North-Holland

The part of the province north of Amsterdam - With its cow-filled meadows, ditches and windmills, even today much of this area is still archetypically Dutch. The old towns on the IJsselmeer such as Volendam, Marken and Enkhuizen are picturesque too.
The North Sea coast - Almost the entire coastline consists of wide, sandy beaches. In summer, especially Zandvoort draws many inhabitants of Amsterdam.
"Het Gooi" (the area to the east of Weesp) - Because of its forests, heaths and access to the IJsselmeer, Het Gooi is a very desirable area to live in. Many television-related organizations are based here.
The triangle between Haarlem, Amsterdam and Schiphol Airport - This is arguably the economic heart of the country and riddled with modern office buildings. Companies like ABN Amro and Philips have their headquarters here.

Talk

With the exception of immigrants, most people in North-Holland speak standard Dutch, with standard pronunciation. Many speak English, although often not as well as they think they do.

Get in

By plane

As it is home to Schiphol Airport, North-Holland is easy to reach by plane.

By train

International train services connect Schiphol/Amsterdam with Germany as well as Belgium/France.