Guide of Hook Of Holland

The Hook of Holland, or Hoek van Holland in Dutch, is located in the Southwestern corner of Holland, the word hoek, means corner. It is located at the mouth of the New Waterway shipping canal, which flows into the North Sea. The closest city is Rotterdam and the population of Hoek van Holland is just under 10,000. There are daily connections to Essex and Lincolnshire in the UK from this port town.

A brief history of Hoek van Holland

The town is quite close to Rotterdam and is included within its urban area, but Hoek van Holland itself was mainly established in the 19th century. In the late 1800s, the infrastructure was greatly improved, the railway line opened for service in 1893 and was electrified in 1935 and the international ferry terminal has been providing services to England since 1893 except for during the two World Wars.  

Things to do in Hoek van Holland

For those interested in engineering, the storm surge barrier across the New Waterway in the town is pretty impressive! It's a world-class piece of engineering and weighs more than the Eiffel tower! The barrier was cleverly constructed to prevent the North Sea from flooding into Rotterdam. There are group tours available so you can really understand the construction process and appreciate the importance of this man-made marvel!

Hook van Holland is another important sight; it is a pre-WW2 underground concrete fort that was built to protect Rotterdam from invasion from the sea. However, it was surrendered to the Germans without firing a shot in 1941 because it was so strategically important to the Nazi’s Atlantic Wall coastal barrier, which was composed of a number of forts along the coast, separating continental Europe and the Atlantic Sea. There is an attached Atlantic Wall Museum that is open during the weekends in the summer.

If you fancy something more musical, then why not go and visit the Museum RockArt, it is full of records, musical instruments, mixing panels and studios where DJs from Radio Veronica, an independent, offshore radio station that began broadcasting from a boat in 1960 and continued for over fourteen years. 

Beaches around Hoek van Holland

There is Hoek van Holland Beach, which is a wide expanse of sand and is popular with kite surfers. There are some establishments for refreshments and some beach huts on the beach itself.  Elements Beach is just a few kilometres from Hoek van Holland and is equipped with tables and sunbeds on sunny days. There is also an attached restaurant that specialises in vegetarian food.