Experience the best of Middelburg

Middelburg grew rich from the sea trade of the seventeenth century, and its centre is still ringed by a canal. The Gothic town hall on the Markt, decorated with statues of the counts and countesses of Zeeland, is the showpiece, while the abbey complex beside it is topped by the tower known as Lange Jan, climbed for a view over the island.

German bombing destroyed much of the old town in May 1940, and the abbey and the streets around it were carefully rebuilt. The abbey buildings now hold a museum of Zeeland history and art. Beyond town lie Walcheren's dunes and wide beaches near Domburg, the harbour village of Veere on the Veerse Meer, and, along the coast, the great storm-surge barrier across the Oosterschelde.

Zeeland's table is built on shellfish, and oysters and mussels from the Oosterschelde are the pride of the province. The sticky cinnamon bun called a bolus and butterscotch sweets known as babbelaars are the local sweet things. The town is flat and easy to cycle, and the long, bright days of late spring and summer suit the coast best.