Touring Around Texel Island

Texel, The Netherlands

Texel is the biggest of the islands that make up the Dutch Wadden Islands on the northwest coast of the Netherlands. It’s only a quick 20-minute ferry ride from the harbour town of Den Helder. Texel Island has amazing beaches, rugged forests, and several wildlife and bird sanctuaries. About one-third of the island is a protected nature reserve. The terrain is almost other-worldly! We spent three days touring around Texel Island and made a large effort to really enjoy the abundant nature that is all around.

*Locals will be quick to mention that you’re on Texel, never in Texel! And in case you were wondering, it’s pronounced Tesel, without the harsh ‘x’ sound.

De Koog

We stayed on the western coast in a small city called De Koog. From here we had easy access to the nearby beaches and forests. We spent a full day wandering through the trees and along the windy coastline. The weather changes in an instant on the island. The gloomy grey skies I woke up to soon dissipated to clear blue skies with sun!

Touring Around Texel Island

On our second full day on the island, we rented bikes and went cycling around the north part of the island. The route we followed took us along the rugged coast to Shulfter – a barren sand dune which sees great fluctuations in water levels coinciding with the tides. The marshy area is a favourite spot for birds and plants.

Like I mentioned above, the weather changes in an instant. Unfortunately for us, the gloomy skies that we woke up to persisted throughout the day. The fog & mist only added to the eerie scenery we biked through.

The highlight of our cycle tour was seeing the Eierland Lighthouse at the northern tip of the island. We walked along the nearly-empty beach and said a little prayer for the boats trying to sail in the insane wind. There was also a guy flying a kite – I have no idea how he managed to stay on the ground!

After the lighthouse we started losing steam. Similar to our experience biking around Westerbork, as soon as we changed direction to bike south down the east coast of the island, we began biking full on into the wind. It was slowww going for a good two hours. Luckily the scenery was impressive and served as a great distraction for our mounting frustrations. We biked literally right beside the sea – it was hard to stay focused on the road, the views were so dramatic and distracting!

Eventually we made it back to De Koog and after returning the bikes promptly napped away the mid-afternoon. If it weren’t so windy, I would have been keen to explore more of the southern parts of the island. The cycling network has many routes that weave through villages and nature.

Touring around Texel Island sure was a highlight of our time in the Netherlands. Texel is one of many island just off the coast of the Netherlands and we had originally thought of doing some island hopping to get to Germany. Unfortunately, due to lack of planning and a tight budget, we nixed the idea. (For context, the ferry ride from Den Helter is €2.50 return per person. The small ferry from Texel to its neighbouring island is ~€25 per person. And we would have had to take 3+ ferries.) Our next stops in northern Netherlands were amazing though, and I quickly forgot about my island hopping desires!

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