This post is a continuation of a long drawn out series documenting our family’s vacation in the beautiful countries of Belgium and Netherlands in the Spring of 2023. It was the second half of our trip now and we were based in the beautiful Dutch town of Haarlem for this leg of our trip. I had spent the early part of our first full day in Haarlem just walking around the old town at dawn and visiting the centre piece of the Old town , the St Bavo’s Cathedral with the family. (Walking around Haarlem & the St Bavo’s Cathedral – Belgium & Netherlands, Part 8 ).
The next plan for the day was taking a canal cruise along the quaint and beautiful canals of Haarlem and view the town from a different perspective. Unlike Bruges which has canals cutting through the centre of the Old town , Haarlem’s old canals encircle the old town where the original moat was & just one small canal passing through it. There is also the new canal or niece grant which runs in between the train station area and the old town. All these canals were meant for trade and communicate with the river Spaarne that runs at on end of the town.
I had booked a canal cruise on the much more personal Haarlem Canal tours (https://haarlemcanaltours.com) which has a single beautiful open boat called “The Cornelia. I had read good reviews of this canal tour and I liked the concept of a open boat rather than the closed boat tours that the much larger rival company offered. We had booked the 11.30 am cruise and we reached the no 17 house on the Spaarne where a small sign suggested that the tour started here.
The small sign showing where the tour begins
It was a beautiful sunny day and perfect for an open boat tour. As our fellow tour members arrived we wondered if it would be on time and lo and behold “The Cornelia” came into view and reached the point well before time and we got into the boat and took our seats at one end of the boat. The guide and owner of the boat Jeroen Hagen gave us maps of the region and briefly explained what we were going to see in the 75 minutes of the tour.
A beautiful sunny morning in Haarlem – Perfect for a Canal tour
The family enjoying the Canal tour in Haarlem
Over the next 75 minutes Jeroen proceeded to tell us about the history and the gradual progression of how the canals developed and point out the local landmarks and important buildings in the area. All this was done in a jovial and interesting manner which kept our interest for the entire duration of the tour.
The Haarlem canal tour on the Spaarne
He proceeded to point out interesting stuff like the difference in levels in the old town side and on the other side built later.
Houses at different levels on either side of the river
We also saw Churches and buildings on this tour that we wouldn’t be able to visit in person just because they were a bit far from the old town centre. Two such notable buildings were the Catholic St Bavo’s Church not to be mistaken with the huge Cathedral in the centre of old town and the Municipal theatre building which Jeroen described as a fancy chocolate box!
The Municipal Theatre Haarlem – Indeed looks like a fancy chocolate box!
The Roman Catholic Church of St Bavo
He also pointed out the different bridge and the difference in heights and style of the bridges and how in the earlier days most bridges used to open to let the trade ships through. This still happens with a few bridges in Haarlem but it’s now to let the fancy yachts through rather than trade boats.
Passing under a bridge on the Canal tour in Haarlem
I had put on the 300 mm on my SLR and was photographing the birds, flowers and flowerbeds on the edges of the canal. It also gave me a chance to take close up photos of the church spires and other interesting architectural gems of this pleasant town.
Beautiful flowers and flower beds line the Spaarne in the spring
I spot my favourite bird – The great crested grebe , I will have my time with it later
A common coot makes it’s nest along a canal in Haarlem
Close up of the statues lining the Catholic Church of St Bavo
The dome and cross on top of the Catholic Church
The coat of arms of Haarlem – Vicit vim Virtus , Latin for – Virtue conquers Force
The original white stone tower intended for the St Bavo’s Cathedral – now on the Bakenesserkerk
The black coloured and much lighter lead and wood tower on top of the St Bavo’s Cathedral
We cruised around the beautiful town and past the windmill of De Adriaan that we would soon be visiting again for lunch at a restaurant, “The Zuidam” nearby. It was reassuring to note that even Jeroen thought it was a great place for lunch on such a beautiful day.
The Windmill of De Adriaan from the canal
The restaurant Zuidam we would visit for lunch in some time
The 75 minutes flew by and soon we were back where we started and we said goodbye to Jeroen and disembarked the Cornelia, glad that we had chosen her to sail through these beautiful canals. It had been a great way to see Haarlem without exerting the parents and I would highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Haarlem.
