Status: 10.11.2023, 18:36 PM
By: Sandra Käthe
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The largest Dutch North Sea island, Texel, fulfils many a cliché – and yet it is not uncommon for it to exceed the expectations of its visitors.
The latest craze on the island's roads and bike paths looks like a Harley at first glance, but it's actually nothing more than a particularly cleverly disguised scooter. A maximum speed of 25 km/h, driven by a quietly humming electric motor, just requiring a driver's license, and, in contrast to the visual model, still completely in harmony with the natural idyll all around. Because between the sounds of nature along pastures, meadows and dunes, the rattling and roaring would somehow be out of place despite all the easy-rider romance.
Because on Texel, the largest of the West Frisian islands, it quickly becomes obvious that if you are planning a trip here, you can actually do without the car. The coastal town of Den Helder, from where the ferry runs to the island at regular intervals, can be easily reached by train, the bus that takes travellers from the station is completely free of charge and the crossing for two pedestrians at 5 euros round trip is cheaper than many a ticket for public transport in a major German city. There are also buses and vans with the name "Texelhopper" on the island. Texel is not completely car-free, like so many smaller islands, if only because of its more than 13,000 inhabitants – but even many of them use their bikes in everyday life.
Most places on Texel can be reached by bike in less than an hour. © Sandra Käthe
On holiday on Texel without a car: short distances and beautiful landscapes
And for travellers, too, a well-developed network of cycle paths and rental stations on every corner ensure that you can get from A to B as quickly as it needs to be on holiday. There are just under 25 kilometres between the fishing village of T'Horntje at the southern end of the island and the lighthouse at the northern, between the island towns of De Koog and Oudeschild in the west and east it is just 10 kilometres and less than three-quarters of an hour's cycle path. The main town of the island, Den Burg, with its 7,000 inhabitants, is about halfway in the middle of it.
Which brings us directly to the first Holland cliché – the undisputed cyclist's paradise, which stretches across the entire country in the Netherlands and ensures that there are supposedly around five million more "Fietsen" than people. Many Dutch people cycle all or at least a large part of their routes and this is also noticeable in the conditions on the island's varied cycle paths: wide lanes, smooth surface, beautiful natural landscapes. Slowing down on Texel doesn't work as well as in the saddle – even if some people are reminded of choppers or Harleys, but without a few surprises, holiday resorts like Texel, where many guests come back again and again, would somehow be a bit boring.
The hiking trails in the Duinen van Texel National Park are also easiest to reach by bike on the Dutch island. © Sandra Käthe
Tourism anniversary on Texel: a holiday destination for over 125 years
Other clichés here include the wide North Sea beaches with their beach huts, the countless sheep, of which there may even be more than bicycles on the island, the culinary significance of the fish theme and the local fauna, which is characterized by seals and seals in addition to several bird species. The fact that they are all so attractive to day visitors and travellers here of all places is certainly also due to a – somehow surprising – anniversary.
After all, Texel and tourism – at least that's what you learn in the anniversary year 2023 when you visit the office of the VVV Texel Tourism Association in Den Burg – have been writing quite an eventful history together for 125 years. Even before 1898, wealthy bathers flocked to the island, and in 1899 the first travel guide was created under the newly founded tourist board, which stated that Texel was a perfect place "especially in summer" for all those "who wanted to escape the hustle and bustle of the city for a short or long time". Less than 30 years later, Dutch conservationist Jac. P. Thijsse describes Texel as the "ornotological El Dorado of Holland".
Known for its wide beaches with numerous beach huts, Texel has been attracting travellers for over 125 years. © Sandra Kathe
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Sheep on Texel: petting lambs as a balm for the soul
Today, the attractions for tourists are more unusual than swimming and bird watching, the ingenuity of local companies actively plays with the many images that guests have in their minds when they think of Texel. And then, in many cases, simply make something new out of it. There is, for example, the cliché of an island whose meadows, fields and are spotted white in places because of all the animal inhabitants and which also produces fantastic sheep's cheese. So far, so right. But over the last few years, the sheep on Texel have become much more than milk suppliers and undeniably sweet photo motifs.
The best example of this can be found on a detour to the grounds of Schapenboerderij Texel south of Den Burg, a historic sheep farm. The fact that its current operators have given it a makeover in recent decades is also ensured by the more than 600 animal inhabitants of the large site, including 25 breeds of sheep from the native Texel sheep to the particularly fluffy Merino sheep. The difference between the Schapenboerderij and ordinary sheep farms with farm shops and guest rooms for farm holidays is the main attraction for which families in particular come here: cuddling with the animals, which in Dutch has the sounding name "Lammetjes knuffelen".
