Visiting Katwijk, Netherlands: Top Sights on Foot

The best things to do in Katwijk range from exploring its fishing heritage to discovering historic churches, monuments and the landscape around the dunes. The municipality includes Katwijk aan Zee, Katwijk aan den Rijn, Rijnsburg and Valkenburg, so there is more to see than the beach alone. Neywo’s free audio guide for Katwijk brings 23 narrated places to life as you explore.

Katwijk lies in South Holland, on the Dutch coast. Its sights reflect several layers of local history: fishing and seafaring, Protestant and Catholic communities, aristocratic religious foundations, water management and the artists who came to paint the sea and its light.

What to see in Katwijk

Freedom Forward on the boulevard

The Freedom Forward monument stands on Katwijk’s Boulevard. The bronze sculpture by Jurriaan van Hall, unveiled in June 2017, shows two young men paddling a canoe toward the horizon. They represent the Engelandvaarders, Dutch citizens who attempted to escape the Nazi-occupied Netherlands by crossing the North Sea to England during the Second World War.

Between 1940 and 1945, more than 1,700 people attempted this dangerous journey, and many did not survive. The canoe underlines the vulnerability of those who made the crossing, while the figures’ tense posture captures the mixture of fear and hope behind their decision.

Vissersweduwe met zoon

Nearby, the Vissersweduwe met zoon—Fisherman’s Widow with Son—is one of Katwijk’s most moving memorials. Unveiled in 1930, it is also known as the Vissersmonument, or Fishermen’s Monument, and locally as the Gedoofd Staekelvier.

The statue honours the wives and children left behind when fishermen were lost at sea or during wartime. It offers a quiet reminder that Katwijk’s maritime history was shaped not only by those who went out to sea, but also by the families who waited on shore.

Andreaskerk, or the White Church

The Andreaskerk stands beside the boulevard in Katwijk aan Zee. Also called the Oude Kerk, or Old Church, and the Witte Kerk, or White Church, it is a late Gothic Protestant parish church with a particularly strong connection to the fishing community.

Its nave and tower are Rijksmonuments, protected for their historical importance. The church has around 1,400 seats and contains a Van den Heuvel organ. The several names used for the building reflect its long place in Katwijk’s religious and local identity.

Katwijks Museum

For an introduction to the town’s past, visit the Katwijks Museum on Voorstraat, in the heart of what was once a busy fishing village. The museum tells Katwijk aan Zee’s story through two connected subjects: the artists drawn here by the sea and its distinctive light, and the daily lives of local fishing families.

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Dutch and foreign painters came to Katwijk and worked along the coast. Their paintings form the core of the museum’s collection. The museum is run entirely by volunteers, adding a strong local dimension to the visit.

Nieuwe Kerk

The Nieuwe Kerk stands on Voorstraat in the centre of Katwijk aan Zee. Its name can be misleading: the church was completed in the late nineteenth century and is the oldest and best-known work of Leiden architect H.J. Jesse.

It was built because the nearby Andreaskerk could no longer accommodate the growing congregation. Its presence helps explain how Katwijk’s expanding community reshaped the town’s religious landscape.

Vredeskerk

Another church designed by H.J. Jesse is the Vredeskerk, or Peace Church. It opened in 1905 and was originally known simply as the Reformed Church. In 1964, it received the name Vredeskerk, reflecting a post-war wish for peace.

Inside, look for the historic Bätz organ. Built in 1765 for a Mennonite church in Utrecht, it later moved to Katwijk’s Old Church before finding its permanent home in the Vredeskerk. The church also has an important conservation story: it received municipal monument status in 2011, followed by renovation in 2012 and 2013.

Dorpskerk in Katwijk aan den Rijn

The Dorpskerk, or Village Church, is one of the oldest churches in the Katwijk area. Its origins reach back to the thirteenth century, when a chapel belonging to a leprosy hospital was built here. That chapel became the first church in Katwijk.

