From Wikitravel

North-Holland (Dutch: Noord-Holland) is a Province of the Netherlands. It is the northern half of the old County of Holland, and contains many of the historic cities, towns, and landscapes considered typical of the country. The name 'Holland' is often used for the whole country, but North-Holland should not be confused with the northern Netherlands, which consists of Friesland, Groningen (province) and Drente.

Contents 1 Regions 2 Cities and towns 3 Understand 4 Talk 5 Get in 5.1 By plane 5.2 By train 6 Get around 7 See 8 Do 9 Eat 10 Drink 11 Get out

Regions

Cities and towns

• Amsterdam
• Bussum
• Haarlem
• Alkmaar
• Enkhuizen
• Hilversum
• Hoorn
• Marken
• Weesp
• Naarden

Understand

North-Holland is one of the twelve provinces and consists of about 60 municipalities. It can be divided into the following regions:

• 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.

Get around

There is an excellent public transport network throughout the Netherlands and particularly in the highly populated province of North-Holland. Buses and railways criss-cross the region with services reaching all but the most remote villages. Larger cities in North Holland (Amsterdam, Haarlem, Hilversum) also have trams and sometimes light railways (metros). Planning routes across the region (and throughout the country) is easier than in most areas of Northern Europe because of the co-operation between the service providers. http://www.9292ov.nl provides a comprehensive point-to-point public transport route planner covering all major transport types.

See

Do

Eat

Drink

Get out

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