Hello All. My dh and I will be in Amsterdam for 6 days in August. I would love to do a day trip to the closest-easiest to get to beach. Am I correct in thinking that would be Zandvoort? Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

Bloemendaal is nice too.

Zandvoort is THE beach for the Amsterdam area and a huge crowd will be there on nice days - if adventuresome check out the nude beach on the southern fringe of Zandvoort's main beach.

Zandvoort hops - lots of pubs right on the beach - a short enough train ride from Amsterdam.

http://www.naaktstrandje.nl/noordhol...ortEngels.html

be careful when walking between pole 68 and 71 on Zandvoort's public beach!

Thank you for the quick responses! I will definitely look into the Bloemendaal beach Tulips! PalenQ..you have piqued my curiosity, will you tell me why?? Is it the nude beach or is there doggie doodoo there? LOL..

PalenQ..I just realized you had a link for me to check out! Got it!

<i>Day trip to the Beach
Posted by: doryyoung on Jan 14, 14 at 2:35pm Posted in: Europe
Hello All. My dh and I will be in Amsterdam for 6 days in August. I would love to do a day trip to the closest-easiest to get to beach. Am I correct in thinking that would be Zandvoort? Any suggestions greatly appreciated!</i>

Zandvoort is an easy train trip from Amsterdam. You might need to change in Haarlem. Check schedules at http://www.ns.nl/en/travellers/home. Frequent service. You probably won't be driving but if you drive get there very early. Many streets are barricaded by mid morning. Parking is scarce, enforcement is severe (you will be clamped or towed), and traffic is madness. You could rent a bike in Haarlem and "go Dutch." It is a beautiful bike ride over to the beach.

On a warm August Sunday Amsterdam will be deserted. Half of the people are in France and the other half are in Zandvoort. In Zandvoort walk out the front door of the station and about three blocks ahead, west. You'll be in the North Sea. I usually go to the naked beach. Most of the people there are geezers like me. At the regular beach many of the young ones leave nothing to the imagination. One piece patches on strings are common.

Bloemendaal is a couple miles north of the station. It isn't much. If you rent a bike at the Haarlem station and take the north route to Zandvoort you'll come to Bloemendaal first. Then go south past thousands of Germans camping on the beach to central Zandvoort.

If you want a breakfast or lunch I suggest the patio of the Cafe Neuf which is slightly south of the station. For dinner the Restaurant Dubrovnik has been one of my favorites for decades. You would expect a good fish restaurant in Zandvoort but unless one has moved in recently you are OOL. There are fish wagons which travel up and down the beach. Try the local specialty, haring. That's raw herring.

Zandvoort also has a casino, with a dress code. There is a very active night life in Zandvoort in good weather. There are discos running most of the night. The sun is up when you walk out.

We can only join the recommendations above. If you go to Amsterdam for a long weekend, if you already know the city and its tourist attractions, then its great idea to escape from the city and go to Zandvoort.

Zandvoort is a small city near the beach on the outskirts of the North Sea. The beach is wide and beautiful, golden sand and large dunes bordering the city. 30 minutes away from Amsterdam by public transportation, you can easily spend the day there, enjoy the nature and the beach and return in the evening to Amsterdam.

http://www.thegreenpick.com/zandvoor...ear-amsterdam/

Best regards,
TheGreenPick

Zandvoort is highly developed, with several high-rise buildings. However, the developed section is rather small and if you walk north or south, you will have nothing but the dunes behind you.

Bloemendaal is much quieter, just with a few beach restaurants and natural dunes around. From Haarlem train station to Bloemendaal, the way is 7km/4miles long, a quite beautiful bike ride.

Wow this forum is definitely more liberal than Rick Steves Helpline.
I remember having had my post deleted once a few years ago because I asked for advice on nude beaches. The uppity and prudish Ricknicks deemed it offensive back then.

I wish them all a wardrobe malfunction on the beach.

Wijk aan Zee is the best. Hotel Sonnevanck the place to be.

This thread is two years old. It was topped by spammer TheGreenPick.

Nevertheless, Wijk and Hotel Sonnevanck can't get exposure enough

Yes they can. Don't want Wijk turning into Zandvoort do we .

Shhhh, that will never happen. And you need to take complicated buses. Gosh I love Wijk. We took our son to Sonnevanck when he was two. Lots of people in the restaurant that night, all with 2 - 3 year old and baby monitors all transmitting on the same channel. Pandemonium!

This thread is nearly 10 years old, RIP PalenQ. I was at Zandvoort once for the F1 Grand Prix, but never made it to the beach.