Netherlands

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    Both walking and cycling are ideal on the Netherlands flat terrain, but visitors can also take advantage of several other sporting facilities on offer in this prosperous European country. Other options include golf, gymnasia, swimming, horseriding and more distinctive activities like Korfball, canal ice skating and the more unusual pole sitting in which participants simply sit on a pole for as long as possible.

    The Netherlands also has some outstanding sandy beaches on both the northern and western coasts. However, the weather is infamous for being unreliable and the North Sea is very murky. Zandvoort and Scheveningen are among the most comprehensive seaside resorts, but other stretches of coast – particularly around the wild dunes and beaches – are better and make up the Nationaal Park Zuid-Kennemerland near Haarlem.  Across the islands of the Waddenzee from Texel to Schiermonnikoog, the long sandy beaches are popular for windsurfing and kitesurfing. For sailing, the lakes of Friesland and the Ijsselmeer are good while the yachting centre at Sneek is excellent.

    Football remains a popular spectators’ sport with a loyal following for the teams that comprise the two professional leagues. PSV Eindhoven (psv.nl), Feyenoord from Rotterdam (feyenoord.nl), and Amsterdam’s Ajax (ajax.nl) are among the top clubs. Matches generally take place on Sundays at 14:30 from September to May but there can be occasional games on Wednesdays at 20:00. Don’t get your hopes up too high for tickets for key matches though – they’re notoriously difficult to get.

On the other side of the country, Korfball (korfball.com) is a long-honoured Dutch sport that combines basketball, volleyball and netball. It’s also played with mixed teams and a high basket. Game details are usually available at the local tourist offices.