Otsi hotelle saarel Schiermonnikoog (Holland)

Home of The Netherlands’ 1st national park, Schiermonnikoog is the most easterly inhabited island that protects the mainland from the North Sea. Like its fellow Wadden island of Vlieland, it is practically car free, and visitors can’t take cars on the ferries from Lauwersoog.

Previously known as Oosterburen, the only village is also called Schiermonnikoog. This name translates as ‘Isle of the Grey Monks’, and though the friars have long gone, a statue is a reminder of their presence. The village also houses the visitor centre, and a gate formed by a pair of whale bones – a reminder of its role in the now defunct Dutch whaling industry.

As expected of a village, there is not much Schiermonnikoog accommodation or nightlife, but Booking.com does offer some hotels, an inn and a guest house. North of the village is the former lighthouse (now a water tower), and a sand bank where seals can often be spotted. The sand dunes, mud flats and salt marshes of the island make it very popular with birds and the whole east of the island is a nature reserve with restricted access at nesting times.

The easiest way to get around is, in typically Dutch fashion, by bicycle, although horse-and-carriage rides are available through the countryside and along the beach.