Katwijk

Katwijk aan Zee and Katwijk aan den Rijn were once two separate towns, with Aan Zee being a fisherman's town and Aan den Rijn being more agricultural. Over time both towns grew together along with Valkenburg. The municipal office is held on the border of the two Katwijks, with the town hall itself on the Aan de Rijn-side, and the mayor's house being on the Aan Zee-side. This has been done so to not favor any of the two Katwijks during the merging of the two former municipalities. North of Katwijk aan Zee is a third Katwijk, Katwijk-Noord, which consists of mostly post-war housing.

Valkenburg

Valkenburg is the oldest of the three towns. It began as a part of the county of Utrecht, and was transferred to the county of Holland in the 12th century. Katwijk and Valkenburg were always a part of the same ambacht, though the two were split when Valkenburg was sold in 1615. In 1798, during Batavian times, the municipal forms such as heerlijkheden, which Valkenburg was one of, were being dropped in favor of general municipalities. After annexation of the Batavian Republic by Napoleonic France in 1810, a new norm for municipalities was added, stating that a municipality needed to have at least five hundred inhabitants to be considered a municipality. Valkenburg did not, and was therefore reunited with Katwijk, only to split apart again after these rules were dropped following Napoleon's defeat and independence of the Netherlands. Since 2006, the municipalities have been joined again under the name "Katwijk".

Katwijk

Katwijk came to be where the Old Rhine meets the North Sea, possibly being named after the Germanic tribes that once lived there, the Chatten, with the -wijk suffix coming from the Latin word vicus, meaning settlement. The aan de Rijn suffix refers to the Rhine river, which used to run here until the eleventh century, when the river changed directions, leaving the Oude Rijn (Old Rhine) as a narrower river through the town.
Katwijk aan den Rijn is first mentioned in a 1231 document. The town lost its fish market to Katwijk aan Zee in 1388, after which Katwijk aan den Rijn focused more on agriculture. Katwijk aan den Rijn was besides that a small regional hub for water-bound transport. In the twentieth century, the Katwijk vegetable market grew bigger, with Katwijk being the biggest producer of carrots in Europe. The town lost this title at the start of the twenty-first century, when the vegetable market was disbanded.

• VVV Katwijk

  phone: +31 714 075 444
  address: Wilhelminastraat 9

By car

All motorized traffic towards Katwijk uses the N206. Once on this road, follow signs leading you to Katwijk aan Zee. Having left the N206, you will find yourself on the Zeeweg. Here, turn left and follow this road, which will become the Tramweg and shortly after the Koningin Wilhelminastraat. This will get you to the beachfront. You can find a parking garage to your right.
From Amsterdam, take the A4 heading for Schiphol and Leiden. Directly after exit 4 (Nieuw-Vennep), switch onto the A44. Here you take exit 8 (Leiden) followed by a right turn onto the N206. From here, use the directions listed above.
From The Hague, use the N44 heading for Wassenaar. This road will become the A44, which you should exit at exit 8 (Leiden), followed by a left turn onto the N206, after which you follow the directions above.
From Utrecht, use the A12 heading for Gouda. At exit 12a, head onto the N11 heading for Alphen aan den Rijn. You should follow this road until it connects to the A4, which you turn onto using a left turn. Immediately take the next exit on the A4 (exit 7, Zoeterwoude-Dorp). At the roundabout at the end of the exitramp you should take a right, followed by a left turn onto the N206, which you follow through the suburbs of Leiden. Once you've passed underneath the A44 highway, you should follow the instructions above.

By public transit

Katwijk does not have a train station. Instead, is the nearest train station. Once here, you can transfer onto a bus heading for Katwijk. Lines 31 and 37 service Katwijk. Both lines service Katwijk's beachfront.

The village is small, and easy to walk around.

• Katwijks Museum

  phone: +31 714 013 047
  address: Voorstraat 46, Katwijk aan Zee

• Het Spinozahuis

  phone: +31 714 029 209
  address: Spinozalaan 29, Rijnsburg
  Museum dedicated to the life and works of seminal philosopher Baruch Spinoza.