A memorable 75 mins on the Cornelia come to an end
Our guide and the owner of the Cornelia – Jeroen Haagen
I then proceeded to guide the rest of my family towards the restaurant like an expert thanks to my early morning exploration of the region. The path was beautiful and the weather was great, perfect for a river side walk to a windmill!
The pedestrian canal side path leading towards the windmill
The small residential neighbourhood before we reach the windmill
The parents enjoying the sunny morning at the river side with the windmill in the background
We got our table outside at The Zuidam at our reserved time and we proceeded to have a delicious meal with adequate vegetarian options for the family. The location only added to the entire experience and the entire family agreed that we would be back again for a meal here before our time in Haarlem was done.
The beautiful setting of the Zuidam restaurant near the De Adriaan’s Windmill
Everyone digs into the tasty food at the Zuidam
With our tummies satiated we decided to walk to nearby Amsterdam Gate the only remaining part of the 14th century fortifications around the town.
At the Amsterdam gate – the last remaining part of the fortifications around Haarlem
We then took the shortest walk back to our hotel. It had been a great half day of sightseeing and had allowed us to have a different perspective of Haarlem. The great lunch was the cherry on top and we returned to the ML with a smile on our faces.
The ladies posing on the canal on our way back to the hotel
We had booked tickets for the Keukenhof gardens (the main reason why we were on this trip was that my mother wanted to see these gardens) for tomorrow and I wanted the parents to conserve their energy as their would be a lot of walking involved inside the huge gardens. So we rested for the evening enjoying the square view from the comfort of our rooms.
Enjoying the view from our room at the ML
I managed to convince Anna to go to a Beer Church – Jopenkerk ( Only in the Netherlands!) nearby where a church had been converted into a brewery. It was something I wanted to see and try and Anna was game enough to accompany me. So we walked down to it (everything is close by in Haarlem!) and enjoyed a great beer on one of their outdoor tables.
Dragging Anna to the Jopenkerk to enjoy a beer
We returned to pick up the ladies from the hotel and go for dinner. We had reserved a table at the Nolita Pizzabar again for dinner as we had enjoyed the meal there the previous evening and it was literally a stones throw away from our hotel. I would have loved to try the highly rated Michelin star restaurant at the ML but it seems that it has almost non existent vegetarian options so Nolita it was. We ordered the excellent gnocchi and pizzas again and enjoyed it thoroughly!
The great food and service at the busy Nolita Pizzabar , Haarlem
We then dropped the parents off at the hotel and the better half & I decided to take a walk around the lit up old town. It was a thing we would continue to do every night after the lights came on and made an already pretty town prettier! Since I have described this walk in my previous post I would just let the photos do the talking instead of repeating myself.
The street behind the St Bavo’s Cathedral looking stunning all lit up
The Grote Markt square looking all regal after dark
The majestic St Bavo’s cathedral lit up after dark
The statue of LJ Coster – the inventor of printing in Haarlem
Cafes and restaurants lining the Grote market at night
The beautiful stained glass window is lit up from the inside
The Spaarne and the bridge looks even prettier at night
View of the Spaarne from the bridge – I would come here every night just to enjoy this view
My usual spot at the centre of the bridge enjoying the view of Haarlem on the Spaarne
The Dutch gabled houses with their pulley lift system on the left
As predicted Bakenesserstraat looks pretty after dark
Enjoying our night walks around Haarlem
Walking towards the white spire of Bakenesserkerk
The better half poses in front of our beautiful hotel ML
The St Bavo’s Cathedral from inside the archway of our hotel ML
Walking around a lit up European Old town is a must do activity for me and Haarlem ticked all the right boxes – Beautiful architecture, less crowds, safe streets and beautiful lighting. If you don’t go out in a pretty European town after dark you are really missing out!
We returned to the hotel ML that night happy that we had chosen Haarlem as our base. As our travels have evolved we have started to prefer the low key vibe of a smaller town like Haarlem rather than the crowds and bustle of the bigger alternative of Amsterdam.
We would have our day with the crowds in Keukenhof the next day. I hoped that the weather would stay sunny and make the crowds a bit more tolerable. Whether I would get my wish is topic for another post. Some other time, some other day.
Till then,
Bye.
yogictravel 
Fabulous pics especially by night. Gorgeous City
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Thanks ma’am
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