When people ask me what my favorite thing that we did during our recent trip to Amsterdam was, they always look a little confused by my answer.  But in all honesty, I think my favorite was Madurodam.

Madurodam is a miniature park in The Hague that is full of 1:25 scale model replicas of famous Dutch landmarks.

Well, you know me.  I love me some miniature stuff!

From the moment we rounded the corner and took in a view of the whole place I knew I was in heaven.

But first, some logistics.  The Hague is about an hour away from Amsterdam by train.  We took a train to The Hague, then a tram from the train station to Madurodam itself.

For me the train travel was part of the experience too.  We got to see a bit of the Dutch countryside including quite a few flower farms and some smaller towns like Haarlem.  I also saw quite a number of community gardens.  I love seeing those in Europe!  If you aren’t familiar, these are spaces where people who live in apartments without any outdoor space can rent a small ‘allotment’ and plant a garden.  Many of them include a small greenhouse or a cute little shed of some kind.  So fun to see!

But back to Madurodam.

You guys, I had some pretty high expectations for this place and I was not disappointed.

It was absolutely charming.

It was fun to spot places that we recognized from wandering around Amsterdam, like the National Maritime Museum …

the Magere Bridge …

and of course the Rijksmuseum.

By the way, that I amsterdam sign is no longer in front of the Rijksmuseum.  Apparently it drew too big of a crowd with everyone wanting the perfect selfie (read more about that here), so they opted to move it.

Madurodam even had a miniature de Wallen, or red light district, complete with ladies in the windows.

Not only were the miniature buildings fantastic, but so were the miniature gardens.

They had informal landscapes …

Their use of miniature trees in that little town just blew me away.  Isn’t it something?

They also had formal gardens.

That, by the way, is the back of Paleis Het Loo.  Here it is from the front.

Remember when I said I wish we’d had more time in Amsterdam?  This is one place that I would have loved to visit, but didn’t have the time.

Of course they also had some miniature windmills in Madurodam.

And some miniature tulip fields.

I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I was kind of delighted by some of the interactive elements, like the wooden shoe factory.

If you put a 1€ coin into the machine, a pair of Dutch shoes would fall down the shoot into the waiting truck, then the truck drove to you and you could take the shoes.

How frickin’ adorable is that?

And look how cute the little shoes are.

Not a bad souvenir for 1 € (or about $1.06), and this little pair of shoes will always remind me of the delightful day we spent at Madurodam.

If you ever find yourself in Amsterdam (or Rotterdam, or The Hague, or anywhere else nearby), and if you’re as enchanted by miniatures as I am, you absolutely should make the time to visit Madurodam!