Hippolytushoef on foot

Wieringen calls itself the secret Wadden Island. The former island was 'connected' to North Holland in 1924 through dikes and land reclamation. Nevertheless, Wieringen has retained its island feel, partly because the rolling moraine landscape contrasts so beautifully with the low polders in the surrounding area.

This walk allows you to get to know authentic Wieringen better.

Just outside Hippolytushoef, you walk along the dike beside the Wadden Sea. It smells wonderfully salty here. On a clear day, you can see the northern tip of North Holland and Texel. You pass Molen De Onderneming, a thatched grain and hulling mill from 1851.

As you walk along the west side, take a moment to reflect on the role this part of Wieringen played during the VOC era. Ships returning from the East put sick sailors ashore here—roughly within sight of the ports of Enkhuizen, Hoorn, and Amsterdam. This quarantine was intended to prevent diseases from spreading on land.

The Wierdijk, which dates back to the sixteenth century, begins at the hamlet of De Hoelm. It is the only remaining Wierdijk in Holland and is therefore considered a cultural-historical monument. The dike ran along the former southern coast of Wieringen and has been reinforced with seagrass. A reconstruction of the dike can only be viewed at De Hoelm.

You walk along farm paths through vast farmlands. Along the way, you will certainly stop a few times to take a closer look at the historic Wieringen farmhouses. Wieringen has a rich and eventful history in any case. In the ninth century, the island briefly served as a base for Danish Vikings. And after the First World War, from 1918 to 1923, Wieringen served as a place of exile for the fugitive German Crown Prince Wilhelm. The story goes that blacksmith Jan Luyt from Hippolytushoef taught the Crown Prince how to forge horseshoes.