Haarlem is like Amsterdam but on a smaller scale and less hectic. The city's narrow streets, canals, architecture and museums are an excellent alternative for Amsterdam
Haarlem is the perfect escape if Amsterdam is too crowded and too hectic for you. The city has everything Amsterdam can offer you but on a smaller scale. Canals, historic sights, renaisssance façades, hofjes (elderly women's almshouses) medieval architecture, pedestrianised streets it is all there but Haarlem has far fewer inhabitants and only a trickle of tourists.
Haarlem is the centre of the bulb growing industry and the bulb are ablaze with colour in April and May. These fields are in between Haarlem and Leiden (to the south). Roads N206 and N208 run right through the bulb fields. Halfway is Keukenhof, a spectacular flower garden, open from mid-March to end of May. It is 35 km south of Amsterdam near the town of Lisse. The garden started life as a showcase for bulb growers but is now one of the most important tourist attractions in the Netherlands. It is difficult to predict when the park is at its best because it all depends on the weather. (See 'tips' for opening hours and how to get tickets online)
Haarlem is only 15 mins by train from Amsterdam. The VVV tourist Office is at Stationsplein right opposite the train station. They sell city maps and booklets with city walks
Favourite spots:
The Grote Markt is is a lively square and packed with historic buidlings, restaurants and outdoor cafés. The 14th century St Bavo Church dominates the square. The entrance is through on of the 17th century shops that cling to the exterior of the church. On a sunny day the church glows with light from the hugh stained-glass windows. Twenty-eight colomns enhance the church's vastness.
Don't forget to look up at the patterend vaulted ceiling. high above. Don't leave the church before having a close look at the choir stalls and the carvings of funny-lookings animals and humans. Stone slabs cover the floor and commemorate the dead. On of them is the grave of the painter Frans Hals. The huge organ which Händel and Mozart played is still used for concerts.
What's really great:
The statue in front of the St Bavo Cathedral is Laurens Janszoon Coster, Haarlem's most famous citizen after Frans Hals. He holds the letter A in his right hand, this is not just for decoration because Coster invented printing several years before Gutenberg claimed the same.
Haarlem train station is an imposing brick building with arches and square towers and lots of Art Nouveau details added early 20th century. The main hall is decorated with coloured tiles depicting all kinds of transportation. It was the terminus of the first railway that ran from Amsterdam to Haarlem and was opened in 1842, and the first train station in the Netherlands.
Sights:
Haarlem is famous for its 'hofjes' or almshouses which used to provide subsidised housing for the poor and elderly, mostly women. Many of these 'hofjes'were built in the 17th and 18th centuries, and not only in Haarlem but also in Amsterdam, Leiden, The Hague and Delft.
The houses were very small and built around a courtyard with beautiful flower gardens and usually a water pump in the centre. Hofjes are entered through an entrance door that was locked at night, This door looks like an ordinary front door and therefore often difficult to find which door leads to the courtyard.
These days many 'hofjes' have been renovated and are very popular places to live. Haarlem has 19 of them. One of the most beautiful is Hofje van Oorschot, at Kruisstraat 44. See tips section for addresses of more hofjes.
Accommodations:
Indrapoera, Kruisweg 18, is a small hotel with only 7 rooms (doubles at €85). It is close to the bus and train station, but Haarlem is only a small town which means that almost evry thing you want to see is within walking distance. The rooms are of medium size with a shower and cable television. Breakfast is served in your room. Downstairs is a Chinese – Indonesian restaurant.
Hotel Die Raeckse, Raaks 1, has a variety of rooms, singles, doubles, triples. Their prices start at €75 for a double and includes a breakfast buffet. All their rooms have recently been renovated and all are ensuite and have cable television. WiFi is also available.
If you want to stay right in Haarlem centre Hotel Carillion at Grote Markt 27 is the place to be. They have 20 rooms of which 14 are ensuite. (€85 for an ensuite)
Room prices in Haarlem are lower than in Amsterdam, it is also less hectic and less crowded. Amsterdam is only 10 minutes away by train.
Nightlife:
If you like live music Café Stiels is your place, on weekdays they are open from 8 pm – 2 am and Friday and Saturday until 4 am. Every day of the week different style of music from Soul to Jazz and everything in between. Friday and Saturday join in the dancing and listen to soul, hip hop and rock. Look for their monthly programme at www.stiels.nl. You will find them in Smedestraat 21, just one-min walk from the Market Square.
Patronaat at #2, Zijlsingel stages pop concerts, disco dancing and parties and starts at 9 pm. Check www.patronaat.nl for what's on.
Haarlem has three cinemas. Films are always shown in the original version with Dutch subtitles. Brinkman is at de Grote Markt, the main square, Filmschuur Haarlem is at 9 Lange Begijnestraat and Palace at 111 Lange Houtstraat.
Hangouts:
If you happen to be in Haarlem on a Sunday include a visit to the Barrel Organ Museum. You will learn about the mechanics of these organs and also how an 'organ book' is made. This is a set of folded cardboard paper with holes in it at different places. Air is forced through these holes and produce a melody. The museum is open from noon – 7pm, entrance is free. The address is: Küppersweg 3.
Corrie ten Boom Museum is at Barteljorisstraat 19. During World War II the Ten Boom home became a hiding place for Jews and members of the Underground resistance Movement. The living room looks still the same as it did during the war. In one of the bedrooms is the hiding place, a double sliding door in one of the wardrobes that led to a secret place. Corrie ten Boom wrote A Hiding Place which gives a true account of those days. (see tips section for opening hours)
Restaurants:
Eetcafé Aangenaam, Kleine Houtstraat 105 only uses Fair Trade and organic products. Medium sized portions and a limited choice of main courses €12 - €19.
Almost next door is Restaurant de Smaeck, at Kleine Houstraat 42. Booking a table is recommended especially at weekends. Their 3-course menu at €21 is worth every cent. They are closed on Mondays.
Restaurant Noor is in the same street at # 31, but is more upmarket. Their 5-course (€ 42.50) menu is French oriented, every day a different menu. They are closed on Sunday and Monday.
Other recommendations:
Zandvoort aan Zee is Haarlem's seaside town and only 10 km away. It offers miles of sandy beaches and a very cold North Sea. Even in the height of summer the sea water is 20° at most. Wooden pavilions line the seashore (in summer only) with restaurants and outdoor terraces with sunbeds and umbrellas. Admission is free as long as you buy drinks and food.
A 20-min walk to the south (keep the sea on your right hand) is the nudist part of the beach often very crowded, in spite of the fact that this is the largest of such beaches in the Netherlands. And yes, you will be noticed if you wear your clothes.
Restaurants in Zandvoort centre near Raadhuisplein are more upmarket than those on the beach. Kerkstraat and Haltestraat are two streets packed with with small cafés and restaurants.
On beautiful summer days the roads are jampacked and parking space is limited. It is therefore best to go by train, only 10 mins from Haarlem Centraal Station.
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