The Wadden Islands (or Frisian Islands) are a group of five barrier islands that shield the mudflat region of the Wadden Sea from the North Sea.
The biggest is Texel. We camped on the sand and enjoyed the peace and solitude of miles of sand and scenery. We took the ferry across from the mainland – dogs and all. The islands and the water dynamic between the North Sea and Wadden Sea are very interesting. It is worth spending a few days island-hopping around the islands and mainland. Biking and sailing self-guided tours are very popular ways of seeing everything to be seen.
Texel is, funnily enough, famous in military history as the only place where a Navy was defeated on horseback. Occupying Holland in 1795, the French Continental Army learned that the mightly Dutch Navy was frozen into the ice around Texel. Commandant Louis Lahure and 128 men rode up to it and demanded surrender. No shots were fired.
During WW2 the sea north of Texel was also the scene of what is known as the Texel Disaster – the sinking of two British warships and severe damage to a third by German mines.
