Delta Region

The province of Zeeland makes up most of the Delta region. It was once a solitary place where isolated islands and medieval towns were battered by wild winds and seas. After the tragic 1953 flood, Zeeland was defended from the sea by the monumental Delta Project, but it’s still a bit of a wild spot.

Red Light District

There’s something oddly compelling about the throbbing red light district, where scantily-clad and often utterly bored women beckon from their windows to the passers-by.

It draws in visitors, regardless of moral rectitude or erotica-induced need for smelling salts. It is, in fact, more of a brand name than a call to louche arms. These days everyone knows about Amsterdam and its sex industry.

But you needn’t worry about your hormones staging a coup d’etat on your brain - for all its subject matter and worldly denizens it’s an oddly unerotic place, albeit an extremely fascinating one.

The district’s foundations were laid by the glories of the Dutch empire, reliant on soldiers and their testosterone. When ships came in, the port would get an injection of sea-weary sailors with gold to splash about, and the area - known as the Walletjes - was where women who were willing to soak it up were to be found.

These days, crowds clog the alleyways, peep-shows and alleyways while buxom but mostly-bored sex workers beckon from pink-lit windows. There are 450 of these windows and a street specialising in every taste - Latinos on Oudezijds Achterburgwal and Molsteeg, Asians on Stofstraat, and the ‘high-end’ glamour pusses along tiny Trompettersteeg by the Oude Kerk.

Wadden Islands

The country’s five northern isles in the shallow Waddenzee are important bird-breeding grounds and provide an escape for stressed mainlanders who want to touch roots with nature. Texel is the largest and most poulated island while Schiermonnikoog is the smallest and most serene.

The islands stretch in an arc from Texel to Schiermonnikoog. Texel has 24km (15mi) of beaches and hosts the world’s largest catamaran race in June. Terschelling is known as a good-time isle, while Vlieland has more of a family atmosphere. Ameland has quaint villages but explodes with tourists during summer. Ferries from Den Helder, Harlingen, Holwerd and Lauwersoog connect the islands to the mainland.