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NOORD-HOLLAND
Centrally located along the North Sea of the Netherlands, the Dutch province of North Holland is home to the national capital of Amsterdam, a 15-minute train ride east of the provincial capital of Haarlem.
Over the centuries, the Dutch have worked to control the waterways through engineering and with windmills, and use them to their advantage. Bicycles traverse across the bridges that span canals, while boats slip beneath them. Dams and dikes create freshwater lakes and additional land that would otherwise be submerged.
Cities and Region

♦ Amsterdam
Greater Amsterdam, canals, architecture, museums, Schiphol Airport
♦ Haarlem
beaches, dunes
♦ North Holland
Hilversum: cycling/walking trails in this “Garden of Amsterdam”;
Edam: cheese, windmills, lake harbors;
Alkmaar: cheese market; Hoorn: agriculture;
Texel (Tessel): largest of the West Frisian Islands, bird watching, dunes, beaches