Zandvoort

...asked.

Zandvoort is a beach resort on the North Sea coast in the province of Noord-Holland. It's about 20km north of Amsterdam and about 5km east of Haarlem.

It's not a huge place, in fact the original settlement is not much more than a village. However, over the years it has spread out a little with the arrival of large hotels, holiday apartment blocks and camp-sites so that these days, it's quite a sprawl.
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.../> Culture? Well, there's the Zandvoort Museum which concerns itself with the local history. There's also the cutely-named Mu-ZEE-UM, which has displays detailing all the flotsam and jetsam that gets washed ashore. I liked the sound of that one, but my philistine of a son wasn't interested, and as mrs P wasn't there to tell me what to do, he unselfishly took over the mantle.

Add to these a multitude of sports facilities, including ... more

Zandvoort? Where in the heck is that?

Glad you asked.

Zandvoort is a beach resort on the North Sea coast in the province of Noord-Holland. It's about 20km north of Amsterdam and about 5km east of Haarlem.

It's not a huge place, in fact the original settlement is not much more than a village. However, over the years it has spread out a little with the arrival of large hotels, holiday apartment blocks and camp-sites so that these days, it's quite a sprawl.

Obviously, the main attraction here is the long and wide beach which is backed by a massive dune area, but there's so much more to do here that, if I listed it all, this review would stretch into next week.

For example:

There's the Racing Circuit. Apparently it used to hold Formula 1 meetings in the past, but it's more than a museum, there are all sorts of races and events throughout the year.

The Casino is the oldest in The Netherlands and has been there for 25 years. Bet it'll be there for 25 more.

What about the Circus? Don't like the smell of greasepaint and animal droppings? Scared of clowns? Don't worry, it's not that kind of circus. It's a family entertainment complex with amusements and a cinema.

Culture? Well, there's the Zandvoort Museum which concerns itself with the local history. There's also the cutely-named Mu-ZEE-UM, which has displays detailing all the flotsam and jetsam that gets washed ashore. I liked the sound of that one, but my philistine of a son wasn't interested, and as mrs P wasn't there to tell me what to do, he unselfishly took over the mantle.

Add to these a multitude of sports facilities, including golf course, cycle tracks, nature trails, and...och, the website has all that sort of info:
http://www.info-zandvoort.nl/index.php4?eng

I was there while on a short break with my son, and as it was January, with the attendant icy breeze sandblasting my youthful complexion into tatters, we didn't bother with much of the above mentioned outdoor activities.

So what did I do?

Not a lot actually, but I was only there for one day.

Although the temperature was only very slightly on the warm side of Arctic, it was bright and sunny so there were lots of people out-and-about in the town, and many of them were taking brisk walks along the promenade. I lasted a few minutes before succumbing to the effects of a lazy wind coming off the North Sea.
Lazy?
Well, instead of going around, it went right through you.

The beach is gi-normous though, and from the photos I've seen, it gets very crowded in the summer. They also have all sorts of bars, eateries and stalls laid out on the sand. It was quite busy when we were there. In fact I was amazed at the idio...hardy souls braving the elements - you might say I was blown away.

One thing that facing an icy force-niner does for you though, is it brings on a strong desire to get something warm inside you and luckily, Zandvoort is well equipped with establishments offering good, hot and strong coffee. I like the way the Dutch serve it - strong with a little dash of evaporated milk and a small biscuit on the side. Some places offer a lot more than a biscuit to accompany an expresso though, and Zandvoort has a couple of coffee-shops if you feel the need to indulge in some herbal stimulation...man.

The shopping in the town is pretty much what you'd expect in a beach resort. Lots of surfy-type shops, and places selling all the paraphernalia associated with sun, sea and sand. Naturally, there are the usual day-to-day businesses, but there were also plenty of 'strange' and quirky little boutique-types where I could buy a gift for the absent mrs P (who was pining for me back home). I say I could, I didn't say I did.
Most of the shops were open, even at that time of the year, which ensured it didn't have that ghost town feel that so many beach resorts have in the Winter.

After having said that there were plenty of shops, I'm about to contradict myself a bit and say that most of the main street was given over to bars and restaurants. Again, almost all of them were open through the winter, although none were exactly crowded. There were lots of snack opportunities too. The usual offenders are there: Pizza-Hut, McDs, BK, but the best place to snack in the Netherlands is at a FEBO stand. I love all those spicy croquettes and what-nots, and I like the way you bung a coin in and open up the particular hatch...it's so tacky!
All ethnic cuisines were catered for, with an abundance of Asian restaurants, especially Chinese. My son is a lover of Chinese food (I'm strictly omnivorous...or is that glutinous...or even, couldntcareless) and so I let him pick our choice of restaurant. Guess what? He chose Mexican.

I'm kidding. We went for a Chinese, and very nice it was too. With so many different places to choose from, you're always afraid you pick the skankiest eatery in town, and choosing one next to the railway station would normally ensure that was the case. However, on this occasion, we chose wisely.
We splashed out and had the rice-table. It was plenty fun tucking into a veritable banquet of steaming-hot, spicy-savoury, sweet-n-sour, super-dooper snackables while watching commuters shuffling out of the train station. A case of the gorged eyeing the disgorged.

There wasn't much to do after that but head along the main street for a pub crawl. there are some great bars, but the beer was disappointing, to say the least. I was expecting/hoping for a lot more evidence of Belgian ales, but maybe I was looking in the wrong bars. Don't get me wrong, there were choices...Amstel or Heineken. Not the worst beers in the world, granted, but after you've had ten or so, they get boring, y'know?

Fortunately, our hotel was but a short walk/stumble from the town centre, and we made it back safe and sound...ish.

So, did I enjoy my time in Zandvoort?

Well, yes I did. Call me weird, but I like beach resorts off-season. I like when they are quiet and almost deserted. Admittedly, Zandvoort was better than most places in the respect that very few shops/restaurants/bars were closed for the Winter. Also, although to describe it as busy would be stretching it a bit, it wasn't deserted and still had a bit of atmosphere to it, albeit a decidedly chilly one.
I could see it being an extremely busy town in the Summer, and its proximity to Amsterdam and other cities, would no doubt ensure a healthy supply of day-trippers and week-enders.

I think though, if I were to visit again, I'd perhaps choose a time when it was just a tad warmer.

©proxam2005 

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