Zoetermeer: Holiday apartments and holiday homes

Zoetermeer combines protected historic landscapes, bodies of water, nature reserves and unusual leisure destinations. There are six large recreational areas in and around Zoetermeer. Between polder history, play areas and nature sites, winter sports, music and museums, a diverse picture of the city emerges, made up of many specific places.

Nature and recreation

The Nieuwe Driemanspolder is a recreational area that connects to Westerpark and Buytenpark in Zoetermeer. It also has small water playgrounds and a nature playground with climbing equipment made from untreated wood. In Westerpark, the nature garden recreates a landscape of around 2 hectares featuring a small polder, dykes, a sawa and fields. Its approximate size is just as much a part of its character as the different landscape elements.

From De Balijhoeve, you can walk directly into Balijbos. De Weidemolen is located next to Bentwoud, a nature and recreational area between Zoetermeer, Waddinxveen and Boskoop. Its grounds include a herb garden, a berry garden and an orchard. These places therefore focus both on larger connected areas and on landscaped garden and landscape spaces.

Culture and history

Historic structures characterize several parts of the city. Dorpsstraat is a protected townscape with a historic village centre and a well-preserved street, water and green-space structure. Meerpolder is also a protected townscape and the oldest reclaimed polder in Rijnland; it is regarded as an outstanding heritage area. Voorweg is considered Zoetermeer’s best-preserved historic polder strip and is also a protected townscape. In Meerzicht lies Koepeltjesbuurt, whose protected townscape is characterized by white houses with orange domes.

One of the notable historic buildings is Molen De Hoop, a Rijksmonument in Zoetermeer that is more than 100 years old. Every Saturday from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., the mill offers free guided tours. Visitors are taken upstairs and can enjoy the view from the gallery. In the so-called “Old Five” election, the residents of Zoetermeer voted Molen De Hoop the city’s second most important monument.

Open Monumentendag also takes place regularly in Zoetermeer. On the Saturday of the second weekend in September, historic buildings and sites are open to visitors. Meerpolder also established Zoetermeer’s historic reputation as a butter village. Here, history is therefore visible not only in individual buildings, but also in polders, townscapes and traditional economic connections.

Activities

At Noord Aa, visitors can swim, dive, windsurf, kitesurf, canoe, dragon-boat, sail, hike, cycle and inline skate. Zoetermeerse Watersportvereniging Noord-Aa offers sailing courses for young people and adults, from beginners to advanced sailors. Buytenpark also has a challenging mountain-bike trail of more than 5 km, as well as a shorter trail for children.

For winter sports, SnowWorld Zoetermeer offers four slopes, ten ski lifts and real snow. The facility has Europe’s steepest indoor slope; following the expansion in 2016, the steep slopes are 300 metres long. At SilverDome, skating activities include public skating, disco skating and skating lessons. In addition to its ice activities, SilverDome also offers pickleball and workshops.

Family, animals and games

De Balijhoeve has a playground for young children and a nature playground. There, children can build huts from branches and swing, among other activities. De Weidemolen offers older children an adventure trail with a water playground, logs and stepping stones. Het Buitenbeest has a nature playground for playing and crafting, several animal pastures and a school garden.

Het Buitenbeest also includes a monumental farmhouse with animal stalls and a yard where chickens roam freely. De Balijhoeve favours Dutch and old Dutch breeds because they have considerable cultural and historical value and their preservation is to be supported. In this way, the various places combine play areas, animals, gardens and historic elements without sharing the same focus.

The Nationaal Videogame Museum offers another way to explore. More than 1,000 different games from the present day and several decades of gaming history can be played there. Music is provided by Poppodium Boerderij, a music venue in Zoetermeer that attracts visitors from the region, the Netherlands and abroad.

This page brings together information about Zoetermeer. More local pages: Schoonhoven, Alphen Aan Den Rijn, Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht, Cromstrijen, Alblasserdam, Papendrecht, Noordwijkerhout.

For the overview of the wider travel region: South Holland.