Though its a tiny little island, Texel has 7 villages in it and hands down they are 7 of the most beautiful villages in Netherlands in one of the most beautiful islands of Netherlands. I managed to bike in and around a few villages.
TOP 7 MOST BEAUTIFUL VILLAGES IN NETHERLANDS
DEN HOORN - MOST BEAUTIFUL VILLAGES IN NETHERLANDS
Den Hoorn is the southernmost tip of Texel Islands and its undoubtedly the most beautiful of all the villages. The face of this village is the Den Hoorn church! This has been in existence since 15th C as a wooden church and this structure was built in 1425 and the facade in 1646.
While the whole village is frozen is time and is so charming, the Whaler's House needs a special mention. This has been frozen since 1729 when whaling commander Klaas Jacobsz Daalder and his wife Marritje and their children lived here. I also spotted a cute cafe with a statue of Marilyn Monroe in her typical image with flying skirt!
DEN BURG - MOST BEAUTIFUL VILLAGES IN NETHERLANDS
This is primarily the central area of the island where all the government and other major offices are located. That makes it a very busy and modern village. Its more like a town with several modern households and very contemporary architecture. Suddenly I felt, I wasn't in the middle of an island! This is where one of the 2 world-war cemeteries of the island is located and it was locked when I visited! This village also has the House of Antiquities built in 1591 which originally served as a shelter for homeless & travelers. Today its a museum with the antiques of 19th C.
Apart from the central region, the village's boundaries extends out in the west towards the beach where our hotel, Bos en Duin Appartementenhotel was located. Just beside the hotel is the Dunes National Park which has quite a few trail paths to explore which we unfortunately didn't have time to explore. All I wanted to do was to just see the Fonteinsnol watch tower and the Strand Pavilion beach further ahead, which flopped, thanks to the weather. The Strand Pavilion is supposed to be the most beautiful, instagrammable, family friendly beach in the whole of Texel, complete with beach huts!
DE WAAL - MOST BEAUTIFUL VILLAGES IN NETHERLANDS
This is the smallest village in Texel with a population of just 400 people! The most impressive thing here is the poulder called the Wallenburg Poulder which is protected by Natuurmonumenten. This has recently been renovated to add a ramp and a viewpoint and its such a beautiful place to be & see. A set of staircase, leads you down to the marshes and a waterbody, from the viewpoint. Very similar to De Stufter marshlands, here too, the place is filled is absolutely spectacular flora and fauna.
DE KOOG - MOST BEAUTIFUL VILLAGES IN NETHERLANDS
The Dunes National Park extends well into this village. We didn't get to explore inside the village, but just crossed it as we cycled from De Stufter back to hotel. Ecomare, De Jager Observatory are located within its limits.
OUDESCHILD - MOST BEAUTIFUL VILLAGES IN NETHERLANDS
We didn't manage to explore inside the village. We only stopped over at Fort de Schans for lunch and had a look at the WWII Georgian Cemetary on the way. Read more about it on my other post.
OOSTEREND - MOST BEAUTIFUL VILLAGES IN NETHERLANDS
Here too we didn't manage to explore the village. All we did was to spot the Molen Het Noorden on the way from Fort de Schans to De Schorren. This was built in 1878 to drain the poulder here (the same work as the mills of Kinderdijk). In 1963, a modern pumping station took over this work and Natuurmonumenten took over the protection of Molen Het Noorden. It is currently being restored and renovated.
DE COCKDORP - MOST BEAUTIFUL VILLAGES IN NETHERLANDS
The Lighthouse Vuurtoren here is the face of Texel. This village is the northern tip of the island. As you bike from the south, a spot looks like the entrance, but it isn't! Its the private entrance to visit the village of De Cocksdorp and ideally used only by the residents of the village. A further walk towards sea leads to the entrance of Vuurtoren. This is a part of the village and another part of the village is further to the south along the eastern shore where we didn't go. If you go on a summer day, you should ideally be able to spot seals resting all over the beach. However with the rainy weather when we went, we didn't manage to see any.
In all the villages, quite an unusual thing that I spotted were the unmanned farm stands. In front of many houses there were such kiosks where you could pick up the vegetables and leave the price mentioned on it. Its trust based, honour based!!!
Hotels & BnBs at all price points are available in Texel. Several camping grounds & beach huts are also available if you're a bit adventurous. Check out my Bos en Duin Appartmentenhotel review where we stayed.
HOW TO REACH THE VILLAGES OF TEXEL ISLAND
To Texel: Refer my upcoming post.
