The lighthouse of Ameland/ de Amelandse Vuurtoren

Only a tiny number of all Dutch lighthouses might be visited. The lighthouse of Ameland (together with the one on Vlieland) is one of them. On the way up several small exhibitions (about the marine life of the island, the different lighthouses architecture around Europe or about the history of ligthouses in Holland, old naval maps) are greeting the visitors.

The "Amelandse vuurtoren" was built in 1880-1881 and is 55 meters high (15 floors and 236 steps to get to the top). Since 2005 the lighhouse is open for tourists. In the summer months even til 22h! Here you may find an extensive list of all (active, deactivated and demolished) "vuurtoren"/ lighhouses of the Netherlands.

A very good overview of all 5 Watt-island-lighhouses plus their building year is on the drawing below of a newspaper article.

Ameland

Last weekend I had the chance to visit one more from the 5 Dutch "Waddeneilanden": Ameland. This is the fourth island (north of Amsterdam) and it is not carfree (as island 2 and 5: Vlieland and Schirmonnikoog). However biking on Ameland is still pleasant (be prepared for some tough wind though-its the Netherlands).

We went to the local "kaasborderij"(=cheese farm) and tasted the local organic cheese too. Next to this we said hi to the tons of sheep there, enjoyed the lovely old houses, climbed the lighthouse (next entry will be more detils on it) and breathed some fresh sea air:-)