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Haarlem

Haarlem [1] is a capital of the North-Holland province, situated in the west of the Netherlands on the river Spaarne.

[edit] Understand

Haarlem is the center of a flower-growing district and the export point for flower bulbs. Many people commute to nearby Amsterdam.

[edit] History

The first recordings of the name 'Haarlem' date from the tenth century. Located on a much used north/south connection route, the city became the seat of the Counts of Holland. In 1245 the city was granted city rights by Count William II of Holland. Due to heroic acts of knights from Haarlem during the fifth crusade and their contributions in the siege of Damiate in 1217, Haarlem was granted permission to show a cross and a sword in the city's coat of arms.

[edit] Get in

Haarlem is connected on the main train line between Amsterdam and The Hague. It takes about 15 minutes to travel from Amsterdam by train. If you have – or rent – a bike, it takes between an hour and an hour and a half to cycle (depending on the cyclist) from the centre of Amsterdam, a fairly relaxing ride on typically level terrain.

If you're taking the train from Schiphol Airport, there is no direct service so you will have to change trains in Amsterdam or Sloterdijk. Trains are easy to use and you may be lucky enough to encounter one or more of the most entertaining Hoofd Conductuers in the country. They number singers and magicians amongst their members.

A good alternative is to use the big red bus #300, called the Zuidtangent, which runs every 10-15 minutes between Schiphol and Haarlem Central Station. There are a fair amount of stops along the way, but for a lot of the journey there is no traffic because the bus has its own dedicated lane. The trip is approximately 30-40 minutes. You will need to carry your luggage on the bus with you. The fare is settled with a OV chipcard or a strippenkaart, a ticket that you feed into a punch machine when you board the bus. The strippenkaart costs just a few Euros, and is available from the news shop on your left just before you exit the Schiphol terminal out into the bus pickup area. There are many bus stops clustered in this area -- the one for the Zuidtangent is across the street, and is indicated on the sign at the bus stop.

[edit] Get around

Haarlem is best walked on foot: it's about a 15 minute walk from the train station to the city center. If you don't want to walk there are buses taking you from the station to the city center and back every few minutes.

[edit][add listing] See

• Teylers' Museum [2]
• Frans Hals Museum The only good memory of the painter Toulouse-Lautrec about the Netherlands [3]
• Corrie ten Boom museum [4] has free guided tours (in English and Dutch) of the ten Boom house. Tourists can stand in the "hiding place" where Jews were hidden from the Nazis, and see the 'all-clear' sign used to indicate when it was safe for refugees and resistance workers to come and go. Reminiscent of the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam, although where in the Anne Frank House they have had to remove all furniture due to the volume of visitors, the Ten Boom museum is still furnished as a house, making it much easier for visitors to see what it was like for those that lived there during the war. Truly one of Holland's lesser-known gems.

[edit][add listing] Do

Visit the Teylers Museum [5] which is the oldest public museum in the Netherlands. The museum hosts a collection of fossils (among which the famous Haarlem specimen of Archaeopteryx), minerals, historical scientific instruments and works of art, exhibited in a 19th century manner.

The Patronaat [6] is Haarlem's largest venue for live music. Their fridays and saturdays are dance nights and generally well visited.

On summer days, hang out in the sun on Haarlem's 'Grote Markt' (near the Grote Kerk) after a long day of shopping or go sightseeing in Haarlem's ancient city centre.

• Spaarnedam. Quaint old Dutch village, nice harbour, couple of restaurants and bars. Easy cycle from central Haarlem. Famous for its statue of Peter, the boy who put his finger in the dike and saved Haarlem from flooding.  edit

[edit][add listing] Buy

Haarlem is a popular city for shopping in the region. It has been voted many times as Best Shopping City in the Netherlands and boasts a very diverse range of shops. The Grote Houtstraat, the main shopping street, has most of the obvious shops. The surrounding streets (Kleine Houtstraat and Gierstraat) house smaller shops, where you can browse or buy everything from high end bicycles to teapots.

Shops are open from Monday to Saturday. Opening times usually are from 9am to 5pm, except on Monday's when shops open at 1pm. Many shops in the city center also open every first Sunday of the month and usually shops may be open from 7pm to 9pm on thursdays as well, the so-called "avondverkoop" (Eng. "evening sale" although no special discounts will be given).

[edit][add listing] Eat

The inner city hosts large a variety of restaurants and eat-cafe's. Worth mentioning are

• De Lachende Javaan, Frankestraat 27. Indonesian  edit

• Restaurant het Pakhuis, Gravinnesteeg 9, [7]. All menu items cost €10 or less.  edit

• Restaurant/Brasserie Stempels; Klokhuisplein 9
• Restaurant La Plume; Lange Veerstraat 1
• Eet, Lunch en Biercafe Bruxelles; Lange Wijngaardstraat 16
• Grand Cafe Nobel; Spaarne 36
• Brasserie/Restaurant De Nieuwe Karmeliet; Spekstraat 6
• Restaurant Specktakel; Spekstraat 4
• Restaurant Mooi Java; Kruisweg 32

• Grill Restaurant De Kale Pater; Schagchelstraat 19
• Lucas & Lucas; Lange Veerstraat 51
• Coffee Date. Great coffee and food, nice place but terrible service.  edit

[edit][add listing] Drink

Beerbrewing has been a very important industry for Haarlem. The historical Haarlem's beer, recreated in 1995 is Jopenbier or Jopen.

• In den Uiver, Grote Markt. Lovely old Proof Lokaal facing the side of the Bavo Kerk. Great choice of beers and friendly staff and customers. Free jazz sessions Sunday evenings and Thursday nights.  edit
• Tierney's. just off the grote markt, the only tradiotnal Irish pub in haarlem, friendly, nice crowd,show all major sporting events including GAA, live irish session every first sunday of the month.  edit
• De Vifj Hoek, Vifj Hoek. Cosy, local bar, highly recommended for atmosphere.  edit

[edit][add listing] Sleep

The Haarlem hostel (Jan Gijzenpad 3) is located in the north west corner of the city. It's by far the cheapest place to stay, but quite a few miles away from the city center.

[edit] Get out