Haarlem

Haarlem, an art-filled Dutch jewel
within striking distance of Amsterdam

Some visitors to Amsterdam prefer to "commute" from Haarlem, which lies 11 miles west of Amsterdam. The small city (pop. 150,000) has a similar 17th-century ambience as many of the towns in the Netherlands, but gets along nicely without the many hassles that go with the nearby capital's famously tolerant and often eccentric lifestyle.

You can easily travel around this quaint, quiet center of music and art on foot. Haarlem is close to the North Sea beaches and to the bulb fields, at the heart of an area dotted with elegant manor houses and picturesque villages.

A visit to the city’s Frans Hals Museum may be a high point of your trip to Holland; the galleries here are the halls and furnished chambers of the Oudemannenhuis (1608), a onetime home for retired gentlemen. The famous paintings by Frans Hals (whose style inspired van Gogh) and other masters of the Haarlem School hang in settings that look like the 17th-century houses they were intended to adorn.

© 2009, Wiley Publishing, Inc.