![]() The Lauwersmeer is a man-made lake born in 1969 with the construction of a dike between the Lauwerszee Bay and the Wadden Sea in the Friesland and Groningen provinces. Lauwersmeer National Park Lauwersmeer National Park The Staatsbosbeheer visitor centre is open all year, and organises guided walks to see the heather bloom in summer and spot unusual mushrooms in autumn. These trails beckon you through woodland, over heaths and beside ponds and streams. The park has three signposted walking routes, blue, white and red, and you can tackle each one in three hours or so. These terraces have been formed by deposits from the Rhine and Meuse Rivers and earthquakes down the ages. Rare for the Netherlands, the terraced landscape at Meinweg is made up of three plateaus, the highest rising to 80 metres above sea level. In southern Limburg, the hilly Meinweg National Park is part of the larger Maas-Schwalm-Nette Nature Park, which straddles the border with Germany. Meinweg National Park Meinweg National Park In the meadows are paddocks with Shetland ponies, some that you can pet.ĭon’t pass up the chance to see the park on the water, and you can do this on a motorboat, canoe, dinghy or rowboat, or let someone else take the wheel on a cruise. Summer is stork season, and poles have been installed so this bird can build nests. ![]() There’s a real bounty for wildlife-lovers, with over 500 species of plants, including numerous orchids, as well as more than 100 species of breeding birds.Įarly spring is a real spectacle in the wetlands, when thousands of waders like godwits, ruffs and curlews pass through. De Alde Feanen National Park De Alde Feanen National ParkĪn extraordinary fenland region in Friesland, the Alde Feanen National Park is 4,000 hectares of lakes, peat bog and grassland between Leeuwarden and Heerenveen. ![]() To leave no stone unturned, the visitor centre organises safaris every month, as well as a nocturnal nature-spotting trip when you’ll sleep under the stars.īest of all though is the lakeside Kröller-Müller Museum, which has the largest private collection of Van Goghs in the world, as well as pieces by Pointillists like Seurat, Signac and Henri Edmund-Cross, and a dreamlike sculpture park. There you can borrow a white bicycle for free and coast along more than 40 kilometres of trails. It’s a dream for cyclists, as there are bike stations posted around the park, as well as at the Otterlo, Schaarsbergen and Hoenderloo entrances. The park preserves about 5% of the Veluwe, the largest lowland natural terrain in Northwest Europe. Natural and cultural delights await at this 5,400-hectare region of woodland, dunes and heathland in the Gelderland province. Hoge Veluwe National Park Hoge Veluwe National Park These can be your first step for timeless days out hiking, bike-riding and on cruises. ![]() The parks are all community assets with visitor centres run by conservation organisations or the Dutch government (Staatsbosbeheer). On the World Heritage Wadden Sea you’ll be in a different climate altogether, spotting seals and porpoises and staring at the wide horizons on dune-fringed beaches. ![]() There are hills chiselled by glaciers that crept down from Scandinavia, and a world of fens and canals at Weerribben-Wieden caused by centuries of peat cultivation. In Limburg you can scale forested hills, while in North Brabant you may be surprised to find yourself in a Sahara-like desert. The Netherlands packs great natural diversity into quite a small space, and national parks have been cropping up around the country since the 1930s. ![]()
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