Middelburg

If you want to see not a touristic, but an interesting and historic city in the Netherlands, then come to Middelburg .

It is the capital of the Zealand province. Of course, you heard about New Zealand, but probably don't know that the country was named after this province, since the Dutchman discovered it. The discovery occurred in the XVII century, when the Netherlands experienced the Golden Age, and Middelburg was one of the most important cities in the country. Though, even now less than 50 thousand people live here.

We were travelling in October and did not see a lot of tourists in the city. Of course, in summer months they will be here, but, in any case, this is not an Amsterdam with its crowds.


Despite the fact that the city looks medieval, many buildings were restored after the Second World War. But not all, for example, one of the most beautiful Gothic town halls in the world is almost completely preserved.


The whole old city is riddled with canals and it is a pleasure to walk along them. If you want to see all the beautiful places, then be ready to walk at least 7 kilometers.
















There are bridges, the same as in Amsterdam.


Very unusual street scene. Swans sailed to the floating house and eat leaves :)


In the heart of the old town located a rather unusual building. Looking at it on google.maps, we decided that it is a castle. But later realized that it's an abbey. Here it is, near the tower (and town hall is on the left).






The Long Jan tower adjoins the abbey. You can climb it, but the tickets in 2018 can be bought only by card. The terminal did not want to accept any of our cards and there were no other tourists around to ask them to pay.


On the bank of the moat that surrounds the old city you can see a few picturesque mills.


We managed to walk around the city also in the evening. At this time it looks even more fabulous than during the day.










Hotel

We spent the night at the Hotel aan de Dam (booking.com). This historic hotel is one of the best in the city and allows you to fill the the atmosphere of the old Netherlands. If you are traveling by car and not coming on Sunday, then it may not be suitable for you, since it is located in the center of the old town and you can park there only for 4 hours on weekdays and Saturdays.

Parking

Here you can download a PDF with a map of parking places and prices. They are all located around the old city and there are many signs. The price for 2019 is the same everywhere - 2 euro per hour, 10.6 euro per day. On Sunday we parked for free right in the center of the old town, near the hotel N 51 30.021 E 3 37.044. On other days you can park there for a maximum of 4 hours (no fee from 20 in the evening to 8 in the morning).

Here N 51 29.751 E 3 36.517 there is a large supermarket with a takeaway Dominos pizzeria. Usually we take pizza during our trips and eat in some beautiful places.

Getting there: Middelburg railway station is five minutes walk from the old town.