Skip the Line
Henk and his son on the apron at Paramaribo airport at night, a KLM Boeing 747 behind them.

Henk and his son at Paramaribo airport, Suriname, February 2017.

Who writes here

Henk

He has travelled all his life and has visited at least half the countries in the world — as a curious tourist, and for many years through his work in international affairs at a ministry in The Hague and in a United Nations context. He writes here about the cities he knows.

Half the worldAt least half of all countries visited
A career abroadInternational affairs, a ministry in The Hague, and the UN
Since 1963His first great journey, at eighteen — to Vienna

I have travelled all my life — and I am nowhere near finished. By now I have visited at least half the countries in the world: as a curious tourist, but also for many years through my work as director of international affairs at a ministry in The Hague, and in a United Nations context.

What still moves me everywhere is the encounter with the unfamiliar: a city that turns out to be different from what you expected, a conversation with someone who lives there, a museum that tells you far more than a guidebook does, or simply a quiet place away from the crowds. Travel changes over the years, but that sense of wonder remains.

For me a good journey begins at home. I prepare destinations carefully and look for what makes a visit genuinely worthwhile: culture and history, pleasant public transport, good hotels, local places to eat, and alternatives to the best-known and busiest sights. My ideal trip combines culture and history with time to walk, to swim, to eat well, and to get to know a place unhurriedly. And where it is possible, that includes a theatre, a concert, an opera or some other musical performance.

Avoid Crowds is my son's website. I find it a pleasure to contribute my own travel experience to his idea: that travelling need not mean working through the busiest highlights one after another. Preparing a destination properly, choosing different hours, discovering quieter neighbourhoods and leaving room for the unexpected often makes a journey both richer and more enjoyable.

So on this website I do not share superficial lists, but personal experience, practical information, and inspiration for travelling with more calm, more attention and more pleasure. I write about countries and cities I have visited myself — and about destinations that are still high on my own list.

In that way I hope to encourage you to look beyond the crowds, and to discover a place at your own pace.

Where Henk writes

BarcelonaWhen Barcelona is busy and when it is calm, from someone who has visited eight times since 1985 — where to go early, what to book ahead, and what he would skip.Read his Barcelona →BerlinWhen Berlin is busy and when it is calm, from someone who has visited many times — where to go early, what to book ahead, and what he would skip.Read his Berlin →GenevaWhen Geneva is busy and when it is calm, from someone who has visited 30 times since 1980 — where to go early, what to book ahead, and what he would skip.Read his Geneva →IstanbulWhen Istanbul is busy and when it is calm, from someone who has visited three times since 2026 — where to go early, what to book ahead, and what he would skip.Read his Istanbul →LondonWhen London is busy and when it is calm, from someone who has visited 25 times — where to go early, what to book ahead, and what he would skip.Read his London →ParisWhen Paris is busy and when it is calm, from someone who has visited ten times since 1968 — where to go early, what to book ahead, and what he would skip.Read his Paris →RomeWhen Rome is busy and when it is calm, from someone who has visited five times since 1969 — where to go early, what to book ahead, and what he would skip.Read his Rome →ViennaWhen Vienna is busy and when it is calm, from someone who has visited ten times — where to go early, what to book ahead, and what he would skip.Read his Vienna →WillemstadWhen Willemstad is busy and when it is calm, from someone who has visited 15 times since 1985 — where to go early, what to book ahead, and what he would skip.Read his Willemstad →
More citiesHe is writing them one at a time. Each appears here when it is his own.