At the "Lammetjes knuffelen" guests get very close to the animal inhabitants of the island. © Sandra Käthe
Wellness on the North Sea island of Texel: Relax in sheep's wool
Because there are lambs on the farm all year round, especially in spring, young animals are everywhere here - and with luck you can even watch one or two births. Together with the mothers, one or two little ones usually share one of the small stables, where they can retreat here when they have had enough of human contact.
The boutique hotel Texel in the north of the island has also found a creative approach to sheep, offering a "Woolness programme" in its spa area. In addition to classic spa treatments from massage to manicure, guests can also expect a bath in cuddly sheep's wool. This is not only intended to invigorate body and mind with warmth and cosiness - the wool wax contained in the wool also stimulates the healing of injured or stressed skin areas.
Around 45,000 guest beds
With regard to numerous places that are struggling with sometimes threatening, partly actual overtourism – the Dutch capital Amsterdam or German islands such as Sylt, for example – Texel has a maximum of 45,000 guest beds, which is still more than three times the island's population. In addition to holiday apartments in farms and private houses, you can also live in glamping tents (e.g. Texel Yurts), in holiday parks (e.g. Park Duynzoom) or in numerous hotels (e.g. Hotel Kogerstaete)
Destination in the Netherlands: Seals and seals on Texel
However, there are also plenty of animal reasons to visit Texel in the form of wild animals, even if respectful distance is an absolute must for grey seals and seals, unlike the cuddly sheep. Because they can not only be seen on the – next cliché – seal banks, which you can only get close to on boat and zodiac tours, but also get lost every now and then on the beaches of the island, where humans and dogs, especially young animals, often come dangerously close.
It is not only in such cases that it happens again and again that injured animals become a case for seal hunters, who, contrary to their peculiarly archaic job title, are on duty for animal welfare on the island and swarm out to rescue an injured animal after reporting it. In contrast to other places, their protégés do not have to be brought to the mainland for a long time, because the centrally located nature museum Ecomare also includes a well-equipped breeding station, which makes their work with the average of one hundred animals in need of help per year extremely transparent for guests.
Before returning to the wild, the protégés of the seal sanctuary on Texel pass through various areas. © Sandra Käthe
Not only signs lead through the areas of the sanctuary, from the quarantine wing to the outdoor pools, which are intended to prepare the animals for their return to the wild. There is also plenty of information about the prostheses. In one area of the sanctuary, for example, the grey seals Adam, Charlotte, Eva and Puck, which were found four to seven weeks ago, are probably only waiting a few more days for their return to the waters of the North Sea. In addition to the reason for their recording, the places where they were found on the island are also documented.
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Warning about litter in the North Sea: Creative ideas for more nature conservation
The fact that animal sea creatures like her are more and more in danger is also told by the indoor part of the exhibition at the Natural History Museum near De Koog, which also deals with the various reasons for these dangers. The most important factor, in addition to advancing climate change and the danger posed by humans, is the huge amounts of garbage that all other seas and oceans have to contend with in addition to the North Sea. Whole plastic bottles here, bottle caps there, cigarette butts, washed away beach toys and yoghurt cups are just the things that can be found on the beach every day. But they are not much more than the tip of the iceberg.
A colourful hodgepodge: In the Juttersmuseum Flora on Texel, you can only see objects that have washed up from the sea. © Sandra Käthe
Apart from the Ecomare exhibition, this is also made clear by the Kaap Skil Island Museum in the eastern island town of Oudeschild, where a large number of washed up finds are on display. But the region's garbage problem is most evident in the Juttersmuseum Flora near De Koog, which at first glance appears to be characterized by vast amounts of garbage, where the exhibits are piled up and lined up in an almost unbearably decorative way in the interior and exterior of the museum.
Curious finds from the sea at the Juttersmuseum Flora on Texel
Among the washed-up exhibits that museum operators André Eelman and Judith von der Zee have accumulated over the years are countless work helmets, lifebuoys, paddles and glass bottles, but also curiosities such as a fairground sign in the shape of "Star Trek" Captain Picard blown into the sea from Brighton, England, and – which brings us back to the "Fietsen" – even bicycles. If collectors didn't run out of space in the already fully loaded sheds and halls sooner or later, the collection could probably continue to grow forever.
The fact that no finger-wagging is necessary here to draw people's attention to the disaster, which not only coastal areas in all corners of the world are heading towards, is ensured by the cycle path through the Duinen van Texel National Park or the detour to the sunset on the nearby beach all by itself, according to the impression left by the museum. which even such industrious conservationists and tourism associations as here on Texel cannot prevent. The cliché that you can spend a relaxing holiday on Texel has spread throughout large parts of Europe – and not without reason. For the fact that it stays that way for as long as possible, all the other clichés of the island are just outgrowing themselves.
The research was supported by VVV Texel.