Europe
Benelux
Netherlands

Northern Netherlands

Obscure among foreigners, the Northern Netherlands can be a pleasant surprise. This sparsely inhabited region is home to some stunning historic fortifications, lovely cities, great museums and excellent watersports opportunities.
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Photo: WiDi, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Essential Destinations

Top destinations include Groningen and Leeuwarden.

Photo: Wutsje, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a lively student city in the Northern Netherlands. It is the capital of a with the same name and home to about 217,000 inhabitants, making it the largest city in the north.

Photo: Ymblanter, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is the capital of the Dutch province in the north of the country. and Friesland as a whole are often overlooked by visitors.

Photo: Elgaard, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a city in The Netherlands and is the capital of the province of . is the place to go for Dutch motorsports fans, as it is home to the TT Circuit where the annual Dutch TT Race is held.

Destinations to Discover

Explore places such as Friesland and Drenthe.

is a province of the . It is known for its unique language and culture. has a Nordic feel to it. It has a strong sports culture: ice skating is the most popular sport, and is done along indigenous sports such as fierljeppen and skûtjesilen.

is a province in the northeast of the . It is bordered by in the south, in the west, to the north and the German districts of Emsland and Bentheim in the east.

is the northeasternmost province in the Netherlands. It is mainly agricultural with its capital, also called , as the only big city around.

Photo: Danapit, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The are a chain of islands that lie at the northern side of the . The islands separate the North Sea from the shallow , with tidal mud flats.

Northern Netherlands

Latitude of center
53.0544° or 53° 3′ 16″ north
Longitude of center
6.3831° or 6° 22′ 59″ east
Wiki­data ID
Q3292403
This page is based on Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikivoyage.
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Satellite Map

Discover Northern Netherlands from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
© Stadia Maps, Airbus DS, CNES, PlanetObserver, and Copernicus

In Other Languages

From Arabic to Western Frisian—“Northern Netherlands” goes by many names.
  • Arabic: “شمال- هولندا”
  • Dutch: “Noord-Nederland”
  • French: “Pays-Bas du Nord”
  • French: “Pays-Bas septentrionaux”
  • French: “Pays-Bas Septentrionaux”
  • Greek: “Βόρειες Κάτω Χώρες”
  • Hebrew: “צפון הולנד”
  • Italian: “Paesi Bassi settentrionali”
  • Limburgan: “Noord-Nederland”
  • Russian: “Северные Нидерланды”
  • Slovak: “Severné Holandsko”
  • Western Frisian: “Noard-Nederlân”

Netherlands: Must-Visit Destinations

Delve into Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht.

Explore These Curated Destinations

Discover places selected for their distinct character and enduring appeal.
About Mapcarta. Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, except for photos, directions, and the map. Description text is based on the Wikivoyage page “Northern Netherlands”. Photo: WiDi, CC BY-SA 3.0.