The thoroughly modern city of Lelystad, set five metres below sea level and surrounded by the dykes for which the Netherlands is famous, was founded in 1967 and is built on land reclaimed from the sea. It is home to 73,000 residents, and given its watery surroundings, it holds a large collection of historic sailing ships in its attractive harbour and marina. Other visitor attractions are the National Aviation Theme Park, a nature park and a huge factory outlet shopping centre. One-day events drawing many visitors to the new city include an air show, a water festival and speedway and stock car races. The city holds a good choice of Lelystad hotels catering for both leisure and business travellers, and is also popular for its vast wetlands, protected by Oostvaardersplassen nature reserve, a haven for birds such as geese, cormorants, shite herons, spoonbills and great bitterns with their distinctive booming cries. The drier areas of the reserve are grazed by cattle, deer and konik, and the plain is expected to develop into a natural forest.

other spellings: lelystadhotels, lelysted otel, hotellin lalystad, lelystad hote, lilystad hotes, lelysted