Bollenstreek - A relaxing and impressive holiday region in the Netherlands

Take a peek into the former life of fishermen. The museum gives a great insight into what life was like 100 years ago in the Kattuk fishing village and by witnessing the beautiful paintings, costumes, unique fishing objects and authentic rooms of a fisherman's house, you travel back in time for a moment.

To take a moment...
The bronze statue called Freedom Forward is a memorial to all those who tried to get to England from the Netherlands by sea during World War II.
If you walk along the promenade in Katwijk, you will see the monument to the Engelandvaarders at a prominent spot in the dunes.

At steam train Katwijk Leiden, it seems as if time has stood still. You enter a real station building and walk to the ticket office where you buy an old-fashioned train ticket.

On the platform, the almost 100-year-old steam locomotive is already waiting for you and takes you for a ride along the Valkenburg Lake. Then you will be taken by the little bank train to the indoor museum where historic carriages and steam and diesel locomotives are on display.

Valkenburg Lake is a large recreational lake and is a pleasant place to be in the summer months.
Here you can learn to windsurf and supp, sunbathe on the large sunbathing lawn, or play in the sand.
The lake and surrounding meadows are a stopping place for various species of ducks, geese and migratory birds.
In the meantime, you can see the little steam train from Katwijk Leiden whizzing past and is a great combination for a nice day out in Valkenburg.

The guestbook records that Albert Einstein visited the Spinoza House on 2 November 1920. Benedict de Spinoza was Holland's most famous philosopher of rationalism in the 16th century.
He lived in this cottage from 1661 to 1663 and 1899 they turned it into a museum.
The museum rooms contain a unique collection of books from his former library that are unique in the world.There are also beautiful portraits, sculptures and poems on display.

With 12 floats, three music floats and about 40 other vehicles decorated with flowers, this parade is a feast for the eyes and ears.
Every second Saturday in August, the Flower Parade has been driving through the streets of Rijnsburg, Katwijk and Noordwijk for more than 75 years.
Together with the 100 extras, they turn the flower parade into a moving theatre and can be viewed for free along the entire route.

On Friday evening, the beautifully decorated floats can be seen during the opening show at the flower auction in Rijnsburg. On Sunday, the floats are set up on the Koningin Wilhelmina Boulevard in Noordwijk.

The Frans Hals Museum known as the "Museum of the Golden Age" has a unique collection based on the rich collection of the city itself. The museum has hundreds of paintings by various painters, including more than a dozen by Frans Hals, to whom the museum owes its name. Well-known works on display include the Regent and Traveller paintings.

The beautiful city mill the Adriaan is in a beautiful location on the river Spaarne.
Accompanied by a guide, you can learn about technology, mills in general and the Adriaan in particular, as it has a very rich history behind it.

The Adriaan was built in 1779 on the existing foundations of the old fortification around Haarlem.

Keukenhof Castle, built in 1642 stands on the historic 240-hectare Keukenhof estate.
The castle is beautifully decorated, some of whose rooms are lined with gold leather. There is a unique collection of furniture and portraits and Chinese and Japanese porcelain is uniquely displayed in 17th-century fashion in the specially built cabinet.

The gardens regularly host art exhibitions and on Dahlia Days in August, many varieties of Dahlias can be admired in the beautiful castle gardens. There is an adorable children's farm on the estate and opposite Keukenhof Castle is the spring park the Keukenhof.

Keukenhof Castle opens its doors several times a year and is open on Monument Day and Castle Day, among others.

The flower parade, the face of spring, is a festive and annual event in spring in which a procession of colourful floats, accompanied by cheerful music from marching bands, passes through the villages of the dune and bulb region.
Every year there is a different theme and then the floats are beautifully decorated with daffodils, hyacinths, tulips and other bulbous flowers from the region.

Just steps away from Keukenhof Castle and Spring Park de Keukenhof is the Lisser Art Museum (LAM) which is a spectacle to behold both inside and out.

All artworks in the museum have something to do with food and consumption. Surprising paintings, sculptures and photos and fun for young and old.

For extra information and viewing tips, we also have a digital tour on your own smartphone or tablet.

Do you feel like coming? Then don't forget to book a ticket with start time in advance.

Teylingen ruins are the remains of Slot Teylingen , a castle dated from the 13th century of the noble Van Teylingen family.

