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The East
The wooded east consists of the provinces of Overijssel, Gelderland and Flevoland.
OVERIJSSEL: The province of Overijssel is a region of great variety. In the little town of Giethoorn, small canals take the place of streets, and all transport is by boat. At Wanneperveen there is a well-equipped watersports centre. The old Hanseatic towns of Zwolle and Kampen have splendid quays and historic buildings. There are bird sanctuaries along the Ijsselmeer.
GELDERLAND: This is The Netherland’s most extensive province, stretching from the rivers of the south to the sand dunes of the north. Gelderland is often referred to as ‘the back garden of the west’.
Arnhem: The province's major city was heavily damaged in World War II; indeed, its important position on the Rhine has led to it being captured, stormed and occupied on many occasions during its long history. The old part of the town has, however, been artfully rebuilt. There is a large open-air museum near Arnhem showing a collection of old farms, mills, houses and workshops, all of which have been brought together to form a splendid park. Not far from the town centre, there is a zoo and a safari park.
Hoge Veluwe National Park: Near Arnhem is the Hoge Veluwe National Park, an extensive sandy region and a popular tourist area, which contains a game reserve (in the south), and the Kroller-Muller Art Gallery and Museum, with many modern sculptures and paintings (including a Van Gogh collection). One ticket enables the visitor to see all of this, and there are free bicycles available to cycle around the park.
Almost all of the old traditional villages have been converted into holiday resorts. There are no towns of any size in the Veluwe region.
FLEVOLAND: Much of Flevoland was drained for the first time in the 1950s and 1960s, and is in many ways a museum of geography; the southern part of the province is not yet completely ready for cultivation, and visitors can witness the various stages of agricultural preparation. Lelystad is the main town of the region, built to a controversial design in the 1960s. Part of the province has also been designated as an overspill area for Randstad Holland. Flevoland’s 1100 sq km (425 sq miles) of land includes many large bungalow parks.
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