Texel - an idylic island paradise

 

For the long Easter weekend, I was looking for a place in Netherlands to spend some time in nature, cycle around and look at spring flowers. Amsterdam and the surrounding areas are generally too crowded so I started looking at other places in Netherlands & found Texel! Texel is an island north of the mainland Netherlands. Why specifically Netherlands you might ask. Due to the pandemic, we had not travelled outside Germany in the last 2 years and I was really missing the natural beauty of the Netherlands, the classic windmills, endless tulip farms and the tasty hot chocolate!

The way to reach the island is with a ferry. Tickets can be booked online & the website has all the required information https://www.teso.nl/en/. 

The island is very popular with families with little kids. Somehow also very popular with families with dogs. Literally every family we saw had a dog. After a while my husband started missing having a dog 😄.

The island has 7 little villages. The official website has good information - https://www.texel.net/en/about-texel/villages/.

We stayed at Hotel op Diek. It is located in a quiet village Den Hoorn. The hotel provided us with e-bikes which were very convenient to explore the island. The island can be covered by car in an hour but to truly explore it and visit the hidden scenic locations a bike is best. Cycling is very popular in the Netherlands and the infrastructure supports it. So naturally there are many bike rental shops.

If you intend to drive a car, do read up on the parking rules - https://www.texel.net/en/about-texel/transport/parking-on-texel/.

Here is what we did on the island:

1. Visited numerous beautiful beaches

The beaches are conveniently numbered like Strandpaviljoen Paal 9, Strandpaviljoen Paal 21, etc. The beaches on the left coast mostly look alike but our favourite was Strandpaviljoen Paal 9. The beach was not crowded due to its location being away from the more touristy places. We liked to look at the rows of little blue houses used to relax, change, etc. The restaurant at the entrance served awesome food with a direct view of the sunset. What else could we want on a holiday!

The weather was still cold in April so there was hardly anyone in the water but we could imagine what fun it would be in summer with the endless coastline to frolic around in the water & relax on the warm sand.   

2. Visited the lighthouse

This is one of those touristy things to see while visiting a new place. The panoramic view of the coastline is spectacular. The tickets can be bought online for a specific  time slot. We went there and then bought the tickets online before entering the lighthouse. Luckily places were available in that time slot. Probably in high season such spontaneity would not be possible. Already in April perhaps due to the Easter holidays the area around the lighthouse was very crowded. We did not spend much time here.

View from the lighthouse

3. Cycled around the island

In two days, we cycled around 75 kms all around the island. 

Here is a video of me cycling around the amazing cycle paths.

It was pure bliss to inhale the fresh air & look at open green spaces with no tall structures to block the view & cycle on the well-maintained bike tracks. Sometimes the fresh air smelled a bit too countryside when dairy farms or sheep were around 😆.

4. Visited the famous ice cream shop IJsboerderij Labora

We loved the ice cream at this place. It had a milky taste. If it wasn’t for a long queue we would have ordered again after finishing the first scoop. There is a cow shed at the back which is open to visitors & some a small petting zoo as well. Kids were enjoying a huge trampoline in the play area. 

Front side of the ice cream shop

5. Spent time in nature & star gazed

We saw endless farms of colourful hyacinths, a few tulip farms and many wilting daffodil farms as well. Every evening was spent watching the sunset on one of the west facing beaches. On one of the nights after dinner , we took the car out for a short drive just to gaze at the stars away from the city lights. We were rewarded with the view of the most stunning moonrise we had ever seen. It was a full moon night & the moon was very bright, big and yellow near the horizon. Our phone cameras did not do justice of capturing the stunning beauty of the moment. 

Activities we didn’t do but very popular with tourists:

1. We did not visit Ecomare - it is an aquarium & sanctuary for seals & birds.

2. Skydiving - We saw planes flying continuously and people descending with parachutes. 

We left the island refreshed and looking forward to our next visit.