If your looking for things to do in Haarlem Netherlands it was a favorite of ours that we visited during tulip season in the Netherlands. It gave us a lot of the things we liked about Amsterdam — canals, historic buildings, cafés, walkable streets, good food, pretty architecture — but in a way that felt calmer and easier to enjoy.
We only spent about half a day here plus the evening, but it was one of those places that immediately made us say we’d stay longer next time. The slower atmosphere made a big difference after spending time in busier areas, especially during peak tulip season when crowds everywhere start feeling a little intense by the end of the day.
If you’re trying to decide between staying in Haarlem or Amsterdam, I can easily see why so many people choose Haarlem as their home base instead. My Where to Stay in the Netherlands (Best Areas to Do in One Trip) guide also helps break down which Dutch cities work best depending on the type of trip you want.
Haarlem felt like a more manageable version of Amsterdam to me.
You still get canals, historic Dutch buildings, shopping streets, outdoor cafés, bikes everywhere, and plenty of restaurants, but without constantly feeling like you’re dodging crowds every five seconds. There were still tourists here, just noticeably fewer compared to central Amsterdam.
Walking around at night ended up being one of my favorite parts. The canals were quieter, the streets felt less chaotic, and it was easier to slow down and enjoy the scenery instead of focusing on survival mode while bikes flew past from every direction.
The location is also extremely convenient during tulip season.
Haarlem sits close to the Bollenstreek flower region between Amsterdam and Leiden, which makes it a great base for visiting places like Keukenhof, Tulip Experience Amsterdam, The Tulip Barn, and the surrounding tulip fields. You can spend the day doing all the major tulip activities and still come back somewhere that feels a little more local and relaxed at night.
The train connections are also easy, so you can still visit Amsterdam whenever you want without staying directly in the busiest tourist areas the entire trip. If you do plan to spend time there, my Things to Do in Amsterdam for First-Time Visitors and How to Use Amsterdam Park and Ride (Cheapest and Easiest Way Into the City) guides are helpful for figuring out logistics before you go.
Most of the main things to do in Haarlem are centered around the historic downtown area, canals, food scene, and shopping streets. It’s more about wandering, eating, and exploring than rushing between giant tourist attractions.
Which, for me personally, tends to work out very well because I’m always ready to eat.
The historic center is easily the main reason people visit Haarlem.
The downtown area is filled with canals, narrow brick streets, classic Dutch buildings, little bridges, outdoor terraces, and shops tucked into historic storefronts. It feels very walkable and much less overwhelming compared to Amsterdam.
A lot of Haarlem worked best just wandering without a strict plan. We spent most of our time walking around the canals at night, exploring side streets, and stopping whenever something looked good.
The city also felt very clean compared to larger tourist-heavy areas. It had a quieter atmosphere overall, especially once the evening crowds started thinning out.
Grote Markt is the main square in Haarlem and one of the busiest areas in the city.
This is where you’ll find restaurants, cafés, outdoor terraces, shops, and the massive St. Bavo Church right in the middle of the square. The whole area feels lively without feeling chaotic.
It’s a good place to sit outside for a drink or dinner if the weather is nice. During tulip season especially, outdoor terraces everywhere in the Netherlands become very popular the second the sun comes out.
Which I fully understand because after months of gray weather, I’d also be fighting for patio seating.
St. Bavo Church dominates the center of Haarlem and is hard to miss once you reach Grote Markt.
The church dates back centuries and adds a lot to the historic atmosphere of the square. Even if you don’t go inside, it’s worth seeing while walking through the downtown area because it becomes one of the main landmarks you naturally keep circling back toward while exploring.
Haarlem ended up having way better shopping than I expected.
Streets like Grote Houtstraat and the smaller side streets around downtown are filled with boutiques, bakeries, cafés, home stores, clothing shops, and local businesses. It felt much more relaxed than shopping in Amsterdam where things sometimes start feeling packed shoulder-to-shoulder pretty quickly.
Some of the smaller streets were honestly my favorite part because you’d randomly stumble across little bakeries, small shops, or cafés while walking around.
There’s a good mix of larger stores and smaller local shops, so it never felt overly touristy.
One of the best things to do in Haarlem Netherlands is honestly just walking along the canals, especially in the evening.
The canals still give you that classic Netherlands scenery people picture before visiting — water lined with historic buildings, bikes parked everywhere, little bridges, boats passing through, outdoor dining, flowers hanging from railings — but with a slower pace overall.
At night the reflections on the water made the whole city feel even prettier.
We spent a large part of our evening just wandering around without much of a plan and ended up liking that more than trying to cram in nonstop attractions.
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The food scene in Haarlem stood out. There were trendy cafés, bakeries, brunch spots, wine bars, outdoor terraces, and restaurants all over downtown.
A stand out meal was at Café Samabe Haarlem Review (Best Food in Haarlem?), an Indonesian restaurant known for rijsttafel dining where your table fills with lots of smaller dishes to share. It was one of the most memorable meals from the Netherlands portion of our trip because there were so many different flavors and dishes arriving constantly.
If you’re interested in trying Indonesian food while visiting the Netherlands, Haarlem is a great place for it since Indonesian cuisine has a strong historical connection to the country. Who knew? I’m glad I got to try it!
One of the biggest advantages of Haarlem is how well it works during tulip season.
