Tour of West Texel

Dunes of Texel National Park is a nature reserve of 43 square kilometers and forms a sea of dunes as far as you can see across the entire west side of Texel. The area consists of five sub-areas, each equally beautiful. Texel is loved by many animal species, which like to come here to find peace and quiet: the common seal and the gray seal have a great time along the coastline, rabbits and hares hop about in the dunes, where ermines and foxes hunt and as if you're lucky, a playful white-beaked dolphin will jump out of the water. Texel is also a popular breeding and stopping place for many different species of birds, such as spoonbills and waders. When you set off, you have to cycle fourteen kilometers before you reach the first attraction. Here you will pass one of the four monuments on the island that bears the name Crashed Lancaster Bomber Monument. The stone with plaque was placed to commemorate a crashed Allied plane. Six kilometers further there is a similar monument with the same name, but this refers to another crashed aircraft. At De BONTE Experience Estate there are two attractive farms where old crafts are practiced. Here you can learn how the craftsmen in a soap factory, a beer brewery, a paper making factory, a bakery, a candle factory and a distillery work to produce their products. The next monument is also a war memorial. The Texel War Memorial that you see in Den Burg commemorates the many deceased residents of Texel. The last monument you can view is a municipal monument in the shape of a polder mill. The De Kemphaan meadow mill was built to flood a bird sanctuary. In the autumn of 2008, a blade broke off during a storm and several blades were damaged. In the summer of 2009, the mill was completely restored and made ready for grinding again. The mill operates on a voluntary basis in 2013 and is owned by the Natuurmonumenten Association.