Castle gardens

Groeneveld Castle in Baarn is an 18th-century country estate and one of the finest examples of a country house from that era. To keep up with fashion trends, the garden of Groeneveld Castle underwent a complete metamorphosis over time. From a French formal style with symmetry and geometric sections to a playful English landscape garden with meandering streams, winding paths, ponds and bridges.

The park of Kasteel Groeneveld is now a popular spot for walkers. The estate also features a beautiful vegetable garden, with flower garden, orchard and herb garden, and an ice cellar (now inhabited by bats). You can also go there for a guided tour of the castle or a nice lunch in the orangery.

Near the largest castle in the Netherlands, you will find a beautiful castle park of no less than 55 hectares where you can wander around. In the English landscape park you will find a rose garden (with as many as 1,200 roses of 79 different varieties), a Roman garden, a deer park, several water features and even a whole maze. At every corner of the estate you will find another fantastic view.

So take a romantic walk across the many little bridges, winding paths and beautiful flower arrangements, bring a picnic blanket and have a nice picnic in the park or visit the maze and deer park with children.

The gardens of Amerongen Castle and the House have been inextricably linked for centuries. The garden is part of the historical ensemble, covering ten hectares and telling four centuries of garden history. The historic garden consists of different parts: the flower garden, the orchard, the berceau, the kitchen garden and the forest park. Over the centuries, the garden has had different external features and functions. Still today, the castle garden is fully alive. Volunteers meet weekly for maintenance under the guidance of the gardener. A visit to the castle garden is worthwhile in every season!

Buy your entrance ticket online to visit the gardens and the castle or buy a separate ticket for the castle gardens at the cash desk of Amerongen Castle.

After the German defeat in World War I, the last German emperor fled to the Netherlands. The estate of the house was exactly the reason why the ex-emperor bought the house in 1920.Ex-emperor Wilhelm II not only had an eye for beautiful gardens, he enjoyed gardening himself. He made the park increasingly beautiful, with two rose gardens, a pinetum (conifer garden) and beautiful woods. The Auguste Victoria Garten, named after Wilhelm II's first wife, has been completely restored.

Would you also like to come and admire the park of Huis Doorn? Ask at the ticket office of Museum Huis Doorn for the park audio tour. The tour is available free of charge, lasts an hour and tells all about the different gardens. You can listen to the audio tour on your own phone. Tip: bring earphones or headphones.

Along the Vecht, you will find the beautiful Slot Zuylen dating from 1250. Over the centuries, the historic garden of Slot Zuylen had several layouts. There was a formal garden with hedges, canals and clipped trees. There was also an orchard and kitchen garden that provided the castle's residents with vegetables and fruit. People still actively work in the kitchen garden and most of the produce in the museum café comes from its own kitchen garden. In the garden you will find a south-facing snake wall, where twists in the wall allowed a microclimate to develop so that heat could be retained for longer. This allowed all kinds of exotic fruits to grow.

Take a lovely walk through the gardens, have a drink in the coach house and travel 500 years in history with a visit to Slot Zuylen.