you must have been here
France has ‘Les plus beaux village de France’, Italy ‘I borghi più belli d’Italia’ and Spain ‘Los pueblos más bonitos de España’: prestigious lists of beauties of villages in that country are celebrated. There is also no shortage of beautiful villages in the Netherlands, but an authoritative list is lacking. Until then.
The readers of Columbus Magazine a listed their tribe, from which list of the most beautiful villages in the Netherlands came: these are the 21 most beautiful villages in our country. Subway Choose 12, 1 per province. Where are you going?
Most beautiful villages in the Netherlands
Friesland
1. Makkum
A fairytale-like village center with more than fifty national monuments naturally includes a coat of arms with a fairytale character. A golden mermaid adorns Makkum’s shield, holding a sailing ship and a lime kiln in her hands. Makkum was once the gateway to the Zuiderzee, but the construction of the Afsluitdijk put an end to the golden days of fishing. In its place came the golden sands of Makkum Beach. The huge beach is one of Friesland’s kitesurfing hotspots, with a pleasant boulevard behind it for anyone who prefers to set up the daredevils from a safe distance.
Groningen
2. Bourtange
From Spaniards to the Bishop of Münster and his cronies, they all choked in the swampy swamp around Bourtange in Groningen. The only road in the area possible through this fortified village that is impossible to avoid. You still imagine yourself in the star-shaped village center of 1742, but then really in 2022. It even inspired Lonely Planet, because where all of the Netherlands outside the Randstad for one unknown swamp the famous travel guide.
Drenthe
3. Frederiksoord
In the Drenthe village of Frederiksoord, founded in 1818, it is like traveling back in time. The specific colony houses with a single small window under a thatched roof are situated in a perpendicular landscape: here no winding roads lead to a cozy village green, but beech hedges and rows of oaks run neatly in continuous adjacent streets. Frederiksoord is a planned village without a center, which is not only unique in our own country. Last year UNESCO even added the village to the World Heritage List.
Overijssel
4. Skinning
In the fourteenth century, the Van Vilsteren family bought a large piece of land on the Overijsselse Vecht. Over the centuries, the stately Vilsteren House, the St. Willibrordus Church, the Vilster windmill and various farms were built here. You can still recognize the houses and farms of the village by their dark green with light yellow shutters, the coat of arms of the family. This makes Vilsteren unique: it is the only village in the Netherlands that has been built entirely on leasehold land from an estate. The villagers pay an annual amount—canon more confirmed—to the family who own the estate. Medieval situations? No, but for a romantic trip back in time, Vilsteren is the right place.
Gelderland
5. Bronkhorst
Welcome to the smallest town in the Netherlands: there is no new construction here, not even cars. With city rights, old city farms and barely a hundred inhabitants, the characteristic Bronkhorst aan de IJssel is definitely a contender for the title ‘Most beautiful town in the Netherlands’. Despite the fact that Bronkhorst in Gelderland has city rights, the town is really a village in terms of size, appearance and with only a handful of houses and inhabitants.
Flevoland
6. Urk
In a well-arranged province where all streets, waterways and places run neatly in line, Urk is a clear cut. In the very young Flevoland, this fishing village is very elderly. The former island has been inhabited twenty times longer than the cities of Almere and Lelystad. You really get to know Urk well during a ginkies tour, wandering through the maze of small village alleys (also called ginkies).
Utrecht
7. Low Fire Sche
You could make a complete estate guide about the surroundings of Lage Vuursche, a forest village on the Utrechtse Heuvelrug with eighteenth- and nineteenth-century houses that seem to come straight out of Anton Pieck’s books. While most day trippers are satisfied with a pancake in the cozy village street, our royal family prefers to sit down for dessert at one of the estates in the immediate vicinity. Drakensteyn Castle, Hooge Vuursche Castle, Soestdijk Palace, Ewijckshoeve, Pijnenburg Estate and Eyckenstein Estate are all within a radius of a few kilometers from the village.
North Holland
8. The Ripe
De Rijp became filthy rich in the Golden Age through herring fishing, whaling and hemp. The money was well spent, which is clearly visible in the monumental town hall, the stately captain’s houses and the old houses in Zaan style on the canals. In De Rijp you imagine yourself in the world of the Golden Age because of the appearance of the village.
South-Holland
9. Old Village
At the most extreme point of the island of Goere is Ouddorp, which was twice voted ‘Best seaside resort in the Netherlands’. With almost eighteen kilometers of sandy beach you will always find a place to your liking. The walk to the North Sea leads through a landscape unique to the Netherlands: earthen mounds that farmers built around their fields in the Middle Ages. The ramparts not only formed the boundary of their land, but also developed against the drifting dune sand and became over the centuries up to more than two meters high.
Zealand
10. Dreischor
You can find them on the Zeeland and South Holland islands and nowhere else: ring villages. Villages with a colossal church as the radiant center, surrounded by the cemetery and a moat and outside that again a street with cosily packed houses. Dreischor is by far the most beautiful ring village on the Zeeland island of Schouwen-Duiveland.
North Brabant
11. Drimmel
The monumental eighteenth and nineteenth-century buildings on the charming Herengracht form a protected village scene, but it is nature that makes Drimmelen one of the most beautiful places in North Brabant. From the marina you can cross the river Amer by kayak or whisper-quiet electric sloop to De Biesbosch National Park, the largest freshwater tidal area in Europe. In this maze of shallow lagoons, creeks and drowned polder land you can choose from eight walking routes on river islands that can only be reached by water. It is also a nice walk from Drimmelen itself. It is perfectly to their liking in the De Worp nature reserve. The Amer has crossed and discovered traces of their animals in the swamp forest.
Limburg
12. Elsloo
It has been known for a while that it is beautiful to live in Elsloo. For seven thousand years, in fact. The Bandkeramiekers, the first farmers in Europe, are located in Els and neighboring village of Beekloo. Elsloo is therefore known as the oldest farming village in the Netherlands. In addition to the fertile ‘loess soil’ of the Limburg hills, the Meuse has also provided prosperity. On top of the Maasberg, the only cobblestone slope in the Netherlands, wealthy Maas skippers built their brick houses with bacon-banded window frames and red with window frames.
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The most beautiful villages in the Netherlands: have been here