Overveen offers a variety of ways to explore: walking and cycling routes in Zuid-Kennemerland National Park, clearly named short routes, and historic country estates. When planning your day, it helps to distinguish between a network of trails, a set-distance circuit, and architecture or landscape history as a focus in its own right. The railway station, visitor centre and memorial site add practical and historical points of reference to the nature and culture on offer.

Choose your route: network or set-distance circuit

According to official park information checked on 28 August 2026, Zuid-Kennemerland National Park has 91 kilometres of walking trails, including signposted routes. There are 33 kilometres of cycling paths through varied woodland and dune landscapes. The national park is a Natura 2000 site; Elswout is one of the entrances near Overveen. The stated network lengths may be updated, so check the current park information when planning a specific trip.

For a set-distance route, the paved Elswout Groen walking route is 1.7 kilometres long. It leads through the Elswout country estate; along the way are, among other things, the orangery, coach houses and the Great House. Rondje Duinlust is 1.6 kilometres long and leads through the Duinlust country estate on the edge of Middenduin in Zuid-Kennemerland. At 1.7 and 1.6 kilometres, the two routes are similar in length, so you may prefer to choose based on their different sights and landscapes rather than distance.

Take a closer look at the landscape and nature

The Parkbos Koningshof walking route is a short stroll along old avenues through the park woodland. The woodland follows an English landscape design laid out in the early 20th century, with winding paths, bodies of water, hills and open meadows. Here, the design of the park woodland is also a focus alongside the route.

The Elswout country estate is home to more than 500 species of fungi and 250 different mosses and lichens. Both landscape styles have also been preserved there; one of them is the English landscape style. The variety of nature and the designed landscape thus offer two distinct ways of looking at the same place.

Architectural history and remembrance

Overveen’s water tower was built in 1897–1898 in the Neo-Renaissance style and is part of the Waterleidingbedrijf Zuid-Kennemerland waterworks complex. The historic Duinlust country estate was established between 1814 and 1820 and extensively altered in 1880–1882. These dates mark different phases: the construction of the water tower, the founding of Duinlust and the estate’s later redesign.

Another historical site is the Eerebegraafplaats in the Kennemer dunes near Overveen, in the municipality of Bloemendaal. It contains the graves of 372 resistance fighters who were executed by firing squad.

Arriving at the visitor centre

The De Kennemerduinen visitor centre is about a 15-minute walk from Overveen railway station. If you would like to start your visit there, you can use this approximate walking time as a practical guide for planning. The options range from an extensive network of walking and cycling routes to short, named trails and individual sites with architectural and memorial history.

Discover more destinations: Bloemendaal, Vogelenzang, Aerdenhout.

Back to the main travel overview: Bloemendaal.