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    Haarlem

    Netherlands

    Haarlem

    CityCulture

    Haarlem is the capital of the province of Noord-Holland and is located just 19 kilometers west of Amsterdam – a canal city with a Gothic main church on the Grote Markt, picturesque 17th and 18th-century residential courtyards, and the…

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    7. North Holland
    9. Haarlem
    Haarlem is the capital of the province of Noord-Holland and is located just 19 kilometers west of Amsterdam – a canal city with a Gothic main church on the Grote Markt, picturesque 17th and 18th-century residential courtyards, and the oldest museum in the Netherlands. Many visitors combine it with a day trip from Amsterdam or with the beach, as the North Sea coast is only about seven kilometers away.The city on the Spaarne River has a population of around 169,000. In 1839, the first train in the Netherlands departed from here for Amsterdam; today's station building from 1908 is the country's only Art Nouveau train station.
    Haarlem, with approximately 169,000 inhabitants, is located on the Spaarne River, 19 kilometers west of Amsterdam. The heart of the Old Town is the Grote Markt with the Gothic Grote Kerk. Surrounding it, you'll find the Teylers Museum, the country's oldest museum, the Frans Hals Museum, and the Hofjes – tranquil residential courtyards from the 17th and 18th centuries. Since 1853, Haarlem has also been the seat of a Catholic diocese. The North Sea coast is only about seven kilometers away.

    Sights in Haarlem

    Discover the most important sights and attractions

    Teylers Museum
    Museum

    1Teylers Museum

    The house founded in 1778 is the oldest museum in the Netherlands. It combines art and science: On display are paintings and prints, as well as fossils and historical scientific instruments.
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    Great Church (St. Bavo's Church)
    Church

    2Great Church (St. Bavo's Church)

    The Gothic main church on the Grote Markt is the city's largest church. It features a famous organ, built by Christian Müller between 1735 and 1738: In 1766, ten-year-old Mozart played it; Händel and Mendelssohn also played this instrument. Painter Frans Hals is buried here.
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    Frans Hals Museum
    Museum

    3Frans Hals Museum

    The museum in a 17th-century building features works by Haarlem portrait painter Frans Hals and other Dutch Old Masters.
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    Molen De Adriaan
    Museum

    4Molen De Adriaan

    The 18th-century windmill stands directly on the Spaarne river. Inside, there is a museum; guided tours go up to the gallery, offering city views.
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    Corrie ten Boom Museum
    Museum

    5Corrie ten Boom Museum

    The ten Boom family's former home served as a hiding place for Jews during World War II. Today, it's a museum you can tour with a guide.
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    Restaurants in Haarlem

    1

    The Laughing Javan

    Indonesian Restaurant on Frankestraat in the center.
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    2

    TOAST

    Brunch restaurant in the Kleine Houtstraat.
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    3

    by LIMA

    Restaurant for breakfast and brunch with a vegan and vegetarian menu in the Zijlstraat.
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    Art, the Organ and Hofjes

    Frans Hals and the Old MastersHaarlem is the city of portrait painter Frans Hals. His works hang in the Frans Hals Museum, and he is buried in the Grote Kerk. The Teylers Museum, founded in 1778, displays paintings and prints, as well as fossils and scientific instruments.The Müller OrganChristian Müller built the organ of the Grote Kerk between 1735 and 1738. Musicians who played on it include Mozart – in 1766 at the age of ten – Händel, and Mendelssohn.HofjesThese almshouses from the 17th and 18th centuries are hidden behind house facades. They are still inhabited today.

    Getting There & Around

    By TrainHaarlem is located on the Amsterdam–Rotterdam railway line, the oldest in the country. From Amsterdam Centraal, Intercity and Sprinter trains run several times an hour. The station itself is worth seeing: The building, constructed between 1906 and 1908, is the only Art Nouveau station in the Netherlands and is a listed monument.To the BeachThe Sprinter trains from Amsterdam continue via Haarlem to Zandvoort aan Zee on the North Sea coast.

    Accommodations in Haarlem

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      • 2Great Church (St. Bavo's Church)4 days
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    Nearby

    Lisse & Keukenhof

    Lisse & Keukenhof

    Keukenhof near Lisse is the most famous flower park in the Netherlands: Every spring, 32 hectares bloom with around seven million hand-planted flower bulbs, including 4.5 million tulips in 100 varieties. It is open only eight weeks a year – during this time, around 1.4 million visitors arrive, about 80 percent of them from abroad.The park was established in 1949 as a spring flower show for bulb growers. Its name, 'Küchenhof', dates back to the 15th century, when Jakobäa von Bayern had herbs grown here for the castle kitchen. Lisse is located in the province of Zuid-Holland, in the middle of the flower bulb growing region.
    Zaanse Schans

    Zaanse Schans

    The Zaanse Schans is a living open-air museum on the River Zaan north of Amsterdam: green wooden houses, craft workshops, and a series of working windmills show what the oldest industrial area of the Netherlands once looked like. With around 1.9 million visitors annually, it is one of the most visited destinations in the country.Between 1961 and 1974, many historic buildings from the Zaanstreek were moved here and reconstructed. On display are a paint mill, sawmills and oil mills, a clog workshop, a cheese factory, and the Zaans Museum covering the region's industrial history.
    Amsterdam

    Amsterdam

    Amsterdam is the capital of the Netherlands and by far its most visited destination: a city of 165 canals and almost 1,300 bridges, whose 17th-century canal ring has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2010. Here, Rembrandt's "The Night Watch" hangs in the Rijksmuseum, along with the world's most famous Van Gogh collection, and here stands the Anne Frank House.The city originated in the 13th century on a dam in the Amstel and is located on the IJ, a former sea inlet. With approximately 936,000 inhabitants, it is the country's largest city; however, the government and parliament are situated in The Hague, about 60 kilometers away.
    Leiden

    Leiden

    Leiden is the oldest university city in the Netherlands and Rembrandt's birthplace – a canal city on the Oude Rijn with an unusual density of museums. In the Hortus Botanicus of the university, founded in 1575, the first tulips bloomed on Dutch soil in 1594.The city, with around 130,000 inhabitants, is located approximately 18 kilometers northeast of The Hague and 45 kilometers southwest of Amsterdam. Every year on October 3, it celebrates the end of the Spanish siege of 1574, traditionally with the carrot stew Hutspot.
    North Holland

    North Holland

    Noord-Holland is the peninsula between the North Sea and the IJsselmeer and, with Amsterdam, the most visited province of the Netherlands. Besides the capital, it features Haarlem, the cheese city Alkmaar, the old port towns Hoorn and Enkhuizen, and the Wadden Island Texel.More than half of the province consists of reclaimed polders. Behind the dunes of Kennemerland stretches flat geestland, north of Amsterdam the watery Waterland, and in the southeast the forests and heathlands of Het Gooi.