Heerhugowaard: Polder Landscape and Cultural Heritage
Accommodation in Heerhugowaard
If you are looking for a hotel in Heerhugowaard, you can tailor your travel plans to your own interests: the destination combines polder landscapes with places of cultural and historical interest, walks and other activities. When choosing, it is therefore helpful to first decide what you want to focus on during your stay. The attractions differ in terms of landscape, architectural history and type of activity, making it possible to plan a visit that suits your travel interests.
Polder Landscapes and Park
The 180-hectare Park van Luna is a recreational area on the edge of Heerhugowaard, bringing together land and water. Meadows, reed beds and a high ring dike surround Heerhugowaard and provide another landscape setting. This puts a specific recreational area alongside the wider polder landscape. This distinction is useful when planning your stay: you can consider whether the combination of land and water or the landscape around the town is your main focus.
Polder History and Cultural Heritage
The Het Oude Gemaal Polder Museum is housed in a former polder pumping station built in 1877 on the Huygendijk in Heerhugowaard. Alongside the museum, the building’s former function is also of interest when considering its cultural and historical context. The Middenweg offers a different architectural perspective: it is a monumental polder road and the central axis through the Heerhugowaard polder.
The Dionysiuskerk adds an artistic detail to this perspective: its stained-glass windows depict the seven sacraments. Veenhuizen has retained its open, rural character. At the present-day monument in Veenhuizen, Reinout van Brederode’s above-ground ornamental tomb is separate from the underground crypt. Heerhugowaard’s cultural heritage includes polder engineering, the monumental Middenweg and the sacrament windows of the Dionysiuskerk.
Cool kunst en cultuur is a cultural venue in Heerhugowaard. As the programme may change, check current dates if events are important to your stay.
Walks, Cycle Route and Weekly Market
The Stad van de Zon walk provides information about the distinctive, emissions-neutral neighbourhood of the same name. The Stad van de Zon architecture walk starts at Brandpunt, the centre of the neighbourhood. The Stolpenroute offers a cycling tour with a different focus: it runs around Heerhugowaard past old, monumental stolp farmhouses. The options therefore differ in mode of transport and theme, from a neighbourhood walk to a cycling tour past farmhouses.
Heerhugowaard also has a cable water-ski tow at Skeef. It adds another activity to the cultural and historical sites and routes. A weekly market is held at Raadhuisplein on Mondays from 10:00 to 16:30. As the market schedule may change, check the times before your visit.
Travel Interests and Finding a Hotel
When choosing a hotel, it helps to decide what kind of trip you want. If you are mainly interested in polder history and architecture, the museum, Middenweg, church windows and monument each offer a different theme. If you would rather focus on an activity, the walk and cycle tour differ in route and focus; there is also the cable water-ski tow at Skeef. Decide which of these interests you want to shape your trip around, then look for hotels in Heerhugowaard for your stay. If the weekly market or cultural programme is important for your travel dates, factor the relevant opening times and event dates into your plans.
For the broader travel overview: Heerhugowaard.
