NETHERLANDS

Houseboats bobbing merrily in tree-lined canals. Narrow streets that provide a counterpart to nearly 20,000 miles of biking trails, punctuated by the bells of passing cyclists. Fields awash in stripes of every color as tulips turn their faces to the breeze of 1,200 picturesque windmills. All of these images are redolent of only one place: the Netherlands, one of the most broad-minded and utterly charming countries in the world.

Although famous as a land of philosophers and painters, scientists and physicists, it’s home to more bicycles than people—good-naturedly known as Kaaskoppen (“cheeseheads”) due to their love of cheese. Taste gouda, edam, and limburger in the places they were named for in shops tucked away between Gothic halls and traditionally gabled houses. Within their walls, find hints of the scenes captured on canvas by Golden Age greats like Rembrandt and Vermeer. Beyond them, catch a game at one of the 35,000 sport clubs dotted throughout the Netherlands or lose yourself in the rhythms of Nederpop, Nederhop, or EDM in one of the many nightclubs. Whichever beat guides your feet, the destination they’ll long to return to is just one—the Netherlands.