The ruin is surrounded by water and consists of a large enclosure wall, a residential tower and a round moated castle. There is a covered exhibition area where you can see and read about this castle's past.

Once a year the international Viking Market is organised here and you step into the time of the Vikings. Cosy stalls with delicious food and craftsmen making products from that era. Or have your future foretold by the Völva.

Historic whiskey bottles are beautifully displayed in tall showcases, there is even one from the year 1900!

Inside the premises of Scotch Whiskey International you will find whiskey museum. The now 84-year-old Italian Valentino Zagatti has collected thousands of rare bottles of whiskey over 60 years and his life's work is now on display at the museum.There are unique specimens in the collection, for example a bottle of Black Bowmore.

The whiskey museum is unique to the dune and bulb region; no other place brings together such a rare collection of single malt whiskeys.

Zwembad Wasbeek has no less than 225 square metres of subtropical swimming fun.

Wonderful water with bubble bath, a wildwater creek, an interactive slide with 3D water screen and sound, water umbrella, a steam bath, cuddle bench, drink bench, a paddling pool and a water crèche.

All in a tropical atmosphere. In fine weather, the outdoor pool is open and you can soak up the sun on the sunbathing lawn.

Oosterduinse Meer, popularly known as Como Lake, is about 1 km long and was created in the 1950s by a sand excavation. It has now become a lovely spot where you can go for walks, relax on the large sunbathing lawn, swim in the lake or simply enjoy the blissful view.

Around the lake, you will behold beautiful nature. Spot the many birds that flutter around here, such as the redshank, grey heron or reed warbler. In spring, you look out on the most beautiful flowering bulb fields.

Imagine yourself as a real circus artist in this mega jumping garden.
Here they have trampolines of all shapes and sizes so you can burn off some energy.

Show off your greatest tricks on the obstacle course or duel like a gladiator with your opponent and try to push him off the beam with the battle stick.

Hang in the nets, dive down the slide, jump in the ball pit or jump on the trampoline, you can have fun here. Especially laser gaming and escape rooms make it just that little bit different. Monkeytown is the very best and nicest play paradise for children aged 1 to 12, where you can play carefree in the safe and indoor playground.

Here you can enjoy hiking, cycling and exploring nature.
On the uninhabited island of Koudenhoorn, you can relax for a while.

The island has 55 moorings for boats and is divided into three areas: the recreation area, the silence area and the allotments.

The recreation area has a nice beach with grassy areas, a children's playground and stunning views of lake 't Joppe. The wooded silence area is shielded by fences and wildlife grills with some paths for visitors.

At the municipal harbour in Warmond you will find the bridge to the island.

On this beautiful and quiet spot stands the beautiful ruin of the 17th-century Old Matthias Church and next to it the beautiful Old Church Tower from the 15th century.

There was already a church here in the 13th century but in 1573, during the 80-year war, the Leiden people destroyed the church as a precaution that Spanish troops were housed there. Around 1700, the church was rebuilt and in 1874 it was reduced to ruins.

This particular ruin is somewhat hidden next to the Walking Park of the Oostergeest Estate. You can perfectly combine the walk in the walking park with visiting the ruin.

A magnificent collection of paintings from the 15th to the 19th century by Dutch artists such as Rembrandt van Rijn, Frans Hals and Johannes Vermeer. 
Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum dating from 1885 is a more than 80-room historic building located on Museumplein. Famous paintings include the Night Watch, Milkmaid and Passage.

If you are on the beach you cannot miss it, the beautiful lighthouse stands in a prominent location on the Noordwijk Zee promenade.
With no less than six floors and 108 steps, the lighthouse has a height of 26 metres and has been awarded as a National Monument since 1980.

It is beautifully illuminated in the evening and open to the public every Sunday from 12 April to 25 October between 11:00 and 16:00.
Please do book your visit at info@vuurtorennoordwijk.nl or on site at the entrance door of the Lighthouse.

Ship ahoy!

About Noordwijk aan Zee's past

Museum Noordwijk, originally a fisherman's house from 1625, is the oldest house in Noordwijk aan Zee. Here you can see the history of Noordwijk, beautiful paintings and rooms from the past and a display of what life was like in grandmother's time.
The film about the origins of Noordwijk is also fun to watch and various exhibitions are held regularly.

