The development of the first dune barriers 5000 years ago provided dry and safe places for settlers, to build houses and to hunt and fish. Most of the old town centres as well as the north-south roads have been built on the Old dune ridges (see map).

Bulb fields. Around 1700 the Dutch botanist Carolus Clusius brought the first tulips to this dune region with its sandy soils. This led to the development of a vast bulb field complex on most of the Old dunes barriers and on some Younger dunes (these were levelled in order to create a favourable situation for the bulb cultivation).
The best time to see the bulb fields is from end of March until early May. The most extensive fields are situated on the Old dune barriers (see map) in the triangle Noordwijk - Warmond - Vogelenzang (and a bit further north).

Grasslands. During the formation of the Older dune landscape the dune barriers were separated by beach plains. In these depressions marshes developed which were gradually converted by man into grassland, nowadays mostly grazed by cows and sheep. However, this way of understanding the history of the landscape is quickly disappearing because many grasslands have been transformed into bulb fields since 1980, because bulb cultivation is more profitable than dairy farming. The farmers are increasingly developing other economic activities as well.

Traditional. Along the coast fisheries has developed as an important source of income since the late Middle Ages and some of the traditional fishing culture can still be seen locally. A few town centres have kept some of their historical architecture, especially Noordwijk-Binnen.