Zeeland again! Day trip from Nieuwvliet to Vlissingen

Longer weekend was ahead of us and since Luxembourg, out first desired destination, was placed on the list of countries with code orange (after visiting this country self-quarantine is recommended by the government) we decided to spontaneously change our plans and go again to the Netherlands. This time we had 4 days to discover more of this beautiful region, called Zeeland. Surprisingly, it took me few days of very intense research to find a free spot on the camping and I was not looking at any specific location, just somewhere in a reasonable walking distance from a nice beach. Small camping sites are where you should be looking at, they are more flexible if you want to visit them for a shorter period of time (many had only a possibility to book the whole week or minimum 5 nights) and they are not that crowded which is now very important to stay safe and enjoy the holidays. We were lucky with the camping site! Everyone has enough space for themselves, there was huge football field in the middle, enclosure with chickens, sheep, a pony and even a few loud goats :) On the top of that many beautiful flower beds were creating really lovely atmosphere!

We arrived at the camping in the early afternoon and we decided to leave everything there and had a walk to the beach (around 2km). The beach was crowded only close to the main entrance and around the beach restaurant but if you are willing to walk maybe 100-200m, it will get quieter. The beach is wide enough to allow people for a sufficient distances between each other. It was a sunny day but even then I felt a cold breeze on my skin (most of the people had windbreaks or sun&wind shelters, smart!).

Since the sun was getting lower and temperature dropped, it was a perfect time for an evening run. After arriving back at the camping and quick change of clothes, I was ready to explore the surroundings :) First I was following small street until I have reached cycling line along the creek called Zwarte Gat, then I followed it until the nature reserve ‘Waterdunen’ where I started to run along the coast, towards our camping. At this time of the day, before sunset, it was really spectacular there. Only people waiting for the sunset, horses on the beach and almost no cyclist or walkers on the path. Truly amazing!

Since we couldn’t find any bicycles to rent next day, we decided to go by car to Breskens, leave the car on the parking and from there take a ferry to Vlissingen on the other site of the coast. It was quite crowded on the ferry and not everyone was wearing a mask, even though it was obligatory on the boat. It wasn’t long until we got to Vlissingen, about 20 minutes on the ferry.

First, we walked along the coast (~2 km) to the city center, passing old cannons, a windmill with the nearby monument called “Uncle Beach” indicating the place where was a fight to free Vlissingen in 1944. The first characteristic building you see getting closer to the center is “Het Arsenaal”, pirate-theme amusement park dedicated mostly to kids. There is a marine full of yachts next to it, many restaurants and shops. We walked to the church, along the shopping street but everything was closed (besides the supermarkets) since we were there on Sunday.

“MuZEEum”, Vlissingen’s Maritime and Naval History museum, we decided to visit as well. The museum is located just next to the marina. Nowadays you need to make a reservation online since there is a limited number of visitors allowed every 30min. We did it spontaneously, while having a lunch and were lucky to find a few spots available. We could go there in less than an hour. It was overall very good decision to visit this place. First we stored our backpacks in the lockers, then we got a audio guides in Dutch and English to listen stories about exhibition. We didn’t get lost in the museum, stories about the ships were not too long and interesting. We got to know how ships were cruised around the world centuries ago, a bit about the local history of the harbour in Vlissingen and the biggest accidents resulting in the wreck of the ships laying now on the bottom of the ocean. You can get to the tower of the museum and admire the panoramic view of the marine and the coast. On the way to the top of the tower, there is one floor with the museum pieces that are sill not ready to be on the exhibition or under repair. You can see the place where someone is working patiently to have all details of the boats recreated before we can admire a new showpiece.

After an obligatory ice cream, we headed back to the harbour. We didn’t have to wait long for the ferry to Breskens, and while we were heading back the sky became darker and sea rougher but it actually made photos of the boats more interesting :)

Practical info:

• We stayed at the camping site: Camping De Catshoek

• Ferry Breskens - Vlissingen was 8.35 euro per person, return ticket for pedestrians. If you have a bike with you, the price is 10.35euro Big parking next to the ferry terminal is free, always a good news :)

• Ticket to Zeeland Maritime Museum Vlissingen - 10.50 euro per person MuZEEum, the ticket also grant you access to The Casemates, parts of an old fortress within walking distance of the museum (which we skipped). Audio guides (we got them in English and Dutch) are included and are very necessary since there are not many descriptions and besides that, it was very easy to understand and remember more about the history of the showpieces, visiting time: 1.5hour