Texel, The Netherlands

Texel is an island off the north coast of the Netherlands (pronounced Tessel).

It used to be a tradition to visit Texel each year, as it is the perfect spot to escape the hustle and bustle and breathe in some nice clean sea air!

Although there is a night club on Texel it is not the place to go if you want bright lights and glitz; Texel does however have some great restaurants and bars.

My personal favourite restaurant on Texel is Het Kompas in Den Hoorn, operated by Willem and his wife Els. They serve traditional Dutch and European cuisine, and have a fantastic wine list, but the real reason people return to Texel just to visit Het Kompas is the whisky selection. Until only a few years ago Willem’s malt whisky collection was the largest on offer at any licensed premises in the World, for which he gained a Guinness World Record. Among the whisky selection, (the menu’s for the whisky’s are in huge overstuffed ring folders and literally line the restaurant walls) you will find examples of whisky’s that are over 300 years old. As you can imagine some of these rarer whisky’s are unlikely to be found anywhere else and command a hefty fee for a 20ml dram. Willem and Els are great hosts and will always give visitors a warm welcome.

There are plenty of ways to work off the fabulous food on offer in Texel restaurants; walk along the coastline taking in the Dunes National Park, or hire bicycles to explore the coastline. The busiest town in Texel is De Koog where you will find seaside arcades, rows and rows of shops and more great bars and restaurants.

There are some great quirky shops in Texel, look out for the shops selling the little garden windmills in many varying shapes and forms, they are so cheery, and make wonderful, colourful and unique ornaments for your garden.

If you are on a self-catering holiday get along to the markets in Oosterend where you will find all kinds of knick-knacks as well as fresh seafood and locally reared lamb and beef, and fresh produce.

The locally reared lambs, known as Texel lambs are fast becoming very popular all over the World for their lean meat and the fact they grow quicker than most other breeds and require less feed. Texel lambs are now reared in Australia, New Zealand, USA, South America and of course all over Europe.

It doesn’t take long to visit Texel; you might run out of things to do if you were to stay a week or more. Three or four nights is plenty of time to take in this idyllic little island making it the perfect destination to break up your hectic European holiday. There are no queues, the air is clean, and you are free to explore at your own pace!