Lelystad is the capital of the Dutch province of Flevoland. While overshadowed by the larger Almere and with a much less interesting town centre, Lelystad still has its fair share of tourist attractions, mostly found on the outskirts of the city. Like much of the rest of Flevoland, Lelystad is not thought of highly as an exciting tourist destination by the Dutch, but if you want to learn more about the history of land reclamation, or indeed more ancient naval and land history of the Netherlands, visiting Lelystad can prove surprisingly worthwhile. Visiting Lelystad can also be solid fun for wildlife and birdwatching aficionados, aviation buffs and bargain hunters.
Lelystad has several tourist attractions like:
- Bataviawerf. 10:00-17:00. Old fashioned shipyard were the replica of the 17th-century ship "Batavia" is built.
- Nature Park Lelystad.
- National Aviation Theme Park Aviodrome.
Bataviawerf. 10:00-17:00. Old fashioned shipyard were the replica of the 17th-century ship "Batavia" is built.
Nature Park Lelystad.
National Aviation Theme Park Aviodrome.
Lelystad has many one-day events like the Airshow Lelystad, the Waterfestival, the National oldtimerday, speedwayraces, Architecture day and several sports events. On the Midland Circuit many motor-, karting- and stock car racing events and several autoclub meetings are held. At the coast there are several marinas.
The Oostvaarderplassen is a nature reserve in the Netherlands between Lelystad and Almere. Despite its age, the polder only became dry in 1968, it has an international importance as a European wetland. The Oostvaardersplassen can be divided into two areas, the wet and dry areas. In the wet area along the Markermeer, there are large reedlands on clay, where moulting geese often feed. This area is also home to cormorants, spoonbills, white herons and the Great Bittern, among many other animals. The dry area was originally a habitat for willow trees. The first year hundreds of seedlings could be found on a square metre. The area is kept open by konik, deer and Heck cattle. These big grazers are kept out in the open all year round without supplemental feeding. The theory is that in time, the current open landscape will evolve into a natural forest. The only big grazers missing are the moose and the wisent (European bison). It is unlikely that the moose will be introduced but there is hope for the wisent as it fills a different niche from Heck cattle.
The Oostvaardersplassen today covers 5600 ha, of which 3600 ha are marshland and 2000 ha are grasslands and roughs. The area is an integrated mosaic of eight ecological types of landscape varying from a very wet zone to a dry one and open water and wet grassland to spontaneously grown woodland. The marshlands can be divided into three different landscapes: one-third is large scale open water, one-third is a combination of shallow lakes and mudflats with varying vegetation and one-third is almost exclusively covered with reeds.
The Oostvaardersplassen are perfect for birdwatching. You can find more information on .
- Batavia Stad. A large outlet shopping center, built in the Lelystad harbour and styled to resemble an old seaside village.
- Palazzo Lelystad. opening hours. The expansive Palazzo furniture and home improvement shopping centre has as little to do with the Italian Palazzos as it has with Leslie Nielsen's Enrico Palazzo, but it can come in handy if you decide to move in to Lelystad for a longer time
Batavia Stad. A large outlet shopping center, built in the Lelystad harbour and styled to resemble an old seaside village.
Palazzo Lelystad. opening hours. The expansive Palazzo furniture and home improvement shopping centre has as little to do with the Italian Palazzos as it has with Leslie Nielsen's Enrico Palazzo, but it can come in handy if you decide to move in to Lelystad for a longer time
Lunchroom le passage - first place to catch my attention looking more like a local company than a chain. A bit tired inside, pleasant staff. I had an iced coffee which cost €3.50, it was nice, but more sweet than expected. http://www.lepassage.nl/