National Geographic | THE COMPASS

National Geographic

THE COMPASS

Netherlands

PHOTOGRAPH BY LUCA LOCATELLI, INSTITUTE FOR NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Dutch tulip fields, picturesque windmills, and melt-in-your-mouth cheeses are just a few of the treasures that await visitors in the Netherlands. The capital, Amsterdam, is home to iconic landmarks including 60 miles of canals, and renowned museums such as the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum. Join us this week as we see why "tiny forests" are popping up in big cities, visit the world's only floating animal sanctuary, and travel to a charming Dutch village where cars aren't allowed.

Let's explore the Netherlands.

ENVIRONMENT

Tiny Forests like this one in the Netherlands, are becoming more common around the world.

PHOTOGRAPH BY IVN NATUUREDUCATIE

Why ‘tiny forests’ are popping up in big cities

Community forests the size of a basketball court can make an outsized difference, providing shade, attracting plants and animals, and even storing a bit of carbon.

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Designed to blur the line between indoors and outdoors, the Lumen Building at Wageningen University & Research, widely regarded as the world’s top agricultural research institution, houses offices and laboratories that embody its environmental science teachings.

PHOTOGRAPH BY LUCA LOCATELLI, INSTITUTE FOR NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Step inside the Silicon Valley of agriculture

A powerhouse of innovation, this tiny country embodies the future of farming.

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ANIMALS

Borre, left, a nine-year-old male, enjoys the sun on the Catboat's deck while Kasumi, right, a 10-year-old female, looks out the window.

PHOTOGRAPH BY MUHAMMED MUHEISEN, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC

Welcome to the catboat, the world’s only floating animal sanctuary

Started in the 1960s by a local animal lover, the Catboat is a tourist attraction that still bobs in Amsterdam’s canals.

Ollie, a pigeon who visits photographer Jasper Doest’s apartment in the Netherlands every day, perches on a plate while Doest fills the dishwasher. Ollie’s partner, Dollie, watches from the outside.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JASPER DOEST

The tale of Ollie and Dollie, a pair of pigeons that befriended a family on lockdown

A National Geographic photographer finds an unexpected subject in a pair of bold pigeons that have pushed their way into his household.

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This small purple fungus, Ramariopsis pulchella, was growing in Gelderland Province on the Dutch-German border. European conservation groups are monitoring it as possibly threatened.

PHOTOGRAPH BY JAN VERMEER

The dreamlike fungi that thrive in nature’s damp corners

While sheltering at home in the Netherlands, this photographer watched an array of fungi appear amid the rotting wood and forest litter.

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Furrows of artificial light lend an otherworldly aura to Westland, the greenhouse capital of the Netherlands.

PHOTOGRAPH BY LUCA LOCATELLI

This tiny country feeds the world

The Netherlands has become an agricultural giant by showing what the future of farming could look like.

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TRAVEL

DREAM NOW, GO LATER

The streets of Amsterdam come alive at dusk.

PHOTOGRAPH BY REPISTU, GETTY IMAGES

Everything to know about Amsterdam

Here's how to plan the best possible trip to the "Venice of the North".

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Redhead Days is the largest festival in the world of its kind.

PHOTOGRAPH BY BRIAN DOWLING,
GETTY IMAGES

The world's largest redhead festival was founded by a blonde

Every fall thousands of redheads gather in the Netherlands.

A boat plies a canal in Giethoorn, a Dutch village built on small peat islands without roads or cars.

PHOTOGRAPH BY VIJESH KUMAR RAJU, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC YOUR SHOT

Visit the charming Dutch village where cars aren't allowed

There are no roads in Giethoorn, the picturesque hamlet known as the "Dutch Venice."

A worker prepares tulips to go to market at the Van Hage flower farm in Noordwijkerhout, Netherlands.

PHOTOGRAPH BY MUHAMMED MUHEISEN

Dutch tulip farmers are hoping for a post-pandemic boom

The COVID-19 pandemic gutted the floral industry in the Netherlands. Things are blooming again this year.

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WHERE WILL WE JOURNEY TO NEXT?

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