• Theatherhangaar

  phone: +31 714 014 511
  address: 1e Mientlaan, Katwijk
  Former airplane hangar at the Katwijk Airfield, which is converted to a theatre.

• Stoomtrein Katwijk-Leiden

  phone: +31 715 724 275
  address: Jan Pellenbargweg 1, Valkenburg
  One of the Heritage railways of the Netherlands, the Katwijk-Leiden steam train is a narrow-gauge railway around the Valkenburgse Meer. The line is being serviced with a steam tram. Aside from the railway, there is also the National Narrow-gauge Railway Museum located around the station.

The main shopping street of Katwijk is Boulevard in Katwijk aan Zee.

• Many restaurants can be found on the beach, being so-called strandpaviljoens.

• D(e)ining 19

  phone: +31 714 019 998
  address: Zeezijde 3, Boulevard, Katwijk aan Zee

• Zomers Beachclub

  phone: +31 714 012 810
  address: Boulevard Zeezijde 21, Katwijk aan Zee

• Het Strand

  phone: +31 714 012 048
  address: Boulevard Zeezijde 23, Katwijk aan Zee

• Zilt

  phone: +31 714 074 198
  address: Boulevard Zeezijde 37, Katwijk aan Zee

• SandCbar

  phone: +31 714 014 818
  address: Boulevard Zeezijde 43, Katwijk aan Zee

• Strandhuys Katwijk

  phone: +31 714 072 278
  address: Boulevard Zeezijde 47, Katwijk aan Zee

Friends

phone: +31 714 010 009

address: Boulevard 68, Katwijk aan Zee

The Comedy

phone: +31 714 077 624

address: Boulevard 70, Katwijk aan Zee

Het Wapen van Kattuk

phone: +31 714 018 010

address: Sluisweg 2-A, Katwijk aan Zee

Kade 8

phone: +31 714 012 503

address: Haven 8, Katwijk aan Zee

Pannenkoeken & Grill de Beslagkom

phone: +31 714 078 007

address: Slagkom 3, Katwijk aan Zee

De Griek

phone: +31 714 010 881

address: Voorstraat 42, Katwijk aan Zee

Grill-bar Ruig

phone: +31 715 427 518

address: Andreasplein 16, Katwijk aan Zee

Eetcafé de Bonte Kraai

phone: +31 714 035 051

address: Princestraat 42, Katwijk aan Zee

Nearly all of the hotels in and around Katwijk are on the beachfront. If this is not what you're looking for, then you can find a hotel in nearby Leiden.

• Van Beelen

  phone: +31 714 073 333
  address: Koningin Wilhelminastraat 12, Katwijk aan Zee

• Zee en Duin

  phone: +31 714 013 320
  address: Boulevard 5, Katwijk aan Zee

• Hotel Noordzee

  phone: +31 714 015 742
  address: Boulevard 72, Katwijk aan Zee

• Hotel Steeds aan Zee

  phone: +31 718 895 553
  address: Princestraat 1, Katwijk aan Zee

• B&B In Bos aan Zee

  phone: +31 611 196 859

• B&B Aan Strand

  phone: +31 714 013 890
  address: Boulevard 129, Katwijk aan Zee

• B&B Katwijk

  phone: +31 718 873 114
  address: Andreasplein 4, Katwijk aan Zee

• B&B Kik en Bun

  phone: +31 610 222 942
  address: Koningin Wilhelminastraat 4, Katwijk aan Zee

• Hotel/B&B Seahorse

  phone: +31 714 015 921
  address: Boulevard 14, Katwijk aan Zee

• Leiden - This typically Dutch town is known for it's old university and as the birthplace of Rembrandt.
• Wassenaar is best known for its enormous swimming pool and amusement park Duinrell.
• The Bollenstreek, which Katwijk is a part of, is known and named after the beautiful flowers that colour the countryside every summer. The best example of this is the Keukenhof in Lisse.