Location and access

How you get in

At the entrance to the courtyard there is a turnstile with a coin machine next to it. You put in two euros and the gate turns. That is all there is to it.

Nobody is standing there, you do not have to check in, you do not show anything and you hand over no details. From the moment you are through the gate you are out of view from the street.

The gate lets one person through at a time. If you come with someone, go one after the other. If you have no coins on you, there are change machines beside it that take ten and twenty euro notes.

There is also a film room behind the gate.

Why it costs two euros

The two euros is not an entry fee for anything and it is not deducted from whatever you agree inside. The gate is there for two reasons.

The first is privacy. Without a gate, anyone walking past can look straight into the courtyard and see who is standing there. With a gate they cannot.

The second is the neighbourhood. The courtyard sits in the old Begijnhof quarter around the Bakenes, among homes. An open passage draws people who are not there for it but do stop and stare. The amount holds that off: just enough of a threshold to keep passers-by out, not enough to stop anyone who came here on purpose.

By public transport

The nearest stop is Haarlem, Centrum/Verwulft. From there it is about a four minute walk.

You can also walk from Haarlem station, straight through the centre. Allow a bit longer, and expect narrow streets where walking beats cycling.

By car

The courtyard is in the old centre of Haarlem. The surrounding streets are paid parking and space is limited; there is no parking of our own. In practice you are best off in a car park in the centre and walking the last stretch.

By bicycle

You can cycle to within a short distance. The streets in the area around the Bakenes are narrow and partly pedestrianised, so you walk the last stretch.