Why visit / Interesting facts:
- Charming town
- Magnificent St. Bavo's Church
- Great Frans Hals Museum
Time required: 350 minutes
Public transport:
Address:
Photos: (see more photos)
Photo: Rampant Gian
Things you need to know:
- Haarlem is a pretty town of 150,000 inhabitants some 20 km (12 miles) from Amsterdam to the West
- Rembrandt contemporaries such as Frans Hals, Jacob van Ruisdael, and Pieter Saenredam lived and painted here
- While Haarlem retained the traditional Dutch village atmosphere; it gives home to some excellent museums and magnificent churches
- Highlights include: Grote Markt, Frans Hals Museum and St. Bavo's Church (Sint-Bavokerk)
- The magnificent 16th c. St. Bavo's Church boasts the soaring (30m98 ft.) Christian Müller organ (1738) Mozart, Handel and Liszt all played
- Grote Mark, the main square, with its monumental buildings provides peek into the development of Dutch architecture; Haarlem's oldest building stands here, the 14th c. Town Hall
- Frans Hals Museum housed in a lovely 17th c. house features many of Hals masterpieces and also a superb 18th c. dollhouse and fine collections of antiques, silver and porcelain
What to do there:
- Take a 10-minute stroll south from Haarlem's Art Nouveau railway station via Kruisweg, Kruisstraat, and Smedenstraat. It will bring you to the historic central market square (Grote Markt)
- Find a tourist information center near the central market and pick up a map of the town
- Admire the square with the 14th c. Town Hall and relax in one of the cafés
- Visit Sint-Bavokerk (St.Bavo's Church) that houses the famous organ (Mozart, Handel and Liszt played here)
- Continue your visit in the Frans Hals Museum. This small museum focuses on the works of Frans Hals, 17th-century portrait painter
- At the end of your tour in Haarlem take a canal cruise through and around this small and beautiful town (daily from noon, each hour until 4pm. The tour takes 50 minutes). The dock is on the Spaarne River beside the Gravenstenenbrug, a handsome lift bridge
Tips & Insights:
- In case of bad weather spend a few hours in Sauna van Egmond beauty spa complex with about half a dozen saunas and steam rooms of various sorts, a pool, a couple of sunbathing areas, a restaurant, a sleeping area and a cinema
