Het Twiske, Oostzaan

Situated just north of Amsterdam, Het Twiske is an excellent spot to take a break from the city and give you and your pup some down time.

The park has a paid entrance fee of €3.50 for the first 3 hours, and if you stay longer than 3 hours then the parking fee jumps to €6.00, payable as you exit. But once you are inside the park, you can drive everywhere and park in any parking bay at no extra cost, which is useful if you want to explore all the walking areas and cafes without having to walk between them.

We parked at first near the Klimpark/Pannekoek De Appel, where there is a large parking area. Pretty much directly opposite the car park exit to De Zuiderlaaik is the start of a large loslopgebied which is clearly marked with a sign on a blue circle.

At the start of our walk we thought we might be disappointed because the route seemed to be concrete pathways set in a grid pattern, albeit nicely lined with high plants and grasses and some trees, but the dog seemed happy so we followed his nose. And I am glad we did because we ended up in a huge walking area that took us to the football club at the other side of the park, and back through some open fields and wonderful waterways.

There are a couple of signs warning about grazing cattle in one of the fields, but while we were there (in September) we didn’t see any. Even if there were a couple of cows in the field, it would not have been a major issue as we just needed a short hop across the corner of a field to get back to our pathway.

We pretty much walked a loop to the Ringvaart and back, then went over the bridge to the other side of the waterways, almost parallel to the Polderweg and back, and with a coffee and a quick snack in between we just about made it out of the park within the 3 hour price limit.

We encountered a range of park styles, from the concrete grids we mentioned earlier, to huge lakes, wonderful forest pathways, some wide open fields, there were even a few fields with open gates along the side which seem to be open to walkers, at least there was no sign on them to say otherwise, so we gave them a sniff too.

Not all areas are off leash areas, but there is plenty of space for you to let your pup run free, and any other area is simply a leashed zone, I don’t believe I found any area where dogs were completely forbidden. Of course the restaurants are dog friendly.

The entrance fee makes it a little unattractive if you just want to do a quick half hour walk, but if you have the time then it is definitely worth a visit.