Netherlands

Photo: De Valk Windmill

The De Valk Windmill now houses a museum with bird's-eye views of scenic Leiden.

Photograph by Jon Hicks/CORBIS

Squatting between Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the west and north, the Netherlands has been crisscrossed countless times by invading armies all the way back to those of Julius Caesar, in the first century A.D. • Its "golden era" arrived in the 17th century, with the founding of far-flung colonies. • This was also the period of Old Masters Rembrandt and Hals. • Today, the treasures they painted, and many more, may be found in world-class museums from Amsterdam to Rotterdam.

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