Haarlem, Netherlands (Holland) travel video

travel videos & photos at: townsofeurope.com/ with text, maps & links.
The historic city of Haarlem is one of the most attractive destinations in the Netherlands. We show the main neighborhoods you want to have a look at when you're visiting Haarlem, a real Dutch treat. In the center the market square with the great church towering over, and just below there is a series of pedestrian lanes lined with shops and cafés that are very charming, and there are little side residential lanes here as well. Haarlem is only 15 minutes away from Amsterdam by train, so it makes an easy day-trip, but this small city is so fascinating you might want to spend a night or two to fully enjoy the experience.
Many of these brick buildings date back 400 years to the 17th century when Haarlem was at its peak of prosperity. They were homes and workshops and warehouses of the merchants. Today there are a lot of bars and restaurants and then it becomes a shopping street.
And this leads us right into perhaps the most charming street in Haarlem and maybe the cutest lane in the country.
Kleine Houstraat. You won't get lost here because it's a small district and the streets are rather straight and run at right angles to each other, but there's plenty here to keep you busy for a full day just wandering around. Walk along some of these connecting streets like Anegan, it's almost like a wide shopping mall that joins up three of the other main shopping streets.
You'll find the shoppers and workers are friendly and ready to talk.
There is frequent train service every 10 minutes between Haarlem and Amsterdam. However if you come on day trip you're probably not going to be getting to the ends of some of the shopping lanes and into the interesting little back streets or to the museums. If you spend a night or two you'll have plenty of time.

[@jamestallis3109]

You are the first American I've heard on KZbin who can pronounce Dutch names, Congratulations!

[@j.a.h.vandelaak3477]

So much better and genuine than 99% other tourist info videos about the Netherlands. well done!

[@denniscallan]

Thanks for that appreciation. Yes, most travel videos, even on TV, like the so-called Travel Channel, really suck, which motivates me to fill that big void. My approach is always to present the subject as if you are actually visiting, showing you details and with tips on how to get around. I also put in a lot of effort to provide narration about the sights, culture and history. I'll present many more Dutch movies early next year.

[@j.a.h.vandelaak3477]

Fantastic, I like the down to the earth approach. Always find it a pity that most other videos just scratch the touristy top layer, yours is a breath of fresh air.

[@mellebos3844]

my wife and myself stayed there for almost 10 days. wonderful.

[@RudolfdeLang]

I was born there (1961)..Thank you for uploading this video

[@PeterLunk]

Teylers museum is the oldest science museum in NL. And the Oldest Museum in the WORLD !!

[@ronaldderooij1774]

I was born in Haarlem (1963) and I must say with the influx of rich Amsterdam highly educated people wanting to raise their children in a more quiet environment, Haarlem has improved a lot. In my youth is was kind of a poor city. When I return now, I admire how it is improving each time I get there.

[@Badhat66]

I guess it would have been nice if the poor inhabitants could of stayed in Haarlem and still had the investment, but hay that gentrification for you

[@ronaldderooij1774]

@@Badhat66 Yes, that is the downside. I don't live in Haarlem anymore. But really I am not unhappy with that, because I have a lot more space and green around me now.

[@Badhat66]

Ronald de Rooij That's fair enough, I for one can't wait to revisit the Netherlands next year , I have visited about 22 times over the years and like to think of it has a home from home , all the best

[@user-ux3tz1te9x]

wow.... your presentation about the lifestyle of people has made it more beautiful...thank you so much for uploading

[@jeanninecourtois]

what a nice place to visit thank you so much

[@RudolfdeLang]

The city where I was born Thank you for sharing/creating this video

[@mamtadave3128]

Stunning !

[@netapool4218]

Very beautiful and clean city

[@srihbk]

Very nicely made video... Much informative about the beautiful Haarlem. Thank you..!!

[@55555ditandre]

Very nice. Maybe I will visit this town next year.

[@mind9528]

Full of the bicycle!! 👍👍💯😍😍😍😀😊😇

[@sonnylatchstring]

18:02 This distance Haarlem - Amsterdam was the first one in the Netherlands that could be taken by train. Halfway there was and still is a place called Halfweg...

