Haarlem

Discover the beautiful historic city center of Haarlem from the water! On board one of our ships you can enjoy many beautiful sights such as the Molen de Adriaan, the Teylers hofje and the Basilica St. Bavo.

Discover Haarlem at its most beautiful from the water. Join a canal cruise, hire a boat or enjoy a boat tour package. The Haarlem canals, pavement cafés along the water and the views of the stunning monuments make your boat tour a truly special experience.

Het Dolhuys, the Dutch national museum of the mind, aims to show how thin the line between sanity and insanity can be. The museum also gives an overview of how ‘madness’ was treated throughout the centuries. Before, during or after your visit, why not pop in to museum café ‘Thuys’ for a cup of organic coffee or a delicious Thuys home-made lunch with local ingredients?

Haarlem has been voted the best shopping city of the Netherlands several times now. And it’s easy to see why. The Gouden Straatjes, or Golden Streets, are a shopper’s delight with plenty of surprising boutiques, trendy concept stores and relaxed interior design shops.

Haarlem has twenty-one public hofjes, courtyards with almshouses. The oldest, Hofje van Bakenes dates from 1395. In the past, these hofjes, provided accommodation to poor, or unmarried, women and widows. Many of these small urban oases have disappeared over the years, but there have also been a few new additions, such as the Johan Enschedéhofje, built in 2007 to a design by Joost Swarte and Henk Döll. 

Take a look around the ‘hiding place’ of the Ten Boom family, where they offered shelter to Jews and members of the Dutch resistance during World War II. The family was betrayed in 1944 and arrested and Corrie was the only person to survive. The house, still partly decorated in the original 1940s style, is now a museum.

An imposing square, Grote Markt forms the heart of the historic centre of Haarlem, surrounded by famous buildings such as the town hall and Vleeshal, a former covered meat market hall. Weekly markets are held in this square every Monday and Saturday. A must-visit is the Grote of St.-Bavokerk, a 14^th century Gothic cruciform church.

Molen De Adriaan was opened in 1779 and is famous for its picturesque setting on the river Spaarne. Businessman Adriaan de Boois crushed tuff stone to trass here for many years. The mill went on to have several other purposes and owners. For instance, tobacco leaves were ground up into snuff here and the mill was later rebuilt into a wind and steam flour mill.

The Frans Hals Museum is one museum spread across two locations, with two very different collections. Its internationally renowned collection of 17^th century art is displayed at the ‘Hof’ in Groot Heiligland and includes works by Frans Hals, one of the most important Dutch masters. At the ‘Hal’ in Grote Markt, you can find works by contemporary artists of the 20^th and 21^st century.  

Teylers Museum is the first and oldest museum in the Netherlands (1784). It was founded from the estate of wealthy cloth merchant and silk manufacturer Pieter Teyler van der Hulst. The interior of the museum alone, with the monumental Oval Room as the pièce de résistance, is a definite must-see. Walking through Teylers Museum is like going on a voyage of discovery through time. The tour takes you past minerals and fossils, drawings and paintings, but also scientific instruments, coins and medals.

Jopenkerk is a former church that has been transformed into a brewery, grand café and pub. Jopen beers are brewed according to a local medieval recipe. You can watch the brewing process while enjoying your drink or dinner, which makes every visit a real experience.

National Park Zuid-Kennemerland stretches from Zandvoort to IJmuiden. The ever-surprising dune landscape, extending from country estates on the edge of the park, via rugged dunes to the North Sea beach, is the habitat of numerous special animals and plants.

Largest steam engine in the world
The Cruquius houses the worlds’ largest steam engine: its main cylinder has a diameter of 3.66 metres! The engine could drain up to 320,000 litres of water per minute, that’s one Olympic swimming pool every 8 minutes. The engine room, unchanged since 1849, is a marvel of Victorian engineering.

Bloemendaal and Zandvoort are great places to visit all year round. Blow away the cobwebs on the beach, walk through the dunes or recharge at one of the beach pavilions with a cup of coffee. Wonderful in the autumn and winter months too.