The building was originally Catholic and is now Protestant. Its main choir, tower and central nave are the oldest sections, while the consistory and present main entrance were added later. The church is a pseudobasilica and a Dutch national monument.

Johannes de Doperkerk

The Johannes de Doperkerk is a Roman Catholic church on Kerkstraat, beside the old cemetery. Designed by Jean van Groenendael in neo-Gothic style, it dates from 1911. Pointed arches and strong vertical lines give the building the upward movement typical of the period.

Its history reflects the changing religious landscape of Katwijk. After the Reformation, Catholics worshipped in hidden churches and other unmarked buildings. The nineteenth century made it possible to build Catholic churches openly again, and this church provided the community with a permanent visible place of worship.

Rijnsburg Abbey

In Rijnsburg, only a single tower remains of Rijnsburg Abbey, once one of Holland’s most important noblewomen’s monasteries. Petronilla of Lorraine, widow of Count Floris II, founded the Benedictine nunnery in 1133 for women of noble birth. Under the protection of the counts and countesses of Holland, the abbey became a major aristocratic institution with lands in Holland and Zeeland.

The complex was attacked and burned in 1574 during the Eighty Years’ War. Although the nuns had already been evacuated, the abbey was never fully rebuilt. Its ruins remained for more than two centuries before being demolished around 1808. The surviving Romanesque tower was incorporated into the current parish church, which is why it remains today.

The tower forms part of the story told in Leiden’s wider historic region, where religious foundations and old settlements remain closely connected.

Nederlands Hervormde Kerk in Rijnsburg

Rijnsburg also has the Grote of Laurentiuskerk, or Great or Saint Lawrence Church, on Kerkstraat. It is a Protestant church also known as the Abdijkerk, or Abbey Church, a name found in historical records.

Both the church and its tower have been protected as national monuments since 1971. Together with the surviving abbey tower, the building gives Rijnsburg an unusually concentrated sense of religious history.

Stoomtrein Katwijk Leiden

In Valkenburg, beside the Valkenburgse Meer, the Stoomtrein Katwijk Leiden is also known as the Nationaal Smalspoormuseum, the National Narrow Gauge Museum of the Netherlands. It is dedicated to the history and preservation of narrow-gauge railways.

The museum adds an industrial and transport dimension to a visit to Katwijk. Valkenburg is part of the municipality of Katwijk, but its setting beside the lake gives this attraction a distinct character from the coastal sights.

Katwijk water tower

At the edge of the South Dunes, the Katwijk water tower has stood since 1878. It once formed the centre of the drinking-water supply for Katwijk, Leiden and the Dune and Bulb Region, with water drawn from the surrounding dunes.

The tower is 33 metres high and has a round neo-Romanesque design. Inside, a cast-iron reservoir once held 600 cubic metres of water. The grounds also contain a pump house from 1900 and a pre-filter building from 1912. Together with the tower, residence and machine building, these structures are protected as national monuments.

Explore Katwijk with a self-guided audio tour

Neywo offers three walking tours, one bus route and one bike route in Katwijk, with narration available in 11 languages. The walks cover different parts of the municipality:

• Katwijk aan Zee: Fishermen, Painters and Dune-Top Churches — 4.69 km, 112 minutes and 9 narrated stops.
• Katwijk aan den Rijn: Mill, Water Tower and Village Church — 3.87 km, 90 minutes and 7 narrated stops.
• Rijnsburg: Abbey Tower and Valkenburg Tower — 3.49 km, 70 minutes and 4 narrated stops.

There are also two shorter ways to explore:

• Bus 31: Coast to Rhine — 7.2 km, 31 minutes and 7 narrated stops.
• Katwijk Cycle Path: Bethelkerk to John the Baptist — 1.4 km, 7 minutes and 2 narrated stops.

Download Neywo and explore Katwijk at your own pace. The app tells the story of each place as you reach it, with no group and no schedule—whether you follow a Katwijk self-guided walking tour, take the bus or cycle between stops.