Bergen

Bergen sits between the dunes and the polder north of Alkmaar, in woodland rather than open country, and from around 1900 it drew painters and writers - the landscape, the light off the sea and cheap accommodation - producing the Bergen School, an expressionist group working in dark tones and heavy contour, and later a broader colony that included Charley Toorop, who lived here for decades, along with writers and composers. The village kept that character: there are galleries through the centre, artists' houses in the woods, and Museum Kranenburgh in a villa with a modern extension holding the Bergen School collection and contemporary work. The Ruinekerk in the middle is a church that has stood partly ruined since a fire in 1574 and was patched rather than rebuilt. Bergen aan Zee, three kilometres west, is the beach village with a sea aquarium.

What you actually see

• The Bergen School - the expressionist group that worked here from about 1900.
• Museum Kranenburgh - the collection in a villa with a modern extension.
• Galleries through the village - a working artists' colony rather than a former one.
• The Ruinekerk - patched rather than rebuilt after a fire in 1574.

When to go

April to October. A day.

Honest expectations

Galleries are commercial and many close on Mondays. The museum closes Mondays too. Bergen is affluent and quiet, with limited and paid parking in season.

Nearby

Bergen aan Zee and the dunes are west; Alkmaar is south.