Did you know the Netherlands has a total of 1150 museums?? I mean, that’s a lot of cultural highlights in a small country such as Holland! If you don’t own a car, it can be difficult to get to them all and you are missing out on some of the good stuff. To celebrate some of these special museums, Europcar has created a free booklet with “44 off the road museums” (and I visited one of them!)
Get your discount
From October 1st, Europcar will put a large number of Dutch off-road museums in the spotlight. The car rental company has created the booklet with 44 museums throughout the Netherlands that are easily accessible by car. If you rent a car at Europcar, you will receive a special offer at the participating museums, ranging from a discount on the entrance fee to a free drink at the museum café.
A very special Museum
For my trip to this special museum I headed off to Leiden. A city that is so beautiful but often overlooked by tourists and travelers. Right at the beginning of the city center, you will see a beautiful old windmill named De Valk. At 29 meters high, this was a very different museum that I was used to! The windmill has been around for over 50 years, in fact, it was build in 1916. Back then there used to be 19 windmills in and around Leiden and De Valk is the only one remaining. It was mainly used for producing flour for making bread and was occupied by several families over the years.
After that the old mill was also used as a lookout-post by the military during the 1940’s and was shot at several times. (You can still see the bullet holes in the walls). Even though “De Valk” wasn’t officially a museum until 1966, it has always been a popular attraction to people passing by and handwritten messages have been found in a guestbook dating back from 1930. That’s a whole lot of history in one windmill!
My story in the 44 off the road museums booklet
Like this museum, dozens of museums are much better to reach by car. So what if you do not have a car? This was exactly the reason for Europcar to collaborate with 44 museums across the country. The “44 off the road museums” booklet is available for free at all the participating museums and all Europcar offices in the Netherlands. You can find my museum recommendation on page 30. For more info visit www.europcar.nl/museumtour.
Why not rent a car this weekend and have a little wander?
Love,
Elke
*We happily collaborated with Europcar for this article