Last week we were back in Haarlem, to visit our daughter while taking a few days break. As usual, we managed to pack a lot into the week – spending some time exploring the small, historic city, watching some live music acts (the Haarlem Jazz Festival started towards the end of our little holiday), taking in some art in Amsterdam and even managing a short walk on the dunes.
We caught the plane from Manchester. Unfortunately there was a dealy which meant we were sat on the plane for over an hour and a half before it took off. Not the greatest experience, but it could have been worse. So we arrived in Haarlem a couple of hours late. It’s quite easy to get to the city by catching the Number 300 bis that runs from Schipol airport to the train station in Haarlem, a 40 minute journey with buses about every 10 minutes during the daytime. We’d rented a house a few minutes walk from the station, so after picking up the keys we were soon settled in.
The next morning we spent the morning wandering around Haarlem. The Single canal was just a couple of minutes walk from our little house. The canal was built as part of the city defences and the northern section zig zags – a defensive arrangement. The city walls used to stand on an embankment to the south of this section of the canal but they were dismantled many years ago as the city expanded northwards and a park created where they used to stand. We followed the path along the canal bank through the park.
We spent the rest of the morning mooching around the pleasant streets in the city centre before grabbing a bite to eat in the cafe on the top floor of the Hudson Bay department store
from where there are good views over the city.
The building that the Hudson Bay store occupies was built in the 1930’s for the Vroom en Dreesman store. It’s architecture is modernist in style with Amsterdam School and Art Deco influences. It’s something of a Marmite building – you either love it or hate it – I fall into the former camp! V and D went bust in 2015 and the building was unoccupied the first time we visited Haarlem, but it was taken over by Hudson Bay (a Canadian company) who opened there in 2018.
There are some rather nice stained glass windows in the stairwell and on some of the floors
After we’d eaten we wandered through the shopping streets down to the Spaarn and made our way to the Tyler’s Museum. Our visit there warrants its own post so to finish this one, here’s a few photos I took around the town (some taken later in the week).
Down by the Dougie 
Great post 🙂
Thanks 🙂
Really love the style of the houses.
They’re very typical traditional Dutch houses. There’s plenty of them around Haarlem city centre.
Gorgeous photos. I especially love the stained glass windows.
Thanks. Haarlem is a very photogenic city. It’s like a mini version of Amsterdam but less crowded.
Nice! I recognise a lot of this, but not the store – we went in Nov 2017 so it must still have been closed. Next time I definitely want to see those windows!
Worth visiting the cafe. Decent food at a good price and views over the city. And those stained glass windows on the way up!
I wondered about the Hudson Bay name at first knowing it Canadian, but who knows…maybe started in Haarlem? Thanks for the clarification and it looks well run and kept up. Good on you for the photos from the cafe and around. Thanks!
It is indeed Canadian. They are expanding into the Netherlands and I understand that they have opened a few branches there, including Haarlem, of course.
I see what you mean, Amsterdam in miniature. Looks a splendid place. I wanted to visit when we were in the region. I’m with you with store. Any place that opens its top floor to visitors to see the view is fine with me.