Walking & swimming with your dog in the Netherlands, the 10 best spots!
The fact that Holland is a dog friendly country is no secret, but does it also have enough places to take your furry friend for beautiful walks & sneak in a swim. And if so, all year round?
Without a doubt Holland has endless spots to go walking, swimming and spend quality time together. And seeing that the temperatures have been soaring lately we thought we’d share with you our list. A list compiled over years of exploring our beautifully flat country together with Muppet. In no particular order & we marked our favourites so you know which ones to go visit first 🙂
1. Dog Beach (Sea): Wassenaar
Living in The Hague we come here regularly and absolutely love it here. Park your car (or bike) at ‘Wassenaarseslag’ and get ready for a 25 mins stroll through the dunes towards the beach where you can swim all year round. Not only is it dog friendly but the doggy beach is considerably less busy than the neighbouring Wassenaarseslag (boulevard) Scheveningen or kijkduin.
Navigation Adres: Wassenaarseslag Parking (the first one on your right)
You prefer walking around the dune landscape for a couple hours? Knock yourself out, it’s definitely possible her
2. Dog Beach (Lake): Zandwinplas Nieuw Amsterdam
It seems that this place has yet to be discovered as the peace and quiet here is hugely satisfying, especially being so close to the hustle and bustle of Amsterdam. You can walk around this lake fully (+-40 mins) and has spots all around offering your dog easy access to the water. During the summer I usually also go in for a quick dip!
Navigation Adres: Herendijk 54 Nieuw Amsterdam
3. Dog Beach (lake) Ellertshaar / Boswachterij Schoonloo (Assen, Drenthe)
Although they just about halved the walking area last year it’s still worth coming here. Advantage now is that all motorized vehicles are banned allowing you to walk care-free for hours on end. Furthermore I feel this picture speaks for itself..
Navigation Adres: 't Loomeer Hoofdstraat Schoonloo
4. Dog beach (lake): Delftse Hout - Delft
Need anything from Ikea? Just a stone's throw behind the big blue box is Delfste Hout, a nature widely used by the locals and tourists staying on the camping grounds. Personally I prefer to see as little people as possible on our walks but at times it’s nice. Here at the doggy beach you’ll find enough other dogs to play with 🐕
5. Sonse Bergen (Lake/River): Near Eindhoven
For the ones living in the ever gezellig Noord Brabant this is a little hidden gem. With a little cut off meander running through your dog can get his cool on. Don’t forget to check out the little sand dune located in the North East side of the park.
6.Dog Beach (Sea)Texel
You’ll need a ferry to get there but oh boy it’s worth it! The biggest island off the Dutch coast has endless beaches where doggies are more than welcome. This one will be more of a full day outing probably leaving it’s sleepy after effects in the days to come. Something welcomed by us seeing Muppets inner terrie gives him near infinite amounts of energy.
7.Schoorlse Duinen (Sea & Fresh Water) - Den Helder
Here you can get the best of both worlds! Prefer a walk combined with a dip in fresh water reservoirs located in between the dunes or is it going to be a salt scrub in the sea? Sounds like a win-win to me! Pack your and your dogs bag and head over to Den Helder!
8.Gooijkers park (Fresh Water) - Deventer
This completely fenced off walking area offers a super relaxed environment to come for a walk. It comes with various surroundings: Forest, grass fields, water elements and free parking, always nice :)
9. Lage Bergse Bos (Fresh Water): Rotterdam
A lot of work is being done on Lage Bergse Bos to give an impulse to it’s diversity in flora and fauna but if you ask me for nice walks it’s more than sufficient enough already! Great to combine with a day in Rotterdam this forest offers everything you need for a good day out.
10. Backershagen: Wassenaar
To finish off our top 10 we have another favourite located close to The Hague. This beautiful estate covered with lots of shade also has some old World War 2 bunkers, making it interesting for us to explore too!
With that we have come to the end of our personal recommendations. That being said, there are so many more places to go & we’d love to hear from you about it. Just drop it in the comments below.
We hope you enjoy the trips and you’ll hear from us soon again! Oh and I realised I didn’t use any gifs this whole blog so here one of a cat surfing on a dog. You’re welcome 😺
Have a pawsome day!
Robert
