The best beaches, ranked

Noord-Holland is a narrow province between two seas, which makes travel here simple: you can cycle from the North Sea to the IJsselmeer in a morning, and most places are within half an hour of each other by train. This guide covers Zandvoort, Texel, Egmond aan Zee, Castricum and how to combine them without losing half days to transport.

Amsterdam’s beach, thirty minutes by train. Nine kilometres of sand, a row of beach pavilions rebuilt every spring, and a race circuit in the dunes.

Zandvoort

Amsterdam’s beach, thirty minutes by train. Nine kilometres of sand, a row of beach pavilions rebuilt every spring, and a race circuit in the dunes.

• The wide north beach towards Bloemendaal, where the beach bars are

• Circuit Zandvoort, open outside Grand Prix weekend too

• The dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park, right behind the village

• Sunset over the North Sea — you face due west here

Thirty minutes direct from Amsterdam Centraal, ten from Haarlem. The station is three hundred metres from the sand.

Texel

The largest Wadden island: thirty kilometres of beach, seven villages, a national park and more sheep than people. The ferry takes twenty minutes and drops you into a different tempo.

• De Slufter, where spring tides push the sea into the dunes

• Ecomare, seal sanctuary and nature museum in De Koog

• The Eierland lighthouse, bright red at the northern tip

• Den Burg, the main village with its Monday market

Train to Den Helder, then the ferry (twenty minutes, bikes free). On the island a bicycle beats the bus on both speed and cost.

Egmond aan Zee

A seaside village with a lighthouse in the middle of it and a beach that works as well in winter as in summer. Behind the dunes lie Egmond-Binnen and its abbey; offshore, the lifeboat still launches.

• The J.C.J. van Speijk lighthouse on the boulevard

• A wide beach with pavilions open into October

• Egmond Abbey in Egmond-Binnen

• The Noordhollands Duinreservaat behind the village

Train to Alkmaar, then bus 165 in twenty minutes. Forty-five minutes by bike from Alkmaar through the dunes.

Castricum

A dune village with its own railway station and a beach at the end of a cycle path through the Noordhollands Duinreservaat. The calmest way to reach the sea from Amsterdam.

• Castricum aan Zee, at the end of four kilometres of dune path

• The Noordhollands Duinreservaat walking and cycling network

• Huis van Hilde, the archaeology museum by the station

• The inner dune edge with its country estates

Twenty-five minutes by local train from Amsterdam Centraal, then four kilometres by bike to the sea.

Where to stay

• On the boulevard: sea-view hotels, dearer in July and August

• Behind the village towards the dunes: quieter and cheaper

• Bloemendaal aan Zee: smaller, smarter, awkward without a car

For a high-season weekend, book two to three months ahead; midweek in low season, hotels dump their last rooms seven to ten days out. Being flexible on dates saves more in Noord-Holland than being flexible on stars.

What it costs

Fifty-nine to a hundred and twenty euros depending on season. Grand Prix weekend doubles every rate in the region.

Always compare the total including tourist tax, not the room rate. Municipalities here charge between four and twelve and a half percent, sometimes plus a fixed amount per person per night, and many booking sites only show it on the final screen.

Practicalities

The train is the spine of the province: four to eight an hour between the main towns, and a day return rarely costs more than a tank of fuel. Buy an anonymous OV-chipkaart or tap in with a bank card — that now works at nearly every gate.

Build the bicycle into your plan. Almost every station in the province has a rental point, the landscape is flat and the cycle paths are separated from traffic. On most day trips the bike beats the bus and costs far less than a car plus parking.

North Sea weather turns faster than the forecast. Bring a windproof layer even in July; a morning that promises beach weather can rain sideways by two and clear again by five.

Crowds and timing

Crowding in Zandvoort is predictable and therefore avoidable. Between eleven in the morning and four in the afternoon the best-known spots are full; outside those hours they are quiet. That gap matters more than the gap between high and low season: a Saturday in October at half past ten feels busier than a Tuesday in July at half past eight. Turn the day around — start early, spend the middle of the day eating or walking outside the centre, and come back after four — and you see the same place at a completely different tempo, and pay less for food and entry while you are at it.

Money and paying

The Netherlands is largely cashless. Nearly everywhere takes a debit card or phone, and a growing number of places refuse cash outright. Credit cards are still not universally accepted in supermarkets and small shops — expect Maestro or V Pay. Tipping is not obligatory; five to ten percent for good service is normal and rounding up is enough. Tourist tax is nearly always charged separately at check-out, even when you have prepaid.

Without a car

This province is built for trains, buses, ferries and bikes. Nearly every place in this guide is reachable by public transport, usually in under an hour from Amsterdam Centraal, and the ferries across the IJ and the North Sea Canal are free. A day pass on the regional buses costs less than a day of parking in a historic centre. With three or four people a car can work out cheaper — in that case leave it at the edge of town and switch to a tram or train.

Travelling with children

Children up to eleven travel by train for a couple of euros a day on a Railrunner ticket, and small children ride free on a bike. Nearly every museum in the province has a children’s route, and most beaches have a pavilion with a playground. The real constraint is not supply but pace: plan two activities a day rather than four, and put the journey home before dinner rather than after.

Mistakes visitors make

Three classics. First: too many places in one day, so you mostly see trains and car parks. Second: planning everything around midday, exactly when everywhere is busiest and dearest. Third: driving into a historic centre where parking costs seven euros an hour while the station is a ten-minute walk away. Choose one place a day, start early and leave the car, and you keep both time and money for the part you actually came for.

Stay or go back

Most visitors do Zandvoort as a day trip from Amsterdam and so miss the two hours that make it worthwhile. Do the arithmetic: two return train tickets plus dinner in the capital quickly costs more than an off-season double room here, breakfast included. Staying also gets you the morning light, which in this province — low, wide, across water — is the main reason to be here at all.