[@karenwilliams-ot8kr]

Brilliant!! Really informative and detailed information - with humour.

[@barbaramcintosh4360]

Beautiful & peaceful city! ❤️❤️

[@Nicole.Courtois]

Very nice city where I had the chance to visit the historic center last September. Spent a day there while being in Amsterdam. Just loved it.

[@Badhat66]

A lovely place to visit, I love the Netherlands and Amsterdam , but getting away to theses other places is a treat so easy to get too by train , 👍🏻😃

[@jaderose5127]

Very interesting.......a place to visit one day. Thankyou. 🌸☺

[@redbanerji100]

Beautiful city I love Netherlands very much since my childhood days and Vincent Van Gogh is the iconic figures and whenever I think of Netherlands I first remember the name of this greatest Artist of the world!!

[@glennis-dankuwel6020]

Artist: Rembrandt & Vermeer r fabulous too.

[@zakariazaki7513]

Thanks for video keep going 🤠 greeting from Morocco

[@Nick-no1ke]

Sure do miss living here (Leidsebuurt neighborhood, 2017-2018). Lovely city with a great quality of life. So many of the scenes in this video evoke strong memories of cycling along the canals and buying flowers, breads and cheeses from the Saturday Grote Markt. Hope to be back someday.

[@josephinaamarichardmalual8748]

Very nice people in haarlem. I love them

[@jennynakamura2955]

I love visit Netherland once a year 😘

[@Lori79Butterfly]

Denmark also has many bicycles! I had to watch out for them while visiting there!

[@pierrecaron8731]

Great video, I will visit the Netherlands in a couple of weeks and Haarlem is on my list mainly for Franz Hal museum but you'v shown me many other thing to see, thank you.

[@jorgedominguez4124]

another great video love the voice thank you !

Excellent. Thank you.

[@trailblazer9951]

Nicely done! Keep it up! Bravo..

[@eugenioruth298]

Lovely😘

[@TheGoudsmid]

Cat reminded me of a little but nice fact about Holland. We don't have stray cats or dogs or any animal. Sure we have animal shelters, but if a cat wonders in to your house, someone is looking for it.

[@sanderzwart3723]

real nice!!

[@bobverber8969]

Great description

[@anujsaraswatvlog6480]

super photography

[@rezamoghadasianrad7743]

bikes been contributed a lot to make those beautiful leggy birds

[@TheHansoost]

Haarlem truly is a beautiful little city. Easy walk from the train station. Lots to see if you like wandele (wandering about). BTW Kleine Houtstraat actually translates as "Little Wood street." The church is impressive; the beer is good and everywhere; the people are very pleasant; and you really must visit the Taylor Museum. The building alone is worth the visit. I really enjoyed the video. Dankje wel. Also, a shameless plug for Utrecht where I was born. It too is a nice city to roam around in especially if you go to the Binnestad (the inner city) . It's about a 10 minute walk from Utrecht Centraal, the train station.

[@denniscallan]

Thanks for that, very much. I also love Utrecht and have made 2 movies about your city: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d57GkH2GgKyDiqM and kzbin.info/www/bejne/omW5g5eijtp9pJY

[@melaniehave403]

What a lovely video, and isn't it amazing how many cats we have in the Netherlands :) :)

[@Paul_C]

All cats roaming about should caught and turned into violin strings. I hate them with a passion, no problem if kept indoors though.

[@billywhippet]

Spent 4 days in Harlem last week. What a lovely little town,really beautiful. Much better than Amsterdam. Some nice coffee shops too. I will be back again.

[@goodfellazbushcraft8301]

bill s hi is it far from amsterdam

[@CallMeEddie420]

Goodfellaz BushCraft about 30 mins away

[@j.c.59]

Thank you.

[@amazingsupergirl7125]

Love 😍😍😍😍😍

[@gaceqkos]

Great video! I live in Holland but I was never in Haarlem! Time to change it!

