Hanse cities to visit in Netherlands - Beautiful cities in Holland
Discovering Europe while traveling to lesser-known regions is fun. There are many beautiful cities in Holland. The Hanseatic cities in The Netherlands belong to. That Holland also outside the tulip time nice, we discovered this year. The Hanseatic League fascinates us since we Germans Hanseatic cities visited. We want to know more about it. A total of nine towns that once belonged to the trade association are located in the region between the Veluwemeer, the IJssel and the Zwarte Water. We visit five of them on this trip. Harderwijk, Elburg, Hasselt, Kampen and Deventer are inland today Netherlands.
At the time of the Hanseatic League, however, the Ijsselmeer was much closer to the trading cities. Holland's youngest province, Flevoland, is built on polders (land reclaimed from the sea) and now blocks the direct access to the IJsselmeer. Why that is so, Gerhard explains in his Video about Flevoland. Harderwijk and Elburg were once on the banks of the IJsselmeer. Kampen and Hasselt were only a few kilometers away on the banks of the IJssel and the Zwarte Water. Only Deventer has always been inland, but had good access to the sea via the IJssel.
Beautiful cities in Holland, which owe their wealth to the Hanseatic League
A cog is anchored in the harbor of Kampen. It is hard to believe, that the merchant sailors traveled the vast distances to the remotest Hanseatic cities with these ships. The merchants of the Hanseatic League sailed to the German Hanseatic cities and to the eastern regions of the Baltic Sea. They traded, what was produced locally. From Holland, they mainly supplied fish. They exchanged cloth, furs, wax, salt, dry or salt fish, grain, wood and beer. Most of the Hanseatic cities became rich through their membership in the trade network. You can see this until today. The patrician houses in the old towns bear witness to this. Not always, however, living together was peaceful. For example, the two Hanseatic cities of Kampen and Zwolle were bitter rivals.
On our journey, however, we no longer notice any of this. Only during the visits to Deventer does it come up again and again. Our tour of five Hanseatic cities in Holland takes us from Harderwijk via Elburg, Hasselt and Kampen to Deventer.
Discover Hanse Cities to visit in Netherlands on this Road Trip
The culinary Hanseatic city of Harderwijk
We start our tour through Holland's beautiful cities in the former Hanseatic regions in Harderwijk. The port city of Harderwijk lies on the Veluwermeer. This is a lake that was originally part of the IJsselmeer. Since Flevoland separated the region from the sea, it has been part of a lake chain that offers access to the Ijsselmeer at its north and south exit. This retained the maritime character of the Hanseatic city. Yachts are still bobbing in the wind in the harbor. A windmill towers over the harbor basin. In summer you can enjoy beach life on a sandbar.
What you to do in Harderwijk can be found in this article.
Beautiful cities in Holland - Elburg with a well-preserved old town
The drive to our next destination takes less than half an hour. The Hanseatic city of Elburg is only about 25 kilometers to the northwest, also on the Veluwemeer. We park our car in the large parking lot (free of charge) in front of the city and set off to explore the second of the Hanseatic cities in Holland. The Hanseatic city of Elburg has an old town that is well preserved. It is surrounded by a city wall. Away from the main street, it is worth making a detour to the side streets. In them the charm of this small town opens up. There you get an impression of what life might have been like in the days of the Hanseatic League. We are adding another city to our list of Holland's beautiful cities.
Detailed information on Hanseatic city of Elburg and its sights can be found here.
Hasselt, one of the Hanseatic cities in Holland
The next destination of our road trip through five Hanseatic cities in Holland is Hasselt. Our drive via the A28 takes about half an hour. Here, too, we take a city tour.
Hasselt's historical sights are less obvious than in Harderwijk or Elburg. We meet our guide at the Tourist Information, which is located in the Oude Stadhuis. From there, our walk first takes us to the Stephanuskerk. Then we take a tour of the main street past the Seven Houses, a kind of social facility for the poor. We pass the canal and stroll past magnificent merchants' houses back to the town hall.
More information about Hasselt and its sights can be found in this article.
