Wide beaches. Extensive dune areas. Rough harbours. Wooded estates. Green recreation areas. The municipality of Velsen, with IJmuiden as its beating heart, has much more to offer than you might think! The abundance of space means that you can recreate here all year round.
Enjoy peace and adventure. Visit our wide beaches with plenty of room for wind and water sports. Discover Old-IJmuiden, the port, country estates, ruins, recreation area Spaarnwoude or National Park Zuid-Kennemerland with various walking and cycling routes and the largest sea lock in the world (opening in 2022). Or put your towel on the beach and enjoy the sun and the sea. One day not enough? Then make a long weekend of it. Experience IJmuiden Raw at Sea.
One third of Velsen consists of nature. In the dunes, the estates and the recreation area Spaarnwoude you can walk or cycle for hours. Search for Scottish Highlanders and Konik horses. Get some fresh air on the beach and take a walk on the two kilometres long piers. Or completely unwind at one of the beautiful country estates in Velsen. Discover the green side of IJmuiden and the other villages in Velsen!
In Velsen there are plenty of opportunities for active sports, both indoors and outdoors. Such as various wind and water sports. You can also ski, snowboard, play golf, windsurf, sail, swim, cycle and kite surf. The beaches of IJmuiden are popular for blokarts, flyboarding and kite flying. Also, running, cycling and beach sailing competitions take place regularly on the beach.
Seven museums, a theatre, several music podia, a rich club life and lively events. Together, the cultural institutions in Velsen provide a varied offering that young and old can enjoy. This also applies to the organisations of the large festivals and village festivals, which attract tens of thousands of people each year. Fan of monumental village views? Then take a look at Dorp Velsen, which has one of the oldest churches in the Netherlands and where you can get lost in the small streets.
Velsen has more than 50 restaurants, caterers and cafeterias where you can eat well or settle down on a terrace. The choice is enormous! From fresh fish to a delicious piece of meat, you will find it all here. There are several shopping centres in Velsen. The shopping centre in IJmuiden consists of the Lange Nieuwstraat and the Kennemerlaan. In the village centre of Santpoort-Noord there is a concentration of small-scale shops, specialist shops with a relatively large number of catering establishments (mainly restaurants and cafés) concentrated around the Hoofdstraat.