The villages of Den Hoorn, Den Burg and De Koog are served by the regular service of Texel Hopper number 28. Rest of the villages are served by the flexible route which requires reservation half-an-hour prior.
However, as we went you could bike around these places. While going around in car is possible, it not really feasible to go inside the tiny lanes of the villages. An option could be to take the car to go to from one village to another, park it and explore every village on foot.
If you're pressed for time, just roam about only Den Hoorn village. Its so charming and is one of the best villages in Netherlands!
MY COMPLETE TEXEL TRAVELOGUE
Top 5 things to do in Texel, Wadden Sea UNESCO World Heritage, Villages of Texel Island, Cycling around Texel Island
Other day-trips from Amsterdam in Netherlands: Rotterdam, Kinderdijk, Utrecht, Eindhoven, Pampus Island, Muiderslot, The Hague
Other weekend getaways from Amsterdam within Netherlands: Giethoorn, Maastricht, Middelberg
I've never heard about Texel before but it makes me think about my hometown. I am from small place in Poland (well I used to live in the central one something like Den Burg ) and I loved to travel about villages around on my bike! I've always wanted to visit the countryside of The Netherlands mostly to see those stunning windmills! Love that post! You get to see so many beautiful places! I think De Waal would be my favourite!
ReplyDeleteI just love the fact that I stumble across so many hidden gems in Europe in your blog. I had no idea about the villages of Texel Island in Netherlands. And it feels wonderful to be reading a bit about each of them.I would love to visit Den Hoorn and gaze at the medieval church and the Whaler House. I would also like to check out the World War cemetery in Den Burg.
ReplyDeleteBiking looks like such a great way to explore the Texel Islands. Good to start in Den Hoorn if it is the most beautiful of the villages frozen in time. Such a contrast from a more modern village like Den Burg. But great to find a large national park to explore. I might be tempted to visit the Strand Pavilion for the most istagrammable beach. I love those small towns with windmills. And produce stands that are unmanned. Texel Islands seems like it has so many great villages to visit.
ReplyDeleteI love little villages like this. Such a beautiful area and those windmills. What a great idea having an honour system for the fruit and vegetables. That makes sense, if you have too much to use yourself leave it out for others to benefit from it.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a great spot to explore in the Netherlands and off the beaten path. I love the unmanned vegetable stands! What a trusting community. Texel Islands is also such an interesting name for this area - did you learn the history of the name?
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a great spot to explore in the Netherlands and off the beaten path. I love the unmanned vegetable stands! What a trusting community. Texel Islands is also such an interesting name for this area - did you learn the history of the name?
ReplyDeleteI hadn't heard of Texel Island before, but now I want to plan a trip! We hope to go to the Netherlands as a family soon, and Den Hoorn sounds so charming. I love that it is "frozen in time". I would love to visit that wooden church.
ReplyDeleteI love these small pockets that seem stuck in time. Some of my family also lives in a small farming village in the Netherlands with just a few hundred people. The local baker still delivers bread every morning. can you believe it? Only in these small villages could people be trusted to leave the price as ticketed. OMG that's amazing! Next time I am visiting my Dutch family, I am definitely going to plan a visit to Texel Islands.
ReplyDeleteWOW!! Does this place look like some obscure village from a movie scene or what?? Only the pictures were enough for me to consider my trip to this island. I always like traveling to tiny settlements with some breathtaking views and this has all of it. I have yet to explore Netherlands but when I do I'll make sure to consider it.
ReplyDeleteDen Hoorn is such a pretty little village. It is so photogenic that it almost reminded me of The Hobbit. De Koog is also picture perfect. Would love to visit these gorgeous island.
ReplyDeleteWow, Texel seems to be one the Europe's hidden gems. I love visiting villages and small, less touristic cities and doing a bike trip sounds like a great idea! I would love to go there one day.
ReplyDeleteWow I had no idea that the Netherlands had islands! I would love to rent a bike and bike around the island. It would be such a fun way to explore such cute little villages!
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of Texel Island before this post, but I would love to visit! I would love to visit all seven villages to really get a feel for the culture. Den Hoorn looks adorable, I could spend an entire afternoon just wandering around snapping pictures.
ReplyDeleteThis is the topic espectially for the bike lover. The places are so natural , charming and peaceful. The apartmenthotel and camping ground the beach are great choices between advanture traveler and leisure traveler. The villages of Texel Island are the amazing city to visit. This places stopped me to think about next trip again.
ReplyDeleteHi Bhushavali,
ReplyDeleteYour blog is inspiring! Love the photographs. I enjoy exploring small, pretty villages more than popular attractions. Netherlands is on my travel bucket-list. Let's see when do I get a chance to visit it.