Castle Helmond. Sometime in the 12th century one built a castle with a donjon on this spot. In the 15th century they replaced it with the current castle. This castle is located in the middle of Helmond. Apart from the … Read More

A lovely hike. The Netherlands have a lot of Nature Parks covered by forest and moorland. One of them is the Veluwezoom near Arnhem. In January 2018 we hiked in the Veluwezoom. Check out the photos.   Also on Travelharts.com. Check out our album … Read More

s’-Hertogenbosch. s’-Hertogenbosch started as a trading post. In the year 1184 it received city rights from Gotfried III of Leuven, making this city one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands. People who live in s’-Hertogenbosch like to celebrate carnival. People … Read More

Zutphen. Zutphen is a Hanseatic city at the IJssel is one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands. In the 9th century Zutphen was destroyed by the Vikings. In the 12th century it received city rights and joined the Hanseatic … Read More

The Rijksmuseum. This National Museum was designed by P.J.H Cuypers. Cuypers also designed Central Station in Amsterdam, but mostly Catholic Churches. You can see this Catholic influence, because the building looks just like a Catholic Church. Rumor has that none of the members … Read More

Lelystad Nature Park. Near our home we have two opportunities to see wild animals. The first is the national park “Oostvaardersplassen” that is located between Almere and Lelystad. The Second is the Nature Park Lelystad. It´s big enough to see no wild animals on a visit and there … Read More

Begijnhof. The origin of the Begijnhof was a bit similar to that of a monastery. A woman could live here as a non, but was still able to marry if she wanted to leave. After the Iconoclasm this was the only Church in Amsterdam that could stay Catholic. … Read More

Kampen. Around 1150 there were already people living at the place where later the Hansetic city of Kampen was founded. Once Kampen was one of the most powerfull cities in north-west Europe. It had a enormous fleet and its ships … Read More

Muiderslot. In 1285 Floris V commissioned to build Muiderslot. Until then the land belonged to the Bishop of Utrecht. Floris bought the land around Amsterdam and Muiden and built this castle to protect the only road to Amsterdam accessible in … Read More

Oostvaardersplassen In the seventies the Netherlands constructed a huge polder in a natural lake. They assigned a big part for farming. Another part of this polder, between the cities Almere and Lelystad, was assigned for heavy industry, that was to be contructed in the … Read More

Woudagemaal. The Netherlands are flat and for a good part under sea level. We can live here due to dikes that protect us from the rivers and the sea. But even with the dikes most of the Netherlands would be … Read More

Fortress Muiden. In the Middle Ages Floris V built a castle near Muiden to cover the strategic route to Amsterdam. In the centuries that followed the Dutch fortified this city for the same reason. There are a few forts in … Read More