Schiedam

 municipality, second-level administrative division, draw only border

The city of Schiedam lies in the province South Holland between Rotterdam and Vlaardingen, originally at the river Schie and later also at the river New Maas.
Since the first of July 2006 the city has 75.111 inhabitants. The city is mainly known for its production of jenever (also known as gin), the historical centre with its canals, and the five highest windmills of the world.

Very usefull but also very standard so i would also like to recommend some of my own favourite spots which are not well known but definitely worth a while!

You can take a trip with a whisperboat through the canals in the centre and see some beautiful architecture come by but if you like the style of those typical canal houses you will love a walk through the old district "Kethel" as well and in the same area (Schiedam North) you can also find pyramid houses, beautiful romantic villa's and a complete district build in Swedish style called "Svea Parken". Take a walk through this lovely area to see all of this and discover a part of Schiedam which is still unknown!

I added some photo's ; The harbour scenery is in the centre called "de Lange Haven" (the long harbour) you can find the pyramid houses in "the Woudhoek", the Villa's in "Spaland" and the church in "Kethel", all disctricts are located in Schiedam North.

If you go by car take the "Schiedam Noord" exit on the highway, by the traffic light look for the sign with "Noord" on it, from there just follow the road till shopping centre Hof van Spaland, you can park your car there for free in the which is open 24/7. From there you start your walk through the old "Kethel" part, after you've discovered the church (from the photo) go further on the path that leads through the green landscape and you will soon see the Villa's on you right, for the Pyramid houses you have to walk a bit further until you see a white bridge on your left, pass the bridge and go to the right. You find the same path after your walk through the Pyramid district, at the end of the path (where the trams stop) you go right, when you see a school on the other side, cross the street and walk a bit further to find the Swedish houses area on your left.

To go back to your car walk further and go to the right at the roundabout from there its straight on to the parking place. Or walk back to the tram and get out at the third stop, the parking place is on the other end of the shopping centre but that will take 5 minutes, well without shopping that is! ;-)

The time for the total walk will be approx. 90 minutes, 2 hours upmost if you walk the Villa lane till the end and go back for the pyramids.

Still not convinced? I made more then 500 photo's of Schiedam (in fact, that's how i discovered those spots!) which you can see here : www.flickr.com/photos/miek37/sets/843470/