Voyay walking tour

Sea Wind Through Hidden Defences

Explore shifting dunes, buried bunkers and The Hague’s engineered coast

The Hague, Netherlands
11 stops
192 min
7.5 km
Nature

Free in the Voyay app

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This is a coastal walk for anyone who likes landscapes with more than one story. Westduinpark may look wild, but nearly every ridge, hollow and patch of scrub reflects wind, water, wartime engineering or deliberate conservation. The journey begins with sky art and Kijkduin’s broad maritime horizon before entering a landscape once transformed into a German defensive zone. Camouflaged bunkers, sealed shelters and an inland tank wall reveal how the Atlantic Wall controlled not only the beach but movement through nearby communities. Nature gradually takes the lead again. You will cross the protective dune barrier, climb exposed viewpoints, compare dry ridges with groundwater-fed valleys and discover why grazing cattle are essential ecological workers. Along the way, sea buckthorn, marram grass and bare sand demonstrate that healthy dunes are dynamic rather than tidy. Walkers interested in nature, military history, water management or dramatic coastal weather will find plenty to enjoy. It is worth taking slowly: the best discoveries are often subtle shapes, changing vegetation and sudden views that reveal how intensely this apparently natural coast has been built, defended and restored.

Try the first stop

Free sample · Stop 1

Hemels Gewelf

An earthwork sky observatory turns dune light, wind and clouds into art.

James Turrell’s grassy elliptical hollow frames the coastal sky while screening out the surrounding city. Step inside, lie back on the central stone bench and watch clouds appear to curve overhead. Wind moving across the rim makes this contemplative artwork feel inseparable from the dunes.

The route

11 stops, in order.

1
Stop 1 · Free sample
Hemels Gewelf
An earthwork sky observatory turns dune light, wind and clouds into art.
2
Stop 2
Kijkduin Boulevard
A breezy promenade reveals how recreation and coastal engineering share one shoreline.
3
Stop 3
Widerstandsnest 67 HL
Grass-covered German bunkers reveal how peaceful dunes became a fortified coastline.
4
Stop 4
Bunker Bat Habitat
Sealed military shelters now provide quiet winter refuges for protected dune wildlife.
5
Stop 5
Strandslag 6
This dune crossing reveals the living barrier between city and North Sea.
Stop 6
De Vulkaan
A windswept summit explains the dunes’ strategic value for coastal surveillance.
Stop 7
Wapendal
A sheltered old-dune reserve reveals a quieter ecosystem beside residential streets.
Stop 8
Westduinpark
A protected urban wilderness blends dune ecology, wartime scars and active restoration.
Stop 9
Westduinpark Dune Slacks
Green dune valleys expose the hidden freshwater system beneath the coastal sand.
Stop 10
Westduinpark Grazing Dunes
Highland cattle help restore the open, shifting character of urban dune habitat.
11
Stop 11
Atlantikwall Tank Wall
A massive concrete barrier shows how wartime defences extended deep into neighbourhoods.