| Page Views: 9,484 Last Visit to Haarlem: - | Haarlem - City of Flowers by martin_nl - last update: Apr 28, 2003 |
| Netherlands Antilles float on the Bloemencorso |
Haarlem, the city that calls itself Bloemenstad, which means City of Flowers. And they call themself this not without any reason. All throughout the city you will find different flowers. Especially in spring and summer the city is totally coloured by crocusses, daffodils, tulips and hyacynths.
A big annual event is the Flower Parade that goes from Noordwijk to Haarlem. Usually there are some 14-18 big floats like the one pictured above. In between the floats drive luxury cars decorated with plenty of flowers and brass bands play cheerful music. Every two years the Grote Markt is home of a big flower carpet. To see a picture of this you can take a look at Sandravdp's homepage. |
| Old buildings at the Spaarne |
|  | Haarlem - worth a visit!! Haarlem is one of the oldest cities of the Netherlands, over 750 years old. It is the capital of the Provincie Noord-Holland and has 150.000 inhabitants making it the 7th largest city of the Netherlands. During the last centuries Haarlem was an important city for the Netherlands. Some interesting facts are that the first train in the Netherlands drove on the track from Haarlem to Amsterdam. Haarlem opened the first museum of the country called the Teylers Museum. The first baseball stadium of the Netherlans was also built here. Haarlem also published the first newspaper of Europe.
Haarlem is kind of off the beaten track, since it is mostly overlooked by tourists that only visit Amsterdam. From Amsterdam, Haarlem is only 15 minutes by train and definately worth a day trip. It offers fantastic shopping, somewhat similar architecture as Amsterdam, but a bit smaller and best of all not so crowded. There are many good restaurants, (see my tips) most of them situated in the same area. So if you want to have a relaxed day with good food and drinks and interesting architecture and culture pay a visit to Haarlem! |
VT-meeting April 26th 2003! April 26th 2003 Sandravdp and I organised a VT-meeting in Haarlem. We chose this day because the annual flower parade (bloemencorso) would arrive that day in Haarlem. It was a bit of a rainy day, but nevertheless we had a lot of fun. For a full report please take a look at the travelogues REPORT. Photo's can be found in the other travelogues.
Most people went home after the meeting but Irisbe and B_Caro stayed in a hotel. The next day we decided to visit the Keukenhof in Lisse. Please take a look at our Keukenhof pages for pics and tips of this day!! | | | VT'ers having diner in restaurant Specktakel |
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| Pros: | "Everything within walking distance, which adds to the fun in this historic city!!" | | Cons: | "The city is quite small, so you wish you could wander around in this city longer." | | In A Nutshell: | "More relaxed atmosphere than Amsterdam!" |
martin_nl's Haarlem Travel Tips
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 Comments for martin_nl about Haarlem | | | | |
angiebabe Wed Oct 31, 2007 14:52 UTC
A lot of useful information here thanks!i visited about 530pm one summer & the place was deserted!but got to see the architecture and Corrie Ten Booms house/shop - was hoping you would have some info.Pity the Amsterdam Gate didnt keep out the Nazis! | pusapu Fri Oct 26, 2007 10:59 UTC
I had the opportunity to view the insides of "De Koepel" since I stayed there for at least two long years of my life, sharing cell with German prisoners of the Second World War and the kidnappers of Mr. Heineken among others. | breughel Thu Oct 11, 2007 17:28 UTC
.... | shutterlust Wed May 2, 2007 18:35 UTC
oh, I wish we could've spent more time in Haarlem, it seemed like a great little city...:-)But anyway, i almost forgot to ask you about your new apt!! How is that going? Are you all moved in then? Decorated? Plants? Furniture? The works? :-) |
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