Through and around the Zuid Kennemerland National Park

Between the wide sandy beaches of the North Sea and towns such as Bloemendaal and Santpoort-Zuid lies one of the Netherlands' most beautiful landscapes: Zuid-Kennemerland National Park. This route takes you through various dune and forest areas. It is wonderful to cycle in the lee of the dunes. The surf sounds in the background, you have plenty of time to enjoy the panoramic view of the sea from the tops of the dunes. After boarding you drive through Landgoed Beeckestijn, one of the few fully preserved summer residences of wealthy Amsterdam regents. The former owners came by boat across the then Wijkermeer to their country. The current country estate originated from a seventeenth-century homestead. The lush backyard, probably the first landscape garden in the Netherlands, is a feast for the eyes with its winding paths, flowering shrubs, water features, flower fan and romantic structures. There are still four former estates in the national park. You cycle through the former Midden-Herenduin estate, among other things. The open dune is grazed by ponies and Scottish Highlanders. Here and there you can still see a few yew trees planted by order of the former landlord and a few Norway spruces. In the summer, the Midden-Herenduin is tinted purple by the snakeweed. You will also see a lot of yellow dune ragwort. In Santpoort you cycle past De Zandhaas, a windmill that was built at the end of the eighteenth century. A little further on you cycle into the Spaarnwoude recreation area. You drive here through forests and peat meadow areas. Although Spaarnwoude was given a recreational function in the 1960s, allotment patterns from the tenth and eleventh centuries can still be seen. Just below Velsen-Zuid you drive through the park that surrounds Huis Velserbeek, originally a sixteenth-century homestead. The stately park was redecorated in the late 1930s by the well-known garden architect Leonard Springer. You imagine yourself back in time here.