Along the dutch coastline there is a galore of sandy beaches out of the beaten path. Restaurants, beach clubs, marine sports, or quiet and unspoiled locations among dunes are in the menu. Sunshine is not guaranteed all year long in the Netherlands, hence weather forecast will help you to enjoy the best of your trip.
Tulips, clogs, windmills, cheese and bachelor parties. Maybe these ideas comes to our mind when talking about the Netherlands. For sure those are great to visit or try in there. Nevertheless this country 12 times smaller than Spain, or 6 times smaller than the UK, is surprisingly fully packed with amazing highlights different than those. You, keen traveler, may show incredulity if told that this country has 451 kms of coastline and plenty of sandy beaches to enjoy in the summer. Oh yes, not rocky small coastline but spacious beaches of gold sand.
Whether you want to do nothing but resting or if you are looking for beach clubs to have a drink or spots to practice sea sports. In any case, the wait is over, roll your sleeves, take your shoes off and come with us to visit seven selected places out of the Dutch coastline with this Minimap!
Edited by Ramón Gullón & illustrated by Greg Franco.
Free to download, ready to print!
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1. Scheveningen
Pier, spacious boulevard, top favorite and crowded location for tourism, sea sports, casino, cinema, new year celebration in January and fireworks in summer, restrictions for dogs.
This seaside resort is maybe the most popular among the tourists. The offer of services is huge, including a Cinema in the surrounding and vast variety of restaurants. The pier area is impressive, advancing almost 400 meters into the water, not to mention this is the second building since the original pier was lost with the world War. During the summertime, several teams from different countries participate in the international fireworks festival for the awe of the audience. The typical postcard of the place shows the Kurhaus building, with its casino, crowning the boulevard.
2. Katwijk aan Zee
Nice architectural boulevard, oldest lighthouse in the country, dog friendly.
The first thing that draws the attention of the visitor of Katwijk is the recently built boulevard. This construction, with minimal environmental invasion, serves as parking lot and protection for its coastline. A really smart work of architecture and engineering!
The lovely houses that decorate the sea shore are actually places that can be rented for the night for experiencing a real stay by the sand. In Katwijk you can also see the oldest lighthouse in the Netherlands.
3. Noordwijk aan Zee
Quiet spot, former fisher town, near to the tulips fields, dog friendly.
The main attraction of this former fisher town changed to the tourism is its seaside: 13 kms of sandy Beach to enjoy and relax. During spring time, its location close to the tulips fields make it a privileged place for visiting the Keukenhof, the Floral parade (Bloemencorso) or the flower fields.
4. Zandvoort aan Zee
Casino, water sports, former F1 racing circuit, beach clubs and restaurants, Kennemerland national park of dunes, dog friendly.
This town is the closest beach to Amsterdam which gives it popularity among people of the capital city. The Kennemerland National Park embrace the back of the beach with small routes that goes among dunes where local fauna can be seen such as rabbits, birds, deer, among others. The Circuit park Zandvoort is a former F1 circuit designed by John Hugenholtz, which was the same person in charge of projects such as Jarama in Spain and Suzuka in Japan. Currently formula 3 Euroseries and Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters are driven in this route. For the lovers of sea sports Kite surf and Paddle surf are popular among the people in this beach.
5. Bloemendaal aan Zee
One of the more popular beach among partygoers, beach clubs, nudity allowed in some extension of the beach, water sports, dog friendly.
Also close to Amsterdam as its neighbor Zandvoort, Bloemendaal is packed with bars and restaurants which make it the favorite among the young people that want to party. Don’t be fooled by its active atmosphere, this beach also counts with almost 5 kms where just to lay quietly and get sun tanned. It also shares with Zandvoort the dune national park and offer some beaches where nudity is allowed. For the sportive people sea sports can be practiced.
6. Amsterdam’s Urban Beaches
Several Spots in the cities of Amsterdam and Haarlem.
If you prefer to enjoy the beach without adventuring out of the city maybe you should visit an urban beach. There are several places to go but its worth mentioning Blijburg aan Zée, the main city Beach near Amsterdam in the island of IJburg or the Oerkap in the city of Haarlem around twenty minutes away from Amsterdam by train.
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7. Wadden (Frisian) Islands, Texel
Bird watching, unspoiled place, walking on mud flat land when low tide is going on, dog friendly.
The Frisian Islands are shared between Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands where they are known as Wadden Islands. They can be reached from the continent by ferry. The biggest of the island is Texel which has around of 30 kms of beach coast. This unspoiled location is a preferred spot where to watch local fauna as seals and birds. When the low tide allows it, you can walk “over” the sea area stepping on flat mud.
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