A (Very) Brief Trip to Cadzand-Bad, Netherlands

If you're looking for an example of how my mad-cap travel brain works, let me tell you the tale of how I ended up in Cadzand-Bad, Netherlands for about an hour one late fall day in 2014.

You see, I had never been to the Netherlands before, and if you take a look at a map of Belgium, the country that Ben and I had been shuffling about for the previous week, you'll notice the Netherlands is not all that far away from our last main city in the country, Bruges.

And since I had never been there before, wouldn't it be something to at least say I had been there, if only for an hour or so? This may make some sense, until I share the itinerary for the day, which included leaving Brussels, spending some time in Ghent, hitting up the beach in Cadzand-Bad, and then trying to make it to our dinner reservation in Bruges later that evening.

I have learned to slow down in my old age, but friends, this trip was not a trip for slow, meandering sight seeing - we had an entire country to see in a week, and I was determined to see as much of it as I could (with the add-on of an hour or so at a beach in the Netherlands for good measure).

And so, after finishing up a short visit to Ghent, which included lunch and a visit to Saint Batho's Cathedral to see the Ghent Altarpiece, we hopped back in our car and drove on over to Cadzand-Bad for a short but lovely sightseeing tour of this charming little North Sea beach town. Here's what we saw.

First, you have to cross the border, which, admittedly, is not the world's most exciting border crossing (see our Myanmar trip or Nicaragua to Costa Rica trip for more exciting details). The northern part of Belgium and all of the Netherlands look pretty similar - low flat lands covered in farms and small villages. Very bucolic, especially on a sunny day (a rarity, from what we had heard, and even from what we had experienced).

But what was most exciting for us, was not only were we hopping into the Netherlands for the first time in our lives, but also visiting Zeeland. You probably already know that we are huge fans of New Zealand, and we had often wondered, what and where was "old" Zealand? Well, now we knew, and we could say we had now been to all the important Zee/alands in the world.

The reality of my trip to Cadzand-Bad was that I had no real plans - I simply figured we'd find a place to park, take a look at the beach, maybe grab a quick bite to eat, all to be able to say confidently, "yes, we've been to the Netherlands before." I was surprised by how cute and charming the area was, and it sort of reminded me of my own hometown, a small village along the Jersey Shore. New Jersey is not known for year long beautiful weather, so we have a short period of perfect beach going conditions that run from May to September. I imagine this corner of the world would be similar, but for those few glorious months, ahh, what a joy to have such long, sandy beaches for your enjoyment.

As we dipped into Cadzand-Bad, passing along dunes and bike paths (something I would see later in my future trip to the Netherlands is no joke), we found a parking lot that would allow us to do all the things on our very short itinerary. Right near our parking spot, we found a trinket shop (which I write about below), again, another reminder of my hometown with all the requisite gear a day tripper to the beach would need, including shovels, post cards, sand castles, etc. I forgot to look to see if they also sell another ubiquitous Jersey Shore beach store required good - hermit crabs.

After catching a brief glance of the store, we did what we came here for - took a walk across the dunes to the beach. Besides the fact that nothing was in English, the beach, color of the water, and other factors really gave off a Jersey Shore vibe - long flat, sandy beaches, dark blue water, tug boats, jetties stretching from the shore to the sea...If we hadn't just cruised past a bunch of windmills I really might have thought I had taken the short way back to New Jersey.

Above, proof that I was not, in fact, in New Jersey. Interestingly, when I visited Amsterdam, English was so often used, that it was rare to see signs or written materials solely in Dutch. Here, down in Cadzand-Bad, I got the feeling that this little corner of the world was a vacation destination primarily for those in the Flemish speaking world, and English was not as common. Keep in mind that we visited here in 2014, so things may have changed.

Looking north, there was some construction that was blocking parts of the beach. You could also see the shoreline of Vlissingen, which also looks like a cute seaside area that had we had more time seems like it would have been worth a quick visit.

Also along the beach we saw a picture of Miffy, a cartoon bunny that is recognizable all over the world. Her creator is Dutch, making her random presence on the beach much less random.

One thing that the Jersey Shore does not have are restaurants physically on the beach, like the one seen below. There is also a playground structure, cementing this area as a very child-friendly beach experience in all seasons.

After taking our quick stroll along the beach, we grabbed a quick drink at Restaurant de Branding, which is permanently closed, with Ben opting for a local beer, and me going with my ol' travel standby, orange Fanta. On a nice sunny beach day, even in these colder climes, both options are hard to beat.

We also stopped at the souvenir shops next door, Montezza Vlegers (as seen and mentioned above), and I got the cutest pottery from a Polish artist. It's one of my favorite finds in all my travels, and I sort of wish I had bought more when I had the chance. Perhaps next time!

After our drink, we knew it was time to head off to Bruges - our long day drawing to an end. But I had to capture a few more images of the Netherlands' famous windmills before I left.

Once we left Cadzand-Bad, we were back in Belgium, and back in the bucolic countryside.

Anyone else think these trees look like paint brushes?

It wasn't out longest detour of the trip (or even for that day), but it was an enjoyable enough one. Discovering that the seaside beaches of the Netherlands, a new country we could finally say we had visited, were reminiscent of my hometown was a pleasant surprise. While it may have been a silly idea to dip into the Netherlands just for the chance to say we had been there, it opened our eyes to the possibilities of future travels to this peaceful, idyllic place someday soon.

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Cadzand-Bad, Netherlands Context

Cadzand-Bad is located right over the border from Belgium, making it an ideal place to enjoy a little beachside vacation away from the hustle and bustle of some of Belgium's bigger cities. Had I known then what I know now, I would have booked an overnight there to relax a bit more before heading over to Bruges, and considered a quick side trip to Vlissigen.

Cadzand-Bad is located about 30 minutes north of Bruges, 50 minutes away from Ghent, and an hour and a half away from Brussels by car.