Three Days in Zandvoort: Beach, Circuit and Coastal Villages

Day 1: Settle in and explore Zandvoort's seafront

Arrive at Zandvoort aan Zee station, a 30-minute train ride from Amsterdam Centraal with two services an hour. Most hotels cluster along the Boulevard and Burgemeester van Alphenstraat. A nightly rate of €90–€150 outside July and August is typical for a double room with breakfast; August peaks higher and books out weeks ahead. Drop bags and walk the Boulevard south past the wooden pier-like viewing deck. The beach here is wide, clean and patrolled in summer; the walk to the southern breakwater takes about 25 minutes at an easy pace.

For lunch, turn inland to Kerkplein and the streets around Zandvoort's old village, where cafés serve broodjes and uitsmijter at €8–€14. Skip the row of identikit fried-food kiosks on the Boulevard if you want a proper sit-down meal. In the afternoon, walk north through the Kennemerduinen national park entrance at the end of Zeeweg — a 15-minute stroll from the station. The marked routes range from 3 to 8 kilometres, and the dunes are at their best in June or September when the crowds thin and the light softens.

Day 2: Circuit history and the beach at Bloemendaal

Zandvoort's circuit sits a 20-minute walk east of the station along Burgemeester van Alphenstraat, and on non-race weekends you can often walk part of the perimeter. The on-site museum opens on selected days — check locally rather than turning up — but the on-site shop is open more regularly. Avoid race weekends unless you have tickets, as road closures and packed trains make the town hard to navigate. From there, catch the 81 bus or take the coastal cycle path north to Bloemendaal aan Zee, about 6 kilometres away and 20 minutes by bike.

Bloemendaal's beach is broader and backed by the Duinlust and Kennemerduin woods; beach clubs line the sand from April to October, with sunbeds typically €10–€20 a day depending on the club. It is livelier than Zandvoort and attracts a younger crowd in the late afternoon. I would book a hotel in Zandvoort rather than Bloemendaal: rates are lower, the station is closer, and you can still reach Bloemendaal in under half an hour. Return via the inland cycle path through the woods to avoid the coastal wind.

Day 3: Haarlem and the bulb fields

Take the train one stop to Haarlem — 12 minutes — and spend the morning around the Grote Markt, the Teylers Museum and the Frans Hals Museum. Haarlem's Saturday market on the Botermarkt is worth timing a trip around. From Haarlem, bus 50 runs through the bulb-growing country around Hillegom and Lisse; in late April and early May the fields along the N208 are at their peak, while the Keukenhof gardens open roughly late March to mid-May. Outside those weeks the polder roads are quiet and good for cycling, but the colour is gone.

For the final afternoon, return to Zandvoort and walk the southern stretch of beach towards Bentveld, where the sand narrows and the dunes rise behind you. Finish with a drink at a beach club near the circuit end of the Boulevard. If you have a car, the drive back to Amsterdam takes about 35 minutes outside rush hour, but parking in Zandvoort is charged and tight in summer; the train remains the simpler choice. Book your room well before July — Zandvoort's 34 hotel views this week suggest demand is steady, and the best-value doubles near the station go first.