The capital of the Netherlands is part of a polycentric metropolitan area along with Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. This metropolitan area is called Ranstad and the numerous suburbs of Amsterdam are part of it.
Below sea level
Netherlands Air Gateway - Amsterdam International Airport. It is located in the suburbs of Amsterdam in the town of Schiphol. During its existence, the Dutch airport has more than once become a record holder among its brethren:
- Schiphol is located three meters below sea level, which makes it unique among all commercial airports in the world.
- The height of its tower is 101 meters, and this was an absolute record until 1991.
- Amsterdam Airport has become the best in the world three times, and the title of the best in the Old World, it did not concede to anyone at the end of the twentieth century for 15 years.
The Schiphol railway station accepts commuter trains connecting the airport not only with the capital, but also with The Hague and Rotterdam. In addition, from this suburb of Amsterdam, you can go to Paris, Berlin, Brussels and Antwerp.
By the coastal dunes
Haarlem is located 20 km west of the capital of the Netherlands. This suburb of Amsterdam is especially famous for the botanical garden, where Carl Linnaeus was engaged in scientific research.
For modern tourists, the Grote Markt is of undoubted interest - the market square of Haarlem with the town hall built in the 14th century and meat rows built in the 16th century. The oldest building on the square is the 13th century city guard house, which has the honorary status of a national monument.
At the Frans Hals Museum, visitors to the suburbs of Amsterdam can get acquainted with the collection of paintings by the Haarlem School of Painting, and at the Taylor Museum - with the works of Michelangelo and Raphael. By the way, the building of Taylor's exposition is of interest in itself - it is the only museum in the world that has placed its treasures in an authentic building of the 18th century, where even the old interior has been preserved.
Aluminum man
This suburb of Amsterdam entered the line of defense of the Dutch capital at the end of the 19th century. A fort, casemates and two batteries were erected next to its main channel, connected to the adjacent defensive fortifications by an engineering dam. And the main attractions in Hoofddorp are two - an old windmill built in the middle of the 19th century and a seven-meter figure of a man made of irregularly shaped aluminum "pancakes".
