Seaside areas in Belgium and the Netherlands
 

My husband and I are in the process of putting together our itinerary for Belgium and the Netherlands - traveling in August - and are interested in some seaside areas in Belgium and the Netherlands.

We will be visiting Brussels, Bruges, Amsterdam, and a couple towns near Amsterdam yet to be determined. We've got a few days in the middle of the trip (between Brussels and Amsterdam) to decide what to do with.

Our original plan was to head east to Bamberg for a few days to drink some rauchbier and wander around - but now we are considering sticking to Belgium and the Netherlands so as to remove a couple long days of travel mid-trip.

Any recommendations for neat seaside area where we might spend a couple days - or visit as a day trip? Interesting places to explore, cute towns, good photo ops, perhaps some relaxed cycling or good walking areas, cafes where we can chill out, maybe a museum or a working farm to tour - that sort of thing. We aren't really interested in swimming or sunning on the beach, but some beachcombing is good. Breweries are always good :)

Thanks for any recommendations you have.

Hi November moon-

YOu can check out this thread I started earlier this year, where I asked about visiting the Belgian Coast.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35119325

Try staying in Haarlem and bicycling to Zandvoort. There is too much to do and see for a few days.

For something a bit different consider one of the Wadden Islands for a couple of days. Texel is the easiest one to get to, but Vlieland and Terschelling are nicer in my opinion. Vlieland is car free - only the residents are allowed cars, so you would have to use bikes, buses or taxis there, but it is lovely.

Or stay in Alkmaar and rent a bike to get around, and visit the coastal villages like Egmond ann Zee from there.

This is a page with some information about the Belgian coast near Bruges:
http://www.pandhotel.com/kuste.htm

There is a beach very close to Delft. It only takes a few minutes by tram to get to Scheveningen. There are cafes and lots of shopping. Not anything special, but it is so close that we decided to check it out

Thanks for the replies. I will look into those options. The Wadden Islands look really neat - and and island without cars would be great. We like to be car-free on vacation when we can anyway :)