[@In1998able]

please visit the Uiver

[@TingitanianCenturion]

this cat is on duty guarding the entrance loool

[@ginangan8892]

Excellent will visit

[@denniscallan]

Please do!

[@MoveMekMiPaZz]

Thanks for sharing this 🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🎙🇸🇪🎙🇸🇪📺📺📺📺📺📺📺📺

[@jpdj2715]

"Beer" was an old tradition indeed, as remarked in the topic about "Jopen" (the café and brewery in an old church). Beer was actually the only water you could drink safely and the old version of today's bottled water. Every town had its breweries and the regulated market brought producers together. Haarlem and Amsterdam have their brewers' canal where breweries would be concentrated. This had logistical advantages. With heavier or more sizable loads transported through the country in barges, and the breweries located along these canals, the road in front of the breweries functioned as the quay where barge loads got taken in or production got loaded into barges. With everybody drinking beer as a safe drink, most production either had no, or a little, alcohol. The barley was reused up to over a dozen times and after each brew some sugar was added to feed the yeast. Gentlemen's beer from the first brew and at some point you had women's beer or children's beer that was more like bottled or barreled boiled water. The minutes of meeting of "town hall" during the Spanish Siege in the 1600s reflect the dilemma of what part of grain reserve to allocate to bread, and what to earmark for men's versus women's beer. To the South West of the village Overveen (west of Haarlem) is a pond called "Brouwers Kolk" (brewers' spring) where crystal clear water filtered by dune sand springs into this pond, still today. A small canal connects this pond with the brewers' canal in Haarlem and the brewers had their chains of small (two wheelbarrows volume?) barges to fill with water in that pond and then transport to the brewery. That clean water made Haarlem beer's reputation in those Renaissance days. You can imagine the workers in the brewery had access to alcoholic beer all day. So we have a saying in Dutch that something is "fighting against the beer quay" - when you fear something will be pointless, cannot be won, will drain your energy and leave you frustrated. Try to fight a seemingly endless disorganized bunch of drunk punks, and you'll appreciate the saying. Also note that all the canals in the country got used as public transportation and had time tables already centuries ago. Barges pulled by men or horses through the canals maybe went slow, but you could sit through the travel in a chair, no bumps or stagecoach accidents and would know exactly when to depart and when to arrive.

[@denniscallan]

Wow JP dj, that is one of the most complete, well-written, informative comments I ever got!! Did you write that yourself? Can I use that in my upcoming Netherlands guidebook? Thanks for a fascinating tale. I had no idea their beer had such low alcohol content -- probably a good option for us over-drinkers today!!

[@mauriceminor2527]

Brilliant. Love all the bikes, and lack of traffic. Lucky Dutch.

[@wookieeMan06]

I am moving back to Haarlem in March

[@borderreiver3288]

love those tricycles with the seat/box at the front...and everywhere is so clean..no litter at all unlike the UK and the town I live in which has litter everywhere...

[@dr.dilipkumarsahoo7971]

Very nice video .I visited Amsterdam in2019 but not Harllem.l shall visit lovely city. Dr.d.k.sahoo. kolkata. India

[@rezamoghadasianrad7743]

ik loved haarlem

[@ProudJewishQueen1979]

Good video, thank you.

[@mianAmeer-rg6ku]

Miki Marble hi

[@aarpeesingh7592]

Please me contact 7881154711 and. My watsapp

[@cezarinagarciamenezes1800]

🌈🗽👌💫☺ Nederlands is Super beatfull 🙋🇧🇷

[@Misterdandamanify]

Welkom in Haarlem! Nice video

[@christine7772]

It is , my friend 🥰

[@bundasriharyani698]

Holland Haarlem Netherland kota yang banyak pejalan kaki masuk digedung2 mewah mencari bali2 shoping to the market senang bersepeda bersama putra putri juga makan minum di pinggir jalan

[@StartPlayFinish]

You do a really good job at presenting our country from an outside point of view. Nice footage and good solid information. I hope more people see your videos.

[@glennis-dankuwel6020]

Ja, I’m thinking 🤔 of visiting Haarlem next time I come to The Netherlands instead of going to Amsterdam. Maybe, also a visit to Deelft.