The Atlantic Wall was a more than 5,000-kilometre defence line built by Germany in occupied territories during World War II to prevent an Allied invasion.

In the dunes of Noordwijk, the former fire-control bunker of the German bunker complex houses the Atlantikwall museum. You get a very good picture of how the German men lived in the bunker at the time. It is very impressive to walk through the corridor system of almost half a kilometre. There are many photos and attributes from that time on display and stories to read.

Located in a former ammunition bunker that was part of the Atlantic Wall during World War II, the museum is dedicated in honour of the Engelandvaarder.

An Engelandvaarder is the honour name in the Netherlands for all men and women who managed to escape from occupied territory during World War II with the intention of joining the Allied forces in England or other Allied territory to take an active part in the fight against the enemy.

The museum gives a good picture of the Englanders, people who put their lives on the line to escape by all kinds of means at sea towards England.
Moving stories supported by film, photographic material and personal belongings make the story very intense and understandable.

Space Expo is an interactive museum where you can learn a lot about space. The exhibition a has recreated space stations, a life-size model of the moon landing, an original Sojuz capsule and complete rocket engines. Dutch astronaut Andre Kuipers explains interactively how gravity works, what a black hole is and what space missions are currently being worked on, among other things.

Space Expo is also the official visitor centre of ESTEC, the technical heart of the European Space Agency.
With the space shuttle tour, you can take the little train for an additional fee and get a tour of the development and test areas.

The formerly old bulb shed has been converted into a craft brewery, where the most special beers are brewed, many of which have already won international awards.
Order your special or draught beers from the beer menu and have a taste.

In the tasting room, look through the panoramic window to the production area where the brewing kettles are located and brewing and bottling takes place.
Or take the guided tour and let the brewer himself tell you all about the delicious beers brewed here.

Will you succeed in solving riddles, tasks and puzzles in time?
You can choose from three wacky escape games!

Try to escape from a snow-covered ski lodge in "The Avalanche Mystery" or would you rather be a real Sherlock in "The Murder Game" and solve the hotel owner's murder using Virtual Reality glasses?
In the thrilling " The Cybercrime Game", you must collect bitcoins armed with an Ipad in order to meet the hackers' tough demands.

With more than 4500 m2 of playing field, there is plenty of room to let your hair down and take out your opponents with paint bombs.
Let the balls explode at the largest indoor paintball field in the Netherlands.
You can play at any time of day, even at night!

You can also play laser tag with flashing lasers and cool smoke effects in a spectacular 800-square-metre maze.
Or would you rather tear around like Max Verstappen? You can, because there is also a go-kart track!
For children aged between 8 and 14, they have the CRAZY KART XL, an electric children's kart ideal for tearing and drifting.

If you want to know more about the history of flower bulb cultivation, this is the place to visit because this colourfully designed museum is all about tulips, daffodils and hyacinths.

Besides the beautiful collection of paintings, porcelain and hyacinth glasses, there are also beautiful temporary exhibitions of contemporary art here.

The Hortus botanicus Leiden is a beautiful and also the oldest botanical garden in the Netherlands.An oasis of green and tranquillity with many flowers and plants from all over the world, tropical greenhouses with carnivorous plants, crops, orchids and other special plants. The Hortus looks different every season.

For this museum, you will need more than a day to go and see everything, there is so much to see.
Naturalis is a spacious museum that consists of 9 floors, on each floor are 1 or more halls, whose exhibitions are arranged by theme.

The large number of animals are very nice to see and the skeletons of dinosaurs and prehistoric animals are also very impressive.
The museum has also highlighted other topics such as human evolution and the construction of the earth.

Walking around the place where Anne Frank and her family and friends went into hiding is very impressive.
The Anne Frank House is a museum in memory of Anne Frank and her Jewish family who were in hiding during World War II. The museum is built around their hiding place the Secret Annexe on Prinsengracht where Anne Frank wrote her famous diary The Secret Annexe.

The audio tour is very handy. You get a summary of the Frank family's life in half an hour. Then you visit the Secret Annex and at your own pace you can walk through the museum and listen to all the audio at your leisure.

If you go to Amsterdam, this is simply not to be missed. The Secret Annex is so impressive, it makes you completely speechless.