Kampen an der IJssel - Beautiful cities in Holland
The next destination of our journey through the Hanseatic cities of Holland is the city of Kampen an der Ijssel. From Hasselt we need about half an hour to get there. We reach the city in the evening. We spend the night in one Apartment in Stadsboerderij * in Kampen. Especially convenient is that we can park our car right in front of the apartment. After the many impressions that we have collected during the day, I am looking forward to an hour break in the living room in the room of Gerrtruidt.
An evening in Kampen
That's the name of our holiday apartment in the Stadsboererij. This is furnished with a kitchenette, dining table, a seating area, a large bathroom and a bedroom with a double bed. The cozy wing chairs lure me. It feels good to stretch out on all fours and let the impressions of the day pass me by. We recover from our experiences in Elburg and Hasselt with a cup of home-made coffee. However, our day is not quite over yet. Since we only get breakfast in the Stadsboerderij, we have made reservations for dinner in a restaurant on the IJssel. From our holiday home it is only a few minutes' walk to the banks of the IJssel, where we enjoy dinner overlooking the river at restaurant De Vier.
Enjoy the Restaurant de Vier
In the neat ambience of the De Vier restaurant, we enjoy the view of the river with onion soup, fried shrimp and a crispy pork belly. A nice place to end the day. The food and the view make it pure pleasure. The highlight of our evening on the IJssel are two mounted police officers riding along the Kampen waterfront promenade. They wave to us in a friendly way, as if they wanted to say: "Enjoy your time here in Kampen." We won't let that be said twice.
What we did in Kampen Holland, we introduce in this article.
Deventer - beautiful cities in Holland on the IJssel
The journey from Kampen to Deventer takes about forty-five minutes. This time we do not stay in town though. Our hotel for the next two nights is located on the other bank of the IJssel. The Ijssel Hotel Sandton * is right across from the old town. Just the sight makes our hearts beat faster. One of the city's campsites is right next door. This can be reached with a small ferry that crosses the IJssel at short intervals during the day. An ingenious solution, as we think. You spend the night directly on the river surrounded by parkland. Here you can enjoy the tranquility and the view, while the city with its sights and activities awaits on the other side of the river. The perfect introduction to getting to know the fifth Hanseatic city on our road trip through Holland's Hanseatic cities.
At the blue hour we enjoy our dinner with a view of the fifth and last city of our trip through Holland's Hanseatic cities. The anticipation for the next day grows. Before that, however, we enjoy dinner with a view of the IJssel.
You can get a first impression of this Hanseatic city in Petar's video.
What you can do in Deventer, we introduce in this article.
The Hanseatic cities in Holland are cities to visit in Netherlands
We all count the five cities on our road trip through the Hanseatic cities in Holland to the beautiful cities that we got to know in the Netherlands. And not only that: there are many places and experiences where you can enjoy them. Be it with beautiful views, in the old towns, with good food. We experienced and discovered a lot on our round trip from Harderwijk via Elburg, Hasselt and Kampen to Deventer. Each of these cities has its own charm. Each offers experiences for connoisseurs and slow travelers. Take your time on a road trip to these five cities. If you want to get to know the places well, you should plan about five days for your tour.
Travel Arrangements
Arrival in the Hanseatic cities in Holland
Book yours here Arrival by plane, bus or train*. KLM and Lufthansa will follow Amsterdam. From there, it's best to take a car, because that's the only way you're flexible enough to get to know the localities in the region better. We came with our own car from southern Bavaria. For the trip we took two days with an overnight stay on the more than 1000 km long route. This made it easy to get there.
Rental car
Cheap rental cars - book quickly and easily here
Do you already know:
- Keukenhof
- Easter holidays
- Hanseatic city of Stendal
- Stralsund sights - UNESCO and Hanseatic League
- Excursion destinations in Saxony-Anhalt
- Eat vegan breakfast
- Compare motorhome prices here.
- Or do you prefer to travel with him Rooftent or Zelt?
Find more Slow Travel Tips and Culinary Travel you can find under these links. Further Destinations in Holland we introduce here. Do you want to discover other cities? What do you think of beautiful cities in Germany?
Source for Beautiful Cities in Holland: own research on site. We thank The Other Holland for the friendly support of this trip. Our opinion, however, remains our own.
Text: © Copyright Monika Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline
Photos © Copyright Monika Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline
Video © Copyright Petar Fuchs, TravelWorldOnline
