Dutch Food & Drink

Leave a few meal stops open on your Netherlands trip. A warm stroopwafel at a market, pancakes for lunch or coffee and apple pie beside a canal can be as much a part of the day as the next museum.

Start with the food guide

Dutch food to try explains the snacks, sweets, pancakes and cheese you will come across, so you can choose something that sounds good before joining a line. Poffertjes are small pancakes; stroopwafels have a syrup filling between thin waffle layers. They make different kinds of snack stops.

Put food into the route you already have

In Amsterdam, leave time between a museum visit and your next neighborhood walk for a café or market stop. The three-day itinerary groups the sightseeing so meals do not have to become rushed stops across town.

Gouda, Edam and Alkmaar connect a town visit with cheese-trading history. Choose one for its streets and sights as well as its familiar name. Volendam gives a harbor outing a different food setting, while Maastricht and Den Bosch fit a longer route through the south.

For a first visit, keep food stops close to the places you are already exploring. The itineraries and day trips are a useful way to put those days together.