[@aarpeesingh7592]

Your country is vey beutiful

[@aucourant9998]

I like that guy in the camera shop.

[@robertlechner1135]

Some other places to visit in the Netherlands: Maastricht, Alkmaar, Deventer, Zutphen, Amersfoort, Middelburg, 's-Hertogenbosch, Breda, Utrecht, Leiden, Delft, Hoorn and Enkhuizen. To name just a few.

[@denniscallan]

Yes Robert, I've got video of five of those that will appear eventually in my series, and I've made note of the remaining ones for a future trip, thanks.

[@tonolijve4978]

Dennis als a NYorker you didn.t know all the dutch names in NY. Founded by the Dutch. Harlem, Brooklyn, Utrecht, Flushing, Nw Amsterdam, Bronx, you have tot study those , haha Enjoying your youtube films

[@jhcfight]

It's too bad that tourists think they've seen Holland city life (I really mean Holland, not The Netherlands) if they've been in Amsterdam. Haarlem is much more representative for it. For a city tourism is a good thing, but Amsterdam is an example that it can be too much and even disturbing. Haarlem doesn't have those problems, and that's the reason why I prefer shopping in Haarlem and skip Amsterdam.

[@r.catania8509]

Is there a big difference from Holland and the rest of the Netherlands?

[@ronaldderooij1774]

@@r.catania8509 Not really. Every region has it's own flavor and there are in different regions flatlands, marshlands, coastal zones, and forests. The cities have the same kind of atmosphere. Exception is Limburg. That province is hilly, and has a more bourgondish style of cities (and life). Maastricht (the capital of Limburg) is probably the oldest town in the Netherlands and has a unique atmosphere.

[@r.catania8509]

@@ronaldderooij1774 Maastricht is the city in the south east on the German boarder?

[@PatrickBijvoet]

Half the population owns a Bike?? You better say, everybody has one or more bikes. In The Netherlands the quantity of Bikes is around 21 million and people around 16,5 million.

[@denniscallan]

Thank you for that correction, you are so right. Netherlands is bike central number one! I was fascinated by all the bicycles rolling along in every Dutch town, wonderful to see. I have a lot more of those scenes coming soon and will use more accurate info to describe it, like this from Wikipedia: "Cycling is a ubiquitous mode of transport in the Netherlands. All in all the Dutch are estimated to have at least 18 million bikes, which makes more than one per capita, and twice as many as the 9 million motor vehicles on the road. Some 85% of the people own at least one bicycle. Almost as many passenger kilometres are covered by bicycle as by train. 27% of all trips are by bicycle - the highest modal share of any country in the world. Moreover: 36% of the Dutch list the bike as their most frequent mode of transport on a typical day."

[@PatrickBijvoet]

I myself live in Haarlem, and I am the grandson of the Artist Han Bijvoet (who died in 1975) who made most of the art in the Kleine Bavo. The Roman Catholic counterpart of the Grote Kerk or Grote Bavo. I by the way have 4 bikes, 3 regular and one electric ;)

[@denniscallan]

I hope the rest of my show about your lovely city was reasonably accurate and entertaining for you. Haarlem is so close to Amsterdam, yet so different (smaller, quieter, less crowded) it is unfortunate that many tourists overlook it, but that's probably OK with you.

[@PatrickBijvoet]

I love it when people discover other parts of the Netherlands, like Leiden, Groningen, Delft, Den Haag, Haarlem, etc. Tourists do not bother me. Actually Haarlem has per citizen the largest number of restaurant and shops of Europe. By the way, Teylers is not only the oldest museum in the Netherlands, but also the second oldest in the world.

[@PatrickBijvoet]

Did you know that the organ in De grote kerk was played by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

[@edeteffiong5046]

Holland: Royalty of The King of Heaven.

[@jasonmarshall5498]

Has something in common with George Square in Glasgow.

[@warden9876]

Haarlem is the 2nd largest municipality in the province of North Holland right after Amsterdam.

[@jovankatwijk-redeker8508]

It's the FranS Hals museum!

