The Wadden Islands of The Netherlands, and beyond, are a Unesco World Heritage Site and worth a visit. The Wadden Islands, or Wadden Eilanden, are stretching from the North of The Netherlands until the Western part of Denmark. Some people call the Wadden Islands the (West) Frisian Islands. However, this isn’t correct.
The Frisian Islands are the part of The Netherlands and Germany where the population is Frisian and where they speak Frisian. So calling the Wadden Islands the Frisian Islands excludes a big part of the Wadden Islands. Now that we have settled in calling this Unesco World Heritage Site the Wadden Islands, let’s continue.
The reason the Wadden Islands are special is because of it’s natural power and dynamics, uniqueness and variations and its age and source. Sweet and salt water , wet and dry and a strong and weak current. This makes the whole area incredibly tough to live, thus the plants and animal constantly need to adjust. The strongest and smartest survive.
The Wadden Islands are the biggest wetland on earth with 10.000km2. This statement on its own makes this a unique area. Every year more than 10 million birds use this area to feed on for their trips. The history of the Wadden Island area only dates back to 7000 years ago, which makes it a very young area compared to many natural wonders.
Many of the Wadden Islands have national parks, some allow very rarely visitors that need to use a guide and others are unhabited. More than 81.000 people live on all the Wadden Islands combined (The Netherlands, Germany and Denmark).
This area is like nothing else in the world. I cannot describe it any other way. It’s special and rare. You need to see this area as you’d see the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. That’s how special the Wadden Sea is. It is a natural wonder, but so closeby, that I forget it’s even here sometimes. However, not anymore. If you want to see scenic places or must see places in The Netherlands then you cannot forget a visit to the Wadden Islands. This way you will definitely explore The Netherlands in a more authentic and special way.
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