Noordwijk

Noordwijk has thirteen kilometres of wide North Sea beach and has been a bathing resort since the nineteenth century, developing into the more expensive end of the Dutch coast - hotels along the boulevard, beach clubs on the sand, a conference trade, and a quieter feel than Scheveningen or Zandvoort. It has two distinct parts: Noordwijk aan Zee on the coast, and Noordwijk-Binnen inland, an older village with a church and a centre. The dunes behind hold the Coepelduynen reserve and the bulb country begins immediately inland, so from late March to mid-May the fields around are striped with tulips, hyacinths and daffodils and Keukenhof is a few kilometres away - the flower parade passes through Noordwijk in April. ESTEC and Space Expo are on the southern edge. The Netherlands' offshore wind farms are visible from the beach.

What's there

• Thirteen kilometres of beach - wide North Sea sand with clubs along it.
• Bulb fields inland - striped with colour from late March to mid-May.
• Two villages - the coastal resort and the older inland centre.
• The space agency behind - ESTEC and Space Expo on the southern edge.

When to go

April for the bulb fields; April to September for the beach. A day.

Things to know

The North Sea is cold with rip currents - swim between the flags. The resort is at the expensive end and parking is charged and fills. Bulb fields are private working farmland; do not walk into them.

Nearby

Keukenhof and the bulb fields are inland; Katwijk is south.