[@lindasiwalette154]

I always stayed in Haarlem if iam in Holland

[@yvonneanthonijsz771]

very nice video. I lived in Haarlem for 20 years. Through videos like this one, I have seen more of Haarlem then when I lived there. Nice pronounciation, which is not easy. Thank you.

[@j.a.h.vandelaak3477]

When will the Maastricht video be uploaded?

[@lindasiwalette154]

15 minutes from Amsterdam and 15 minutes from Schiphol airport I stay at the area name schalkwijk in front of the winkle centrum nice area in Haarlem

[@Leonardo-ql1qu]

At 0:50: The 'big canal' meandering through the city is not a (manmade) canal; it's a river called Het Spaarne, and that river is the reason why the city is there in the first place!

[@denniscallan]

Thank you

[@j.a.h.vandelaak3477]

if you will visit again, try visiting the provinces Friesland and Zealand, and the Hanseatic League cities of old in the east; Kampen, Dalfsen, Swollen etc.

[@denniscallan]

I will definitely return to Netherlands, and shall try to cover those places, thanks.

[@3pan1]

The old cathedral houses one of the most important organs in the world.

[@mikefreyr]

Haarlem, Hollands best kept secret!

[@maidaerdenhout]

Houtstraat, de big and the small , it means wood or forest , medieval Dutch

[@MellowMidtown1]

Where do I find the videos on all the other Dutch cities?

[@denniscallan]

That editing project got delayed but I plan to resume working on it early in 2019.

[@ShibojyotiDutta]

Which part of the year is best for tourists expecting bright sunny weather?

[@denniscallan]

mid-April through early October. The climate then is wonderful.

[@pramilanoronha6546]

I will be traveling with my family in the month of August to Amsterdam. i need some help if you could suggest me a hotel at the centre where we could stay and move around the place. i will be in Amsterdam for 7days . is it possible if i stay all the days in Haarlem, would it be feasible to go around by train for day trip to Amsterdam, delft .Also please recommend some good places to visit. i want to see the windmills, tulip farms, a few that i know. many thanks advance .

[@mheegen]

You can travel ease by train in The Netherlands: www.ns.nl/producten/en/onbeperkt-reizen/p/dagkaart . To pan your journey you ca n use this link: www.ns.nl/en/journeyplanner#/. And if yoou travel with children don't forget to use the Railrunner for only €2,50 per child. (www.ns.nl/producten/en/onbeperkt-reizen/p/railrunner) By the way: tulip season is over in August. But you can come back in May....

[@rezamoghadasianrad7743]

i wish i knew where that bikes are from, china? they look heavy but practical

[@rickd955]

There are many bike factories in The Netherlands, most bikes are Dutch made.

[@arloogoo]

Very nice video and hope to visit here next year. Q: How is the internet access around this areas? Is it available everywhere? How about the public toilet? Thank you.

[@denniscallan]

I was only using wifi in my hotel, Lion D'Or, next to the train station -- a nice place just 10 minutes walk from the center. I did see wifi stickers on various cafes in town. Use of toilets in the cafes, bars, restaurants should be easy because the Dutch are so friendly, just ask. I didn't notice "public" toilets but suppose they have some.

[@arloogoo]

Thank you.

[@rudynathan8852]

Haarlem used to be a bit poor but it improved a lot the last decades.

[@bepvangasteren]

Spaarne is not a canal, it’s a river!

[@moodyplus]

Dennis, what kind of camera do you use?

[@denniscallan]

This new video was shot in 4K using the Sony FS5, a pro camera with nice results -- easy to shoot on auto and easy to manually override for more control...power zoom and interchangeable lens.

[@moodyplus]

Thanks! The quality is really good! What about post-processing? Do you adjust the colors when you edit your videos?

[@denniscallan]

I do make some minor adjustments while editing, using Premiere Pro with its Lumetri Color panel, mostly in controlling exposure rather than color. I'm finding I can reduce the 4K overexposure by several stops if necessary. The color I try to nail while shooting in manual white balance mode. So glad you noticed the quality -- Netherlands is my first 4K project, with more movies coming soon.