No name tags of artists or texts with explanations, so no knowledge of art is needed here, a little curiosity is all you need.
Just steps away from Keukenhof Castle and Spring Park de Keukenhof is the Lisser Art Museum (LAM) which is a spectacle to behold both inside and out.
All artworks in the museum have something to do with food and consumption.
Surprising paintings, sculptures and photos and fun for young and old.

Come face to face with masterpieces by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Rubens and van Dijck.
The handsome museum, once built as a palace in the 17th century, has magnificent rooms with beautifully studded walls that now house a wonderful collection of Old Dutch masters.

You walk from room to room and encounter a new masterpiece from the golden age each time. The permanent collection includes masterpieces by painters such as Rembrandt, Jan Steen, Frans Hals, and Johannes Vermeer.
The true masterpiece is: The girl with the pearls, by Vermeer.

You'll never run out of things to do in this mega-sized playground, which makes it one of Europe's largest.

Apart from swinging, trampolining, climbing in nets on the pirate island and going down the slide, you can also go down the obstacle course, cable car, pedalos, bumper cars, or the cross spider and on real skelters.
And if you want to see the park from above, hop on the monorail, and maybe you can have a little peek at how on earth you get out of the maze ;-)

The building alone is worth seeing. The museum has the oldest Dutch museum room whose interior has been preserved almost in its original state.

At Teylers Museum, you imagine yourself in another century as soon as you step through the front door. The many old wooden showcases are filled with countless fossils, minerals and physical devices. In two beautiful showrooms, you can enjoy an extensive collection of paintings, including 25 original drawings by Michelangelo.

Welcome to the underwater world of Sealife

Listening to the super cute seahorses and otters Also the giant turtle is really great!

Sealife is a small but fine sea aquarium in The Hague and gives a good picture of life under the sea. It is located on the boulevard and beach of Scheveningen. There is also a large glass tunnel through an aquarium, in which you really imagine yourself among the fish.
For children, there are booklets with assignments and interactive presentations.

Tip: check the feeding times of the animals in advance.

Step into the world of the automobile

There are also cars from famous people, such as a Cadillac owned by Elvis Presley, the Aston Martin James Bond drove in the film Goldfinger, Sir Winston Churchill's Humber and Kaiser Wilhelm II's Mercedes-Benz.

But even if you are not a car enthusiast, this is a wonderful museum to visit because of its unique collection. The beautiful and tastefully decorated museum is 3 floors high and has a collection of as many as 275 classic cars. Here you will come across swan-shaped cars, vintage racing cars and special cars from the early years of its creation. Everything is neatly explained by category and each car is described in detail.

It is very fascinating to see the underground corridor system and the guide has many fun and interesting facts to tell.

The Atlantic Wall was a more than 5,000-kilometre defence line built by Germany in occupied territories during World War II to prevent an Allied invasion.

In the dunes of Noordwijk, the former fire-control bunker of the German bunker complex houses the Atlantikwall museum. You get a very good picture of how the German men lived in the bunker at the time. It is very impressive to walk through the corridor system of almost half a kilometre. There are many photos and attributes from that time and stories to read.

The video presentation really gives you the feeling of 'living' in the middle of the story.

Noordwijkerhout From Back Then

Remember the thumb licorice, liquorice and black whites? Back in the old days, you would stop by the little shop to pick up sweets for a few cents. Here they sell Old Dutch Sweets and take you back in time.

The village museum is all about how the residents used to live in Noordwijkerhout. They have collected everything to do with Noordwijkerhout such as books, films, photos and other material from Noordwijkerhout's past. Some of this is displayed in the exhibition room and the rest can be viewed in the photo albums in which visitors can browse listlessly.

Dutch Wildlife in the beautiful dunes

This beautiful piece of nature is the paradise of the dune and bulb region and has fantastic vistas, beautiful heights and attractive woodlands..This is where you really come to rest.

The Amsterdam Water Supply Dunes is a stunning 3,400-hectare dune area and protected natural monument, making it one of the largest hiking areas in the Netherlands. Here you can take lovely walks and enjoy the silence. There are two walking routes you can follow, the purple route (5 km) and the black route (9 km), or you can go your own way and walk all the way to the sea. Feast your eyes along the way because deer and foxes are guaranteed to be seen here!

Tickets are on sale at the ticket machine at the park entrance.
Parking costs €2.00 per day. Entry tickets to the area cost €1.50 (from 18 years of age).

Only walking is allowed, dogs are not allowed.