- Let's take a look at the map
- How New Year is celebrated in the Netherlands
- With a glass of "Blue Lagoon"
- Useful information for travelers
If you want to spend your Christmas weekend in a fun, interesting and very bright way, go to the Netherlands. New Year in the country that we often call Holland is colored orange. One hundred shades of orange make you forget about cloudy weather, and your vacation is guaranteed positive and sunny emotions.
Let's take a look at the map
The Kingdom of the Netherlands stretches along the North Sea coast in Western Europe. Weather forecasters call the climate of the country temperate maritime:
- Holland winters are usually warm and mild. The average air temperature in late December and early January is kept at around + 2 ° С - + 5 ° С during the day. At night, mercury columns can drop to zero and even slightly lower.
- In recent years, due to global warming, the Dutch have almost stopped skating as they used to: the canals do not freeze. But sometimes the country falls under the influence of cold anticyclones from Eastern Europe, and then guests of the Netherlands can watch the locals use skates as an individual vehicle.
- Snow in the winter in Holland falls quite rarely and almost does not lie due to the above-zero temperature.
Winter weather in the Netherlands is characterized by high humidity. Even at moderate temperatures, the combination of humidity with strong winds from the sea creates an uncomfortable microclimate. Going to celebrate the New Year in Holland, be sure to take waterproof warm shoes and clothes that protect from the wind with you.
How New Year is celebrated in the Netherlands
The festively decorated streets and squares of Dutch cities are a sure sign that the Christmas break is imminent. The most impatient begin to decorate the trees and the facades of their own houses in early November.
A favorite pastime of tourists who arrived in Amsterdam in December is boat trips along the canals of the capital. From the water, the illumination looks especially elegant and the voyage turns into a fabulous adventure. Book a boat trip for the evening when the lights are on and the city looks colorful and vibrant.
New Year's markets open in Holland in November. There are dozens of large and small bazaars in Amsterdam and other cities of the country, where you can buy a Christmas tree and fresh fish, knitted hats and wooden clogs, tulip bulbs and souvenirs for friends and colleagues. An incomparable aroma of mulled wine and ginger cookies floats through the streets of the kingdom, and famous and not so famous musicians and singers perform at open concert venues.
A local Santa arrives in Amsterdam in mid-November. The name of the Dutch Father Frost is Sinterklaas, and Spain is considered the place of his permanent residence. The warm-loving grandfather comes to the kingdom of tulips only during the holidays, and the mayor himself presents the symbolic key from the Dutch capital to Sinterklaas.
The first official celebrations with the presentation of gifts take place on December 5 on the day of St. Nicholas. The kids discover chocolate and other tasty things in socks hung by the fireplaces the night before. For adults, rare tulip bulbs are still considered the best gift in the kingdom.
By December 31, the Dutch, who have celebrated Christmas on the eve, come to their senses and set the tables again. The highlight of the program is a special type of New Year's cookies, which are baked in each region of the country according to their own recipe. "Slam" is considered a New Year's drink, made from hot milk with sugar, cinnamon, cloves and other spices.
Fans of noisy companies celebrate the New Year in clubs. In the Netherlands, party organizers are generous with ideas, and each venue prepares an entertainment program with fun pranks, concert numbers and fireworks. By the way, fireworks on New Year's Eve are another invariable attribute of the holiday. Guests and residents of Dutch cities can see and hear hundreds of festive volleys after midnight in the central squares.
With a glass of "Blue Lagoon"
Did you know that the famous blue liqueur "Curasao", which is included in many tropical cocktails, is named after the island in the Caribbean, which is a federal subject of the Kingdom of the Netherlands? In addition to him, Aruba and Sint Maarten located there are also members of the union. If you like tropical exoticism in the middle of winter, go to celebrate the New Year in the southern Netherlands.
In winter, these parts are hot and dry. The air temperature on land and in the ocean is about + 28 ° C and + 26 ° C, respectively, and precipitation is rare and only in the form of short night showers.
You can organize a flight to exotic islands on the wings of Dutch airlines with a transfer in Amsterdam. If you choose a long connection, you can enjoy the festive Dutch capital before the long flight to the hot Caribbean.
Useful information for travelers
Direct flights from Moscow to Amsterdam are made by Russian and Dutch lines, and with transfers in European cities you can get to the New Year celebrations in Holland and on the wings of other carriers:
- Aeroflot and KLM offer direct flights from Moscow Sheremetyevo Airport to Amsterdam Schiphol. The travel time is 3-3, 5 hours, the cost of tickets is 300 and 280 euros round trip, respectively.
- With a connection in Frankfurt, German Airlines will take you to Amsterdam. A round-trip ticket aboard Lufthansa will cost only 190 euros. Travel time takes 4, 5 hours excluding transfer. In the Russian capital, flights are carried out from Domodedovo airport.
Early booking of tickets will help to save on flights. The lowest prices for air tickets can be "caught" six months before the planned trip. Another way to optimize transfer costs is to subscribe to the newsletter e-mail on the official websites of air carriers. This way you can be one of the first to know about discounts and special offers. The addresses of the sites you need are www.lufthansa.com, www.klm.com, www.aeroflot.ru.
If you prefer to travel by land transport, you can get from Moscow to Amsterdam to celebrate the New Year by using Ecolines buses.
Buses leave several times a week from the bus station at the Varshavskaya metro station in the Russian capital. The travel time is exactly two days, and the cost of a one-way ticket is 110 euros. Each bus is equipped with multimedia and air conditioning systems. On the way, passengers can use a dry closet, individual sockets for recharging electronic gadgets and machines for making hot drinks. Luggage is placed in a spacious cargo hold.
You can clarify information, see prices for services and a detailed schedule on the official website of the carrier - www.ecolines.net
Traveling by car to the Netherlands during both Christmas and other times of the year can be problematic. In the cities of the kingdom, the number of parking spaces is very limited, and the streets available for the movement of individual vehicles are becoming less and less every year.
