67km (42 miles) N of Amsterdam; 31km (19 miles) NW of Medemblik

Den Helder holds the country's most important navy base. It still is home to its Royal Naval College (the Dutch Annapolis), and host of the annual Navy Days, the national fleet festival, in July. It's a reasonably endowed resort in its own right, with plenty of adjacent beach space, and takes delivery of more hours of sunshine annually than any other place in the country.