[@moodyplus]

denniscallan I see, I see, thanks for breaking down your process! Yeah, I watch most of your Europe videos so I noticed the change almost immediately :)

[@bensev1]

Yes I also follow your great videos Dennis... Wonderful resolution with the new camera!!! Fantastic!!!

[@miarayn4522]

Sir can help me I go there

[@clarkkent4595]

Are you like it ?

[@irene5298]

3:36 omg, that is my Dutch teacher on a bicycle

[@bertoverweel6588]

We Dutch work to live and not live to work , we don't need a bigger car than the people next door or more money than we need , we enjoy life , it's over before you know .

[@edeteffiong5046]

Holland: "Eyen Efik" Calabar, Nigeria. "Ekomdo Ndito Ete"

[@thijsbakker961]

Lmao I saw my old teacher in this video 😂😂

[@Lori79Butterfly]

Man, the Dutch are even taller than the Scandinavians!

[@JohannesvanDijkin_costarica]

Haarlem has everything, the best bars and much better than Amsterdam

[@j.a.h.vandelaak3477]

I meant Hattem, not Dalfsen. Sorry.

[@jpdj2715]

Many Dutch towns and villages have roads or streets who's names indicate a connection with another place. Haarlem has a road connecting to, named after, Amsterdam, and the gatehouse from 1355 called "Amsterdamse Poort" still exists ("poort" means gate). Follow that road and you get to the "Haarlemmerpoort" (5th incarnation of 1840) in Amsterdam where the road along that gatehouse is called "Haarlemmerstraat" - street to Haarlem. To the South of Haarlem is a nice park or wood and this is simply called "The Wood" (De Hout). And this is where the street names in "big" (or "large or "great") and "little" guise are after. "Grote Houtstraat" means "Large street to The Wood" and "Kleine Houtstraat" means "Little Street to The Wood". Note the Dutch version of phonetic spelling has a double a that is always pronounced as the hard Italian "a" (as in Milano, Roma, Napoli, etc.)

[@denniscallan]

Thanks again for more wonderful information about Haarlem and its streets.

[@j.a.h.vandelaak3477]

zwolle

[@jankuipers5021]

The Spaarne is NOT a CANAL, ít"s a River!!

[@XHALE303]

Moon Malik Sorry dude, the definition of a river is shaped by nature, it's connected with the sea & goes all the way to Germany, way more then 35km. So yes u can compare it to the Mississippi River....note how it's is called River & not a canal since it wasn't manmade either.

[@zbudda]

I like the common sense helmet use...without mandating a law like a nanny state.

[@olevanling2901]

Nice vid, its sint bavo, not great church

[@h.r.c.jansen4159]

Elke centrale pre beeldenstorm kerk word grote kerk genoemt in de volksmond. officieel zeg je dan Grote of st bavo kerk.

[@kareenstrathearn7950]

its not house / huis straat its kleine hout straat

[@denniscallan]

Thank you Kareen, I was just thinking about that because I am making a guidebook version of the videos and will correct it in the book. Is hout a tree?

[@marion6015]

Houtstraat = Wood Street, Hout is wood.

[@motocrosser45]

your voice kills me

[@kiaadki209]

Did you notice that in all this videos the children are not wearing bicycle helmets....

[@denniscallan]

Most adults don't wear helmets either -- perhaps they are so experienced, and have such safe road conditions with courteous car-drivers, they have it all figured out. Dutch are the world's most advanced bicyclists, so who are we to question them? (some of the kids have helmets)

[@TheGoudsmid]

Hi Kia Adki , I'm dutch I can answer that. First reason, we're pragmatic. You don't/never fall on your head. You fall on your hands and wrists (statistics). Best reason. We designed our country to suit pedestrians and cyclists first, cars come in fifth place. There's a whole heap off great youtube clips about why the dutch decided to choose to become a cycling-nation. (And the great way it has worked out for us.) Yeaeaea Holland

[@multanbikers5946]

Anybody lives in netherland plzzz tell me

[@mahler58]

I do