Search - the low countries

While cycling and snarling, linguist Fieke van der Gucht might spur a change in language.

Why are the Dutch so crazy about cycling? We tell you all about it in this episode of The Low Countries Radio.

Most people assume the sensible Dutch have always cycled. But the story is more complicated.

If you had to take one photo that summed up the Netherlands as the average foreigner sees it, what would it show? Queen Beatrix in clogs, cycling past a row of windmills, with the glassy eyes of dozens of cows staring at her in astonishment...

Our best society stories of 2020, handpicked by the editor.

Have you ever wondered where those cargo bikes come from?

Heroics of yore with a Belgian on wheels and a Dutchman on the pitch: Eddy Merckx, the finest cyclist in the country, of all generations, all countries, and Johan Cruijff, the football player without parallel, unsurpassed in all his feats o...

The Dutch are riding their bikes everywhere, always and in any weather. Even when they have to battle against gale-force winds.

The Dutch artist and cycle activist Mapije de Wit encourages her fellow cyclists to sing while cycling.

Flanders has been synonymous with bicycle racing for many years, but is cycling truly ‘ours’, as one popular Flemish newspaper keeps claiming?

The Dutch haven’t always been so mad about bikes. That close bond with cycling crept in quietly.

Utrecht is so much more than a pleasant day trip from Amsterdam. Discover its picturesque canals, lively pub culture, the world’s largest bike parking garage and a cute little rabbit that pops up everywhere in town.

At the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium became the worlds best football team by winning gold after a controversial match against Czechoslovakia.

Wieland De Hoon explores the ancient Roman road from Boulogne to Cologne by bike in four stages. 450 kilometres Via Belgica through northern France, Flanders, Wallonia, South Limburg and North Rhine-Westphalia.

Why do the eyes of every Belgian football fan shine every time the Red Devils defeat the Dutch team? There is a sporting and historical reason for that.

Leiden is characterised not only by the Netherlands' oldest and most famous university and a number of associated museums of international renown, but also by what it lacks. Visit its almshouses, read its verses on the walls in several lang...

Mobility policy in France, Belgium and the Netherlands is making way for the bicycle, with Groningen as a founding example.

In a country with five billion trips by bicycle a year, special roundabouts are no luxury. No wonder the Dutch make roundabouts look like design masterpieces. And now they are spreading to progressive cities around the world.

Flanders and the Netherlands are fertile ground for the collaborative economy because they are densely populated and very connected. But is it a success?

This week's Friday Verses are written by Meliza de Vries. We translated her poem ‘Grown-Up’.

The bicycle and car sharing that we know today can be traced back to the ‘White Bicycles’ and ‘White Cars’ initiated by the Provo movement.

Whoever visits the Netherlands, can't ignore them. Sooner or later you walk into one of the 550 Hema shops to buy a bicycle bell, sandwich or stapler. The brand is as Dutch as the tulip.

Derek Blyth visits the Sahara of the North.

Discover the tiny village of Zennegat, one of the most remote spots in Flanders.

Our best history stories of 2020, handpicked by the editor.

Which image or object would you choose to capture the Low Countries?

When in Amsterdam, Derek Blyth likes to travel by ferry. It's free and fun.

The Flemish tenacity for cycling inspired the English to invent much of today’s cycling lingo.

On a visit to the Flemish city of Halle, Derek Blyth discovers a miraculous statue, a forgotten Flemish artist and an intriguing street art trail.

Jan Renkema gives an overview of the core trademarks of Dutch identity.

You think you know Flanders and the Netherlands. But take it from us, you haven’t seen anything yet. British journalist Derek Blyth takes you on microadventures to L-Spots, hidden and exciting places in the Low Countries.

The Dutch critics unanimously proclaimed her poetry debut a masterpiece.

Derek Blyth discovers a battlefield that shaped European history, a cafe dedicated to cycle racing and a tapestry with a secret message.

The small cemeteries in and around Ypres provide a unique way of understanding the First World War.

Eighteen young writers have brought nineteenth-century artefacts from the Rijksmuseum to life. Together with Michael Koevoet we look at the painting ‘In the Month of July’ by Paul Joseph Constantin Gabriël.

