Wadden Islands, North Holland
Texel
The Dutch island that UK travellers reach by train then a 20-minute ferry: 30km of North Sea beach, a seal sanctuary and seven villages, with real travel times and what the day-trippers get wrong.
In short
Texel at a glance
Texel is the largest and most visited of the Wadden Islands, a 20-minute TESO ferry from Den Helder at the top of North Holland. It's a proper week-long beach island, not a day trip: 30km of wide North Sea sand on the west coast, the Ecomare seal-and-porpoise sanctuary, the De Slufter salt marsh and seven small villages, all on an island just 20km long that you can cross by bike. UK travellers reach it entirely without flying near it — a Eurostar or Schiphol flight to Amsterdam, then a direct intercity train to Den Helder and the ferry. Most people stay around Den Burg or the beach village of De Koog and bring or hire bikes rather than a car.
Texel is the Netherlands the brochures forget — not a city of canals but a flat North Sea island of sheep paddocks, dunes and a single 30km beach, sitting an hour and a quarter’s train ride north of Amsterdam and a 20-minute ferry beyond that. It’s where the Dutch themselves go on holiday, which tells you most of what you need to know: this is a place to slow down, hire a bike, watch the seals at Ecomare and walk the purple salt marsh at De Slufter, not a sight to be ticked off in an afternoon.
The mistake UK visitors make is treating it as a day trip from Amsterdam. You can do it, but the two and a half hours of travel each way leave you barely enough time to reach the far end of the island, and you’ll spend the whole day clock-watching for the last ferry. Give it three or four nights instead and the rhythm changes entirely. The second thing people get wrong is bringing a car: on an island 20km long and dead flat, a bike or the €10 day bus ticket reaches everything, and you skip both the full ferry fare and the summer scrum for a beach parking space.
The route
A relaxed long weekend that covers the headline sights without rushing — the seal sanctuary, the salt marsh, the lighthouse and the best of the beach. Distances are tiny: nowhere on Texel is more than about 20km from anywhere else, and these legs are all under 40 minutes by bike or 15 by car.
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Day 1
Arrive and settle in Den Burg
Off the ferry at 't Horntje, it's about 7km (a 10-minute bus on the Texel Ticket or 25 minutes by bike) to Den Burg, the island's main village and best first base. Pick up bike hire here, walk the small old centre and the Thursday market if you've timed it, and eat in one of the village restaurants rather than driving anywhere.
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Day 2
Ecomare and the De Koog beach
Cycle north to Ecomare (about 6km from Den Burg), the seal and harbour-porpoise rescue centre and the island's one ticketed must-do — allow 2–3 hours. It sits right behind the dunes, so walk over to the beach at paal 17 afterwards. De Koog, the main beach village, is 10 minutes further north for lunch and the busiest stretch of sand.
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Day 3
De Slufter and the northern tip
Ride up to De Slufter (about 8km north of De Koog), the breached-dune salt marsh that floods with seawater and turns purple with sea lavender in late summer — the island's signature landscape and free to walk. Carry on to De Cocksdorp and the red lighthouse at the very northern tip, where the beaches are emptiest.
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Day 4
Oudeschild and the Wadden side
Swap the North Sea coast for the sheltered Wadden Sea side: Oudeschild, the working fishing harbour, has the Kaap Skil maritime museum and is the launch point for a shrimp-boat trip or, at the right tide, a guided mudflat walk (wadlopen). Round off back in Den Burg before the ferry home.
Where to base yourself
Pick one or two bases rather than moving every night.
Den Burg
££ mid-rangeThe island's main village and the practical first base — central, with the most shops, restaurants, supermarkets and bike-hire outlets, and the bus hub for the rest of Texel. It's inland rather than on the beach, so you trade dune-side mornings for being able to walk to everything; the best choice for a first visit or a no-car trip.
Best for: First-timers, no-car trips, walkable amenities
De Koog
££ mid-rangeThe main beach resort, right behind the dunes on the west coast with the widest sand and the most hotels, holiday parks and family facilities. Busiest and most built-up in July and August, quiet out of season. The obvious base if the beach is the whole point and you've got kids.
Best for: Beach holidays, families, summer
De Cocksdorp
££ mid-rangeThe northernmost village, near the lighthouse and De Slufter, with the emptiest beaches and a quieter, end-of-the-island feel. Fewer amenities and further from the ferry, so better with a bike or car, but the pick for walkers and anyone wanting space rather than a resort.
Best for: Quiet, walkers, emptiest beaches
Getting around Texel
Texel is built for bikes: it's 20km long, almost entirely flat and threaded with dedicated cycle paths, and nearly every visitor hires or brings one — day hire runs about €10–€14 and many holiday parks lend them free. Foot passengers and cyclists don't need a car at all. If you'd rather not pedal, the Texel Ticket is the smart buy: about €10 for a full day of unlimited travel on every island bus (lines run from the ferry through all the main villages), and it's far better value than single fares. You can bring a car on the TESO ferry, but on an island this small it's usually unnecessary and parking at the popular beaches and Ecomare fills up in peak summer — bikes don't have that problem.
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