After a Rick Steves Belgium/Netherlands tour in June, wife and I want to spend about a week
in a small Dutch village, preferably near the water northwest of Amsterdam. Any suggestions
will be appreciated.
Posted by
Duluth 🛶
8436 posts
I really enjoyed Hoorn, which is northeast rather than northwest, but it sits on the water and is a charming town with a beautiful harbor. It has a a lot of history, along with the incredible Westfries Museum, which I just loved. Lots of nice restaurants and cafes and a really lovely vibe.
Posted by
OP
Seattle, WA, United States
73 posts
Mardee:
Thanks for the suggestion. I may be wrong to think just of the northwest
coast, since the area you suggest has so much history, which is of interest to us.
Posted by
Duluth 🛶
8436 posts
John, you're welcome. Here's a bit of information about the place if you're interested: https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Hoorn
And of course, I'm sure others will chime in with suggestions. :-)
Posted by
Sapulpa, OK, USA
6595 posts
It's not a village, but on our last two visits to The Netherlands, we loved Leiden. Here are four trip reports and reviews:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/lovely-leiden-part-2
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
34328 posts
In Hoorn you also have the chance to ride the steam train - very nice.
Posted by
Reston VA
330 posts
small Dutch village
I get thrown by what that means to you. Hoorn - a good suggestion - is 70,000+ folks. To me, a small village in probably is the 100s of people, but also not a place I'd envision was very tourist-ready. IOW, a small city - like Hoorn, Leiden, many Dutch cities - is the way to go for many of us. We were in a truly "small Dutch village" for our canoe adventure with Wetlands Safari - village of Watergang - and let me tell you, it was LOVELY but it was truly a tiny place. I think you can find a place to stay in one of these little places, and a week there might be incredibly peaceful or incredibly "boring" depending upon your goal.
We've ridden a lot between "cities" in the Netherland. There are a ton of small villages on those routes, and so many were lovely stops - for snacks, a meal, a beer, a stroll. If you really want small, there are quite a few nice options out there, so it will be nice to see what folks suggest.
Posted by
Chico, CA USA
246 posts
Hoorn is one of my favorite places. Spent a week there in October 2022. Plus you can get to a lot of nearby small towns with a lot of character like Alkmaar, Enkhuisen, even a day-trip to Haarlem or Amsterdam if you want.
Posted by
USA
46 posts
Another vote for Hoorn! We were there in late May/early June, and it was absolutely lovely. Our trip started with 2 days at the Ysbrantsz Boutique Hotel in Hoorn. We loved the town and hotel so much that we extended our trip by 3 days and revisited it again. (Believe it or not, we actually got money back when we changed out flights!) The town is very charming. There is a pleasant park along the water, and we strolled there most days. Hoorn is a good base for day trips to other towns. We went to Enkhuizen (twice) and Edam.