It’s close enough to major tulip attractions that driving or day-tripping stays pretty manageable, but the evenings feel quieter once you return from the crowds.
For travelers planning a tulip itinerary, Haarlem works especially well if you want:
After spending full days around tulip fields and tourist crowds, coming back somewhere calmer felt very nice.
If you plan on exploring the flower region by car, my Driving in the Netherlands (What It’s Really Like for Tourists) guide explains what parking, roads, bikes, and driving conditions were actually like during our trip.
Another advantage of Haarlem is how close it sits to the coast.
Places like Zandvoort Beach are easy to reach if you want a beach day mixed into your Netherlands trip. We didn’t do this during our short visit, but it’s one of the reasons Haarlem works well for longer stays compared to staying only in Amsterdam.
You can combine city exploring, tulip season activities, beach access, and day trips pretty easily from here.
Haarlem is also home to Teylers Museum, which is the oldest museum in the Netherlands.
Even though Haarlem feels more relaxed overall, there are still museums and cultural attractions mixed throughout the city if you want more than just cafés and canal walks.
This is one of the more well-known museums in Haarlem and a popular stop for travelers interested in art, science, and history.
Yes — especially if you like slower, more walkable cities with good food and less chaos.
Haarlem worked really well as a balance between sightseeing and actually enjoying the trip without feeling overstimulated. It gave us a lot of the things we wanted from Amsterdam while feeling calmer at the end of the day.
If your ideal Netherlands trip includes canals, cafés, good restaurants, shopping streets, tulip season day trips, and quieter evenings, Haarlem makes a very good home base.
We only stayed half a day and one evening this time, but I’d easily stay longer on another trip. There were still restaurants we wanted to try, more side streets we didn’t fully explore, and it just felt easier to settle into compared to busier cities nearby.
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I ate chilaquiles while a Cessna taxied past the window, and that’s just a normal Tuesday breakfast in Sedona.
@mesa_grill_sedona sits right beside the Sedona Airport Scenic Lookout, so along with your food you get red rock views stretching in every direction and a front-row seat to tiny planes lifting off. Chef Mercer Mohr runs the kitchen, serving up Southwestern comfort food from breakfast through dinner, chilaquiles, elevated diner classics, burgers, steaks, seafood, all of it.
The view is what pulls people in the door, but the food actually holds its own. Good enough that this place stays packed with locals, not just tourists passing through on their way to the lookout. It also picked up the 2025 Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice and OpenTable Diners’ Choice awards, so it’s not just me saying it.
Indoor seating if you want the AC, a pet-friendly patio if your dog’s along for the trip. Either way, get there before plane-spotting turns into a wait for a table.
Link in bio for the full Sedona breakfast roundup ✈️🌵
Confession: my newsletter is where the good stuff lives. Not the polished, edited-for-the-grid stuff, the “here’s the hole-in-the-wall I almost skipped” stuff, the packing lists I actually use, the “don’t book this hotel” warnings before you waste your money on them.
The newsletter is basically me texting you before a trip instead of after one. Sign up and you’ll be the first to know where I’m headed next, plus a few things I’ll never post here.
Link in bio if you want in. ✈️
Yes, it’s only July. Start planning anyway. Fall books faster than people expect, and a few of these destinations are worth getting ahead of. Here are five places worth putting on your radar right now.
Ireland: Cooler temps, moody skies, dramatic coastline fall was made for it. Tourist crowds drop, the green stays, and the whole country feels a little more like itself.
Great Smoky Mountains, TN/NC: Fall foliage in the Smokies is the real thing. The color peaks mid-October and the views from the ridgelines are hard to argue with. It’s also one of the most visited national parks in the country, so going on a weekday makes a real difference.
New York City: Fall is NYC at its best comfortable temps, the energy of the city shifting into a new season, and every neighborhood doing something worth showing up for. It’s also just a great walking city when it’s not brutally hot.
Japan: Fall foliage season is as good as spring cherry blossoms and somehow less talked about. The colors are dramatic, the temples and gardens are stunning, and it’s worth planning around peak dates by region.
Mystic, Connecticut: Small, walkable, genuinely charming Mystic in fall feels like exactly what a New England autumn is supposed to look like. Easy to pair with a broader New England road trip if you want to extend it.
Full guides linked in bio 🍂
There are two kinds of travelers: people who plan a trip and then figure out where to eat, and people who book a restaurant and then build the rest of the itinerary around it.I am the second kind. I will not apologize for this.
The reservation gets locked in first. The hotel search happens within the same 24 hours. The flights get compared around the restaurant’s hours of operation. The rest of the trip exists to fill the days before and after the table I actually came for.
If this sounds unhinged, I completely understand. It has also resulted in some of the best meals of my life, so I’m going to keep doing it.
Drop a 🍽️ if you plan your trips around food too.
Let’s talk about when to actually book that Dubai trip you’ve been pinning for two years. I get asked this constantly, so here’s the honest breakdown: October through April is your window. Anything outside that and you’re basically touring in a sauna!
October and November give you warm days and cooler nights, which is basically the sweet spot for wandering around without melting. December through February is peak season: gorgeous weather. March and April are the quiet insider pick, right before summer heat shows up and ruins everyone’s plans.
Saving this for later? That’s what it’s here for. Full breakdown linked in bio.
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