Haarlem ended up being one of my favorite places 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.
If you’re planning tulip season logistics, my 5 Day Netherlands Tulip Itinerary: Keukenhof, Windmills & Tulip Fields, 7 Day Netherlands Tulip Season Itinerary: The Ultimate Spring Trip, and Best Tulip Field Driving Route in the Netherlands guides can help a lot with route planning.
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.
Save this for later on Pinterest so you don’t forget it.
The food scene in Haarlem stood out. There were trendy cafés, bakeries, brunch spots, wine bars, outdoor terraces, and restaurants all over downtown.
One of our favorite meals during the trip 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 throughout the country.
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.
If you end up booking anything for your trip, using my affiliate links helps support my blog at no extra cost to you. I spend a lot of time researching and writing these guides, so I really appreciate the support.
@peacefulsidesocial is what happens when someone builds exactly the restaurant a mountain town deserves. Made-from-scratch food. Craft beer brewed on site. A kids’ play area outside, & mountain views from the patio. ⛰️
It’s casual in the best way, the kind of place where you sit down for lunch and suddenly it’s two hours later and you don’t care.
@cityoftownsend | 📍Townsend, TN
I walked through the gates and immediately understood why people fly back to Curaçao just for this place. 🌴
23 rooms. Private beach. A Balinese-inspired resort built stone by stone by the owners themselves. Buddha statues next to conch shells. Candles lit everywhere at night. Beachfront dining that eats like fine dining but feels like you’re just having dinner on the sand.
It’s currently the #1 resort in the Caribbean and after spending time there, I get it completely.
Full review linked in bio
#travelling #curaçao #visitcuraçao #luxuryresort #travelvlog
I walked down to the beach and immediately noticed how calm the water was. 🐚
It sits in a small cove, so there’s really no waves pushing in. You just walk right in without thinking about it. I grabbed my snorkel (they actually rent them for free at the resort, which I didn’t expect) and went out near the pier and stayed way longer than I planned, because the water was that clear.
Honest caveat: if you need a lot of energy and activity at a beach, this probably isn’t it. It’s quiet, it’s calm, and you’re mostly just... sitting there. Which for me was exactly the point.☀️
Full Baoase review linked in bio. 🔗
#curaçao #travel #luxuryresort #privatebeach #visitcuraçao
Dinner at Baoase in Curaçao isn’t just a restaurant, you’re walking into a full resort setting where everything feels intentional. The table is right by the water, the food is French-inspired with tropical and Asian flavors woven in, and the whole thing moves slowly in the best way. We sat there for hours and didn’t want it to end.
✨ Culinary Beach Restaurant, oceanside tables, candlelit ambiance
✨ French-inspired menu with tropical and Asian influences
✨ Service that’s attentive without being over the top
✨ The kind of dinner you’re still thinking about days later
Fair warning: this isn’t a casual grab-a-table kind of spot. You’re making a reservation, thinking through your outfit, and blocking off the whole evening and it’s worth every bit of that.
If you’re celebrating something or just want one dinner that feels a little extra, this is where to do it. Full Baoase resort review linked in bio. 🔗
Curaçao has the beaches everyone talks about, and then it has these. The spots that made this trip actually feel like mine weren’t on any resort map. I found them by renting a car, asking locals, and just following what looked good.
✨ Playa Lagun: a calm little cove where the water does all the work
✨ Playa Kalki: rocky entry, but the snorkeling right off shore is worth it
✨ Playa Jeremi: no rentals, no crowds, no setup. Just the beach
✨ Fort Nassau: watched the sun go down over Willemstad and stayed for dinner
✨ Hofi Cas Cora: breakfast on an actual farm and the freshest food of the whole trip
✨ Willemstad Street Party: I had no idea Thursday nights turned into that. Just followed the music.
✨ Playa Forti: cliff jumping and amazing food, talk about dinner and a show!
Honest caveat: if you need everything planned and structured, a few of these will feel a little too unpolished. But if you like the kind of trip where the best parts are the ones you stumble into, this is exactly that.
All 7 spots with full details are linked in bio. ☀️
#curaçao #hiddengems #travel #travelguide #whattodoincuracao
Follow @travelwithwendyplummer for Beautiful Beach Destinations, City Guides, Foodie Spots, and Luxury Hotel Recommendations.