The '12 Years a Slave' director shows us what the Second World War sounded like in the Dutch capital.

Cultural historian Lotte Jensen recounts how she has seen the consequences of climate change with her own eyes.

On a trip to the capital of the Belgian province of Limburg, Derek Blyth finds comforting food, innovative architecture and 25 places to be happy.

Imaginative content, physical extremes and remarkable links and contrasts have made De Warme Winkel a favourite among theatre critics and audiences alike

The first stage of our cycling trip on the Via Belgica takes us from Boulogne to Tournai.

'Close', 'The Eight Mountains' and 'Tori et Lokita' capture the ineffable in images.

The third stage of our cycling trip on the Via Belgica takes us from Liberchies to Heerlen.

Reflecting on Leonardo da Vinci’s death, 500 years ago, Luc Devoldere makes a few comments on the notion of the uomo universale.

On a visit to the Flemish city of Genk, Derek Blyth discovers restored coal mines, cosmopolitan chickens and one of the world’s great love songs.

The fourth and final stage of our cycling trip on the Via Belgica takes us from Heerlen to Cologne.

In a country of polders, flatness defines everything. This flatness means that nobody can rise above you, nor you above them.

A novel about art, about cycling, but perhaps above all a story about the fear of an insignificant life.

Dutch linguist Marten van der Meulen can't wait to travel again, so he can make new language findings.

On a visit to the university town of Leuven, Derek Blyth discovers one of Europe’s smartest cities, some of Belgium’s best bars and a walk that takes you to the edge of time.

Hanan Faour, a Dutch author with Lebanese roots, has written a moving story about what it is like to discover the land of her father and brother.

On a visit to the Flemish city of Aalst, Derek Blyth discovers a Carnival parade that likes to shock, a priest that took on the factory bosses and a utopian library.

Tourism is increasingly becoming more of a curse than a blessing in Amsterdam, Bruges, Maastricht and numerous other places in the Low Countries.

A crowd continually running laps of a stage and actors tearing one another’s clothes off. Meet the radical, uncompromising theatre of Schwalbe.

Huib Billiet Adriaansen wrote an exciting book about the shared history of Cuba and Belgium since the early sixteenth century.

In the exhibition 'Wonderful Memories', Kunstmuseum Den Haag highlights the joyful fanaticism of the Flemish Expressionists.

In the novel 'Iemand anders', the main character is forced into a different role overnight. This results in an at times very comic tale of a woman searching her way in life once more.

Fifty years ago, Eddy Merckx won his first Tour de France, a few moments later the first man set foot on the moon.

The Flemish government has proposed severe cuts in arts funding over the next few years. In 2011, the cultural sector in the Netherlands was forced to make do with a budget cut of about 200 million euro. What can the Flemish artists learn f...

By 2050, Wadden Island Texel will be one of the driest places in the Netherlands. Local farmers are now combining ancient knowledge with innovative techniques to retain freshwater and prevent soil salinisation.

Water shortage is becoming ever more serious and is now causing problems with shipping, agriculture and subsidence.

Abdelkader Benali has been awarded the Golden Goose Feather as an ambassador of the Dutch language who reaches young people with his enthusiasm and dedication. This is his ode to ‘bastard Dutch’.

Twenty-four Flemish writers and poets wrote each other letters during the first weeks of the coronavirus lockdown. This is the correspondence between Jeroen Olyslaegers and Siel Verhanneman.

The heroes of recent Dutch-language books for children and young adults act in groups, differ from the norm and are no longer all white. That’s a win, according to Professor Yra van Dijk and Lecturer Marie-José Klaver.

Author Daniel Rovers thinks there is something wrong with the way loneliness is often written about.

On a trip to Geel, Derek Blyth discovers a murdered Irish saint, a community that cares for strangers, and a mellow city that is simply crazy about reggae.

Students from two British Universities translated an extract from the second novel of Dutch poet and writer Simone Atangana Bekono.

Derek Blyth discovers a wedding that changed history, the world’s most complex clock and some of life’s sweet pleasures.

On a visit to the Flemish city of Ypres, Derek Blyth discovers a museum dedicated to the horror of war, a beer brewed in an underground fortification and a nightly ceremony that might go on for ever.

Important to know