Examples of New York’s rich Dutch colonial history can be hard to find in 2016 — mostly neighborhood names and street signs here or there.
But what about on the other side of the Atlantic? With tulips in full flower through right now, New Yorkers who want to get in touch their roots should head to the Netherlands. Once there, they’ll find picturesque tree-lined canals practically unchanged from the time of our New York ancestors four centuries ago.
As the old song goes: “Even old New York was once New Amsterdam,” so start your visit in Amsterdam itself, which is not only chock-full of history but also makes an excellent headquarters for exploring the country by train. The surprisingly affordable 5-star NH Amsterdam Barbizon Palace (rooms start at $200) is conveniently located within walking distance of Amsterdam Centraal, the city’s main train station.
Steps from the hotel is the medieval Schreierstoren (“Weeping Tower”) at Prins Hendrikkade 94-95, the spot where Henry Hudson set sail for America in 1609. He was searching for a shortcut to the Spice Islands in East Asia, but he never made it that far —he stumbled upon Manhattan instead.
European settlement on Manhattan coincided with the Dutch Golden Age, and there’s no better place to explore that era than the newly renovated Rijksmuseum (Museumstraat 1; $20), which showcases works by period painters like Rembrandt, Vermeer, Frans Hals and many more. Check out more mundane items, as well: the museum displays furnishings and household objects just like those early New Amsterdammers would have brought across the Atlantic.
To put the art you’ve seen in context, take the 10-minute tram ride to the Amsterdam Museum (Kalverstraat 92; $14), which engagingly traces the city’s history from fishing village to the present.
However, the best way to get a feel for 17th-century Amsterdam is simply to walk the city’s narrow streets and canals — the same canals New Amsterdam’s settlers would have known. From Dam Square’s royal palace (built originally as City Hall in 1655) and 15th-century “new” church to Rembrandt’s house (Jodenbreestraat 4; $15), reminders of the Dutch Golden Age are everywhere.
Even at its peak, New Amsterdam was a tiny place; the wall that gave its name to Wall Street marked the town’s northern border. Today, a 30-minute trip on the subway will whisk you to heart of Harlem, once a remote Dutch farming village known as Nieuw Haarlem. Or travel by NS — the efficient Dutch National Railway — which takes visitors from Amsterdam Centraal to the heart of old Haarlem ($5 one way) in half that time.
A 10-minute walk from the station brings you to Haarlem’s Grote Markt, its pedestrian-only central square. The medieval town hall has a 1630 facade; opposite it are the Grote Kerk ($3), a 15th-century church, and the Vleeshal, a 1603 building that once held the town’s meat and leather markets. If you didn’t get enough Dutch Masters at the Rijksmuseum, check out the Frans Hals Museum (Groot Heiligland 62; $7), and while it’s not period, the fantastic De Adriaan windmill (Papentorenvest 1a) is worth seeking out for the postcard views.
What we today call Brooklyn was originally a series of six Dutch towns — including Breukelen, named for a village that now lies on the rail line between Amsterdam and Utrecht. If you are heading to Utrecht on the train NS Sprinter, you might want to first go to Breukelen (30 minutes/$7 one way from Amsterdam Centraal) for a look around. Three minutes from the station by taxi is the Pieterskerk, a church that dates back to the 15th century; behind the church, restaurants and shops lines bustling Kerkbrink, and a short walk on the Brugstraat leads to a quaint crossing over the Vecht River — a Breukelen Bridge, if you will.
However, Breukelen isn’t much of a tourist town, so reboard the train for Utrecht (New York’s Bensonhurst was once Nieuw Utrecht), the best-preserved medieval city in the Netherlands. Stroll the canals (which feature both upper and lower levels) and explore the cathedral, where underground tours ($11.50) uncover the history of the church and town.
A final stop on a New York pilgrimage is The Hague, seat of the Dutch government. The legislature, known as the Staten-Generaal, is the namesake of Staten Island. The train takes a little less than an hour from Amsterdam Centraal ($13 one way), and it’s then just a 10-minute walk to the Binnenhof, the warren of ancient buildings that houses the legislature. It was here in 1652 that lawyer Adrian Van der Donck persuaded the Staten-Generaal to give Manhattanites a limited form of self-government, making New Amsterdam the first chartered city in America. Tours in Dutch (starting at $7) are available from ProDemos at Hofweg 1; request the recorded English-language audio accompaniment.
Across from the Binnenhof is the Mauritshuis ($16), the spectacular small museum that houses Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring” and “The Goldfinch.” Near the train station is the Dutch National Archives (Prins Willem-Alexanderhof 20), which not only hosts temporary exhibitions ($6), but holds numerous documents and maps relating to New Amsterdam that can be accessed by researchers. A highlight is one of the only firsthand depictions of 17th-century Manhattan, a 1665 view from Brooklyn painted by Johannes Vingboons.
Once you’re back in New York, head to Flatlands and the 1652 Wyckoff House Museum (Fridays and Saturday only; 5816 Clarendon Road; $5), the city’s first landmarked building and the only place in Gotham to really feel what life was like on the 17th-century Dutch frontier.