Zoetermeer

No reviews yetCity South Holland, The Netherlands

Zoetermeer skyline at sunset, Zoetermeer, South Holland, The Netherlands

Boathouse The Dutch Dragons Zoetermeer (01), Zoetermeer, South Holland, The Netherlands

Zoetermeer De Leyens Klipperkade (01), Zoetermeer, South Holland, The Netherlands

Zoetermeer de Cumulus monochromatic, Zoetermeer, South Holland, The Netherlands

About Zoetermeer

Zoetermeer is one of the Netherlands' great postwar new towns. Until the 1960s it was a modest village of farmers and peat diggers just east of The Hague; then it was chosen to take overspill growth and expanded rapidly into a city of more than a hundred thousand people, with planned neighbourhoods, wide green belts and its own light rail line to The Hague.

The old village survives along the Dorpsstraat, a long, quiet street of historic houses and churches that feels far from the modern centre. Today's heart is the Stadshart, a large shopping and civic district with the town hall and the Stadstheater close by.

What brings most visitors is leisure. SnowWorld Zoetermeer offers year-round skiing on indoor slopes, Dutch Water Dreams has an artificial white-water course, and the Noord Aa lake, Westerpark and Balijbos woodland give space for swimming, cycling and walking. The Hague's beaches and museums are only a short tram ride away.

Best seasonMay to September for the lakes and parks; indoor snow all year

Ideal stay1 day, or a base for The Hague

ArrivingTrains and RandstadRail light rail connect Zoetermeer with The Hague and beyond

8 Things You Shouldn't Miss in Zoetermeer

Entertainment 3

SnowWorld Zoetermeer

SnowWorld Zoetermeer is one of the largest indoor ski centres in Europe, with several real-snow slopes inside a huge hall whose ou...

Dutch Water Dreams

Dutch Water Dreams is a water sports centre with an artificial white-water course where pumps create rapids for canoe slalom train...

Stadstheater Zoetermeer

The Stadstheater on the Stadhuisplein is Zoetermeer's main venue for drama, cabaret, music, dance and family shows, many of them i...

Parks 2

Noord Aa

The Noord Aa is a recreational lake on the northern edge of Zoetermeer, surrounded by grassy banks, small sandy beaches and paths...

Westerpark Zoetermeer

Westerpark is one of the largest parks in Zoetermeer, with lawns, ponds, wooded areas and long paths that make it popular with wal...

Nature 1

Balijbos

Balijbos is a woodland and recreation area on the outskirts of Zoetermeer, planted on former farmland and laced with paths for wal...

Neighborhoods 1

Dorpsstraat Zoetermeer

The Dorpsstraat is the long main street of the old village that Zoetermeer grew from, lined with historic houses, small shops, caf...

Shopping 1

Stadshart Zoetermeer

Stadshart is the modern centre of Zoetermeer, a large shopping district of covered passages and open squares with department store...

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Photo credits

Photo: Debot at Dutch Wikipedia (Original text: nl:User:Debot), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: Natubico, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: S.J. de Waard, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: Ymblanter, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: S.J. de Waard, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

Photo: Steven Lek, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

Photo: S.J. de Waard, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

Photo: S.J. de Waard, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl

Photo: Steven Lek, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

Photo: S.J. de Waard, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

Photo: Kees Couprie, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: S.J. de Waard, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl

Photo: S.J. de Waard, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: S.J. de Waard, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0