Zandvoort is small enough that you can eat at the best of everything in two days. The beach is lined with about twenty pavilions, the village has a handful of restaurants that punch far above their size, and one or two dinner places sit right on the dunes for the kind of sunset meal you remember. Below is the order we recommend to our guests, paced for a long weekend — best beach bars, best Italian, best fine dining, best breakfast, all within walking distance of Ocean House Zandvoort.
Day one lunch: best beach club in Zandvoort
Walk the boulevard until you find a beach pavilion that feels right — there are roughly twenty, and most are good. Look for the one with the longer wine list, the cleaner napkins, and a kitchen that takes the salad as seriously as the burger.
Order something simple: a club sandwich or a Niçoise, a glass of rosé, sparkling water for the table. Stay for two hours with your toes in the sand. This is the meal you came for.
Day one dinner: best Italian in Zandvoort
Zandvoort has a small handful of Italian restaurants that punch far above their weight — fresh handmade pasta, a wood-fired pizza oven, an honest wine list. Book a table for 19:30, walk five minutes from the hotel, and let the waiter recommend the pasta of the day.
Order a primo and a secondo to share, a bottle of something Tuscan, a tiramisu for dessert. Walk back through the village holding hands. This is how a Friday evening in Zandvoort should feel.
Day two breakfast: the slow start
Breakfast in Zandvoort is best taken slowly. Start at the hotel with a proper coffee and fresh croissants, then — if you're still hungry — walk into the village for a second round at one of the small bakeries. A Dutch ontbijtkoek, an apple turnover, a quiet bench in the morning sun.
If you'd rather have brunch out, two cafés in the village do excellent eggs benedict, fresh juice and oat-milk lattes for the kind of late, lazy breakfast that turns into the whole morning.
Day two lunch: feet in the sand, again
On day two you've earned a second beach lunch — this time at a different pavilion, just to compare. Order the catch of the day or a simple seafood pasta, and pace yourself. The big dinner is still ahead.
If the weather turns, the village has a good Asian place and a French bistro that both do excellent lunch menus at fair prices.
Day two dinner: best sunset dinner in Zandvoort
Save the second evening for a beach pavilion that does proper dinner — linen napkins, candles on the table, the North Sea sunset right out the window. There are two or three in Zandvoort that consistently deliver: ask the hotel team for the current favourite.
Reserve a table at 19:30 so you're seated as the colour starts to change. Order a tasting menu if it's offered, a bottle of Sancerre or a light Burgundy, and a dessert you'll regret in the best possible way.
Where to stay in Zandvoort for food and the beach
Ocean House Zandvoort is a twenty-room boutique hotel ten minutes' walk from the sea, in the quiet centre of the village. Most of the restaurants on this list are within a five-minute walk. The hotel team happily books your reservations and sends you out with a small map.
Designed primarily for couples — air-conditioning, calm rooms, a long bath — with space for families who want something a little more boutique. Dogs welcome at no extra cost. The perfect base for a weekend of eating very well, very slowly, on the Dutch coast.
