoid. Outside the capital life is generally much more gentle. However, there is enough hustle and bustle to be found in the nightlife of Rotterdam, Utrecht, or Groningen.
The problem is that you are unlikely to experience those places after having read this guide. Often it reads like an extension of the RG to Amsterdam, showing an unwillingness on the part of the researches to take the long one-hour train journey to Utrecht or Rotterdam and take in those places. Although I generally prefer this series over Lonely Planet, my advice is to take the 'other' guide to the Netherlands if you're really interested in travelling outside Amsterdam

I discovered The Rough Guide series last year when I was dazzled by their guide to Thailand. By comparing the Holland version to that one, however, I'd say TRG has dropped the ball in The Netherlands. Whereas TRG Thailand approaches its subject at a subdued level of wonder, the Holland writers seem to have gone about their itinerary by suppressing their interest in anything outside of Amsterdam or art museums. Forget subdued, it's as if the authors burned out in the capital, and a mummified expedition dragged their feet through the polders out of a need to comply with the terms of their contract. Humbug quotes from famous writers set the tone for chapters on cities they dislike. Many of the towns they cover are evaluated with Amsterdam as their benchmark: Utrecht - "just a half-hour from Amsterdam, all the brashness and vitality of the capital is absent;" The Hague - "[the city's] older buildings are a rather modest collection with little of Amsterdam's flamboyance." A measly six pages are devoted to Rotterdam, none of which mention the city's uppermost nightlife (for the sake of comparison, Michelin's guide gives Rotterdam twenty). Furthermore, parks and recreation get little or no air time. Nothing is mentioned in the way of The Hague's many forests and dune parks. If you obeyed only this guide, you wouldn't know that sky diving, among other sports, is offered in the Frisian Islands.

I do enjoy the voice of the Rough Guides, that of a discerning traveller, and the gray informational sections detailing national custom are usually right on target. As expected, each of these signature features can be found here. But if you want a comprehensive guide to The Netherlands, for recreation & nightlife as well as Amsterdam & museums, you might look elsewhere. I'd start with Michelin.