There is a place in the Netherlands which is considered to be among the darkest in the world. It’s called “Dark Sky Park” and is situated in the Boschplaat natural reserve, in Terschelling, one of the western Frisian islands.

It’s the perfect place if you want to to observe the stars. At night time, its optimal darkness levels allow people to observe the sky without any sign of light pollution.

It is often thought that in order to better apperciate a starry sky a telescope is needed: not necessarily. When the sky is particularly clear you can enjoy the Milky Way with your naked eyes or with the aid of a common pair of binoculars. The only thing left to do then is to get a blanket, sit on the beach and feel immersed in the starry vault.

There are 20 Dark Sky Parks worldwide, ten of which are located in Europe, in increasingly rare areas of the planet (due to the almost ever-present light pollution).

According to recent studies, artificial lighting has changed the natural rhythm and development of the environment around us, even changing the DNA of living creatures by artificially illuminating nights.

Any city-dweller who wants to understand how we lived millions of years ago (and the kind of spectacle our ancestors would see at night), might want to try one of these Dark Sky Parks at least once in their life.