4x the most beautiful castles in the Netherlands

In my eyes, Kasteel de Haar is surely the most beautiful castle in the Netherlands. It is also the largest and most famous castle in our country and therefore well known to most tourists. As an alternative, I therefore like to go to Twickel Castle in Overijssel, a 4300-hectare estate where nature and culture have effortlessly merged for centuries.

I find the gardens particularly interesting. The various residents of Twickel Castle have followed different trends and created new gardens over the years (read: since 1347!). As a result, you and I can now enjoy 4,300 hectares of splendour (that's 6,000 football fields, by the way).

I walk between the centuries-old oak trees to a Baroque-style garden, full of fairytale frills. A little further on is a garden trimmed in the romantic landscape style. Yet another garden is the opposite: here, French garden architect Édouard André designed a landscape park around the castle, in which the famous geometric style can still be seen today. My favourite spot? The kitchen garden with orchards and vegetables that has been around since the 18th century. How I would love to live in a tiny house with a vegetable garden.

Amerongen Castle has a rich family history that takes us back some 700 years. It ranks among the Top Castles of the Netherlands and Flanders. Surrounded by yet another beautiful castle garden.

This castle has also experienced turmoil in the past. In 1672, the Franco-Dutch War began, with France invading the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. Amerongen Castle also felt the destructiveness of the French: In 1673, troops of Louis XIV burned down the castle.

On the old foundations of the original castle, Amerongen was resurrected in a new guise. The garden was also taken in hand in line with the Baroque architecture famous in the 17th century: symmetry formed the basis. Just under a century later, the garden changed to the then-popular English Landscape style with a more natural design.

I find the history of the castle and the gardens very interesting. But also what happens in and around the castle today is why Amerongen Castle is in this top four. Every week, volunteers take care of the entire castle garden. Among other things, Amerongse Appelcider is made here from apples from the historic kitchen garden.

The history of this castle starts back in the 13th century. Although the structure of the time was razed to the ground in the 15th century. Fortunately for us, it was rebuilt in the following years and rebuilt into the magnificent castle it is today and therefore certainly belongs in the list of most beautiful castles in the Netherlands.

Slot Zuylen is surrounded by water and together with the characteristic castle turrets, it feels like I'm stepping into a real castle. Not something I quickly think of doing in the Netherlands, but it really is in the heart of our