#3. This 🦪Port City in the 🇳🇱Dutch Bible Belt is a Top Heritage Site

Must-See Attractions: With over 1,100 national monuments across Middelburg, and a pre-eminent Dutch heritage site, strolling through the Old Town will inevitably feel as if you stepped several hundred years back in time. Weave along the city’s canals and old Middelburg harbor, traverse old cobbled back streets, and soak in the energy of the bustling Market Square.  Snap photos outside of one of the finest Gothic buildings in all of the Netherlands, the Middelburg Town Hall (it’s gorgeous at night), or visit the sprawling Middelburg Abbey (a former monastic complex) and pop into one of its three churches (and Zeeuws Museum). 

Cultural Experiences: Learn about Middelburg and Zeeland’s storied, prosperous, and dark history at the Zeeuws Museum located in a Medieval abbey. Consisting of 30,000+ objects related to Zeeland’s history, including massive tapestries depicting 16th-century maritime battles, and a powerful ‘Afterlives of Slavery’ exhibition recounting the province’s heavy hand in the transatlantic slave trade. Home to six theaters and concert halls, dress up for a night out to enjoy world-class choirs, musicians, and theatrical performances. 

Local Cuisine & Beer Scene: When down by the water in the Netherlands, eat mussels, oysters, and other fresh seafood! Grab a fresh stroopwafel from a bakery or pack from a vending machine (“stroopwafel ATMs” blew my mind). Top it all off with local craft beer in the courtyard of Tall John Abbey Tower at Eetkamer Likkepot or open terrace Biercafe Vliegende Hollander smack-dab in the middle of the city center. Dutch beers galore can be found at the legendary Stadsbrouwerij Middelburg (a five-minute walk from the Zeeuws Museum) - the Hosternokke wheat being my favorite.

Best Time to Visit: Head down to Middelburg from Amsterdam (or north from Antwerp) between early June and mid-September for long days with mild temperatures (and less rain than usual), to enjoy the sandy Zeeland coastline and leisurely canal boat tours, and to kick back on a lawn chair outside and experience the Zeeland Nazomerfestival, a week of multiform theater and music performances, and ZeelandJazz, a 10-day event showing national and international jazz musicians and ensembles. 

Hidden Gems/Local Secrets: Climb up the 207-stone step Tall John Abbey Tower for magnificent panoramic views of the city (be prepared to sweat!). Middelburg, like the rest of the Netherlands, is incredibly bike-friendly and rife with well-marked cycling paths. Consider renting a bicycle to explore the city and its surroundings, like the beautiful coastline of West Zeeland or the former estuary and lagoon with artificially raised islands, Veerse Meer, to the east. 

Travel Tips: In my opinion, the Netherlands is best experienced by car rather than train. Check out Europcar for affordable rentals and make your way down to Middelburg from Amsterdam, carving through Gouda, The Hague, and Rotterdam. Additionally, this may go without saying but pack for the weather. The Netherlands sports one of the most capricious and rainy climates I’ve ever experienced, so I don’t recommend leaving the house without a rain jacket/umbrella or proper shoes (I wore flip-flops one day which was a terrible mistake).

Middelburg came out of nowhere for me when it came to delivering the best thing I ate in the Netherlands, so much so that it was the first post I put out on this new venture. Having tossed back a rump steak with marrow gravy at a chic waterfront Rotterdam restaurant the night before, I thought that was the apex for me. However, after a quick nap, I stumbled on a small kebab and pizza shop, Eethuis Today, serving up an absolutely unforgettable doner kebab pizza. Sometimes, the simplest things taste the best. 

True happiness for me was crushing stroopwafels (Dutch cookies with a syrup filling) with one of my top dawgz while weaving in and out of this quaint little city’s vibrant, winding cobbled streets and canals, and climbing up the Tall John Abbey Tower with panoramic city views.