Texel

Introducing Texel

About 3km north of the coast of Noord Holland lies Texel (pronounced tes-sel), the largest and most visited of the Wadden Islands. It’s a remarkably diverse place, with broad white beaches, lush nature reserves, forests and picture-book villages. Now 25km long and 9km wide, it actually consisted of two islands until 1835 when a spit of land to Eyerland Island was pumped dry.

Before the Noordzeekanaal opened in the 19th century, Texel was a main stop for ships en route to Asia, Africa and North America: the first trade mission to the East Indies began and ended here. It was also the scene of a spectacular maritime disaster: on Christmas Day 1593, hurricane-force winds battered a merchant fleet moored off the coast and 44 vessels sank, drowning about a thousand seamen.

Texel relies chiefly on tourism, with the majority of visitors being either Dutch or German. The local wool is highly prized and there are sheep everywhere, lazing, grazing or tippee-toeing along the dykes.

Last updated: Mar 2, 2009