Petten – Beach, Dunes and Walking Trails

Petten is shaped by its beach, dunes and the history of coastal protection. When planning a trip here, you’ll find open stretches of coast, paths through wooded areas and viewpoints on the dunes. There is also a named walking trail, the Zand tegen Zee route and the Palendorp memorial. This makes it possible to get to know the area through both its landscape and the traces of its coastal history.

Beach and dune landscape

The Pettemerduinen form a long, narrow strip of dunes between Zwanenwater and the Hondsbossche Zeewering. This landscape includes wooded areas, heathland, dune lakes and a beach. Petten lies right beside a dune area surrounded by woods, with a small lake hidden among them. Petten’s bathing beach is a wide sandy beach that begins at the Hondsbossche Zeewering.

Walking trails and viewpoints

In the Pettemerduinen, you can walk sheltered among the wooded areas, enjoy far-reaching views from high dune tops or breathe in the fresh sea air on the beach. The Pad van Bigot is a walking trail in Petten named after Mart Bigot, and it crosses the Hondsbossche Zeewering. Walking and cycling paths also run through the dunes towards Camperduin. The Zand tegen Zee route follows the Pettemer Zeewering, the new foredunes and the Hazedijk van de Zijp; it also includes a stretch of beach with sea views. The landscape therefore determines which route to choose: the sea wall on the Pad van Bigot, the dunes on the paths towards Camperduin, or the beach and sea views on Zand tegen Zee.

Another viewpoint is the 26-metre-high Piramideduin Petten, which you can climb. From its top, you can see the beach, the dunes, the Noordhollandsch Kanaal, the polders with their windmills and, in spring, flowering bulb fields. The village and the sea are also part of the panorama.

Coastal history and change

The Hondsbossche Zeewering was a 5.5-kilometre-long fortified dike between Camperduin and Petten that protected the land from the sea. Its long history includes storm damage and dike repairs. In 2015, the Hondsbossche Duinen were created as a sandy coastal protection structure on the site of the former Hondsbossche and Pettemer Zeewering. Reinforcing the coast with sand from the sea created a new beach and dune area; the fortified dike structure was transformed into a wide beach with a dune landscape.

Palendorp Petten

The Palendorp Petten commemorates old Petten, which was flooded by the sea long ago. This work of art consists of 160 posts, each six to twelve metres long. Their arrangement forms ten houses and a church. In this way, the Palendorp adds a distinctive feature alongside the area’s natural and coastal attractions.

Seasonal bus service

The seasonal, free Kustbus line 851 may be useful for your journey: from 1 July through 31 August, it connects Petten with Den Helder. If you are planning to use this service for a specific date, check the operating period before travelling.

Discover more destinations: Sint Maartensbrug, Callantsoog, Burgerbrug, Sint Maartenszee, Oudesluis, Het Korfwater, 'T Zand, Sint Maartensvlotbrug.

For the broader travel overview: Zijpe.