On our two day trip to the beach, we had seen the flower fields, picnicked on the beach and seen a bit of Zandvoort, or Amsterdam Beach. Before driving home, we wanted to have one last stop. Earlier this year we had visited the Amsterdamse waterleidingduinen and seen tons of deer and now we found ourselves in the same area. Instead of visiting the same place, however, we opted for another national park, namely: Zuid Kennemerland.

The national park lies 40 minutes from Amsterdam and according to the website, houses deer and foxes, just like the other park we went to, but also Scottish Highlanders and European bisons. We were excited to see them.

Unfortunately, we didn’t find any. Nor deer, for that matter. In the Amsterdamse waterleidingduinen, only hikers were allowed, and of course there were too many people who talked too loudly and scared the deer, but it was easy enough to walk further into the park and away from them. But in this park, Zuid Kennemerland, cyclists were allowed. And of course, I get that it’s a beautiful area to cycle in, but you won’t see any deer or other animals that way. And we didn’t.

There was supposed to be a lookout for the bisons but we couldn’t find any sign of it, so instead we followed the path that was marked with a little fox icon, hoping it would guide us into the direction of foxes. We just kept walking in circles, but frustratingly enough, the paved road seemed to always be around the corner. Even when we abandoned the fox-route, and went through a gate that said ‘playtime over’, meaning that we had to keep quiet, we eventually came across a bicycle lane again. We walked around for a couple of hours but after seeing this tree for the fourth time, we decided to call it a day. That’s also when it started raining.

The park really has some beautiful scenery, with dunes and a lake and if you just want to hike in nature, it’s a good enough spot to visit. If you want to see deer, however, I’d definitely recommend the other park, the Amsterdamse waterleidingduinen. There were so many deer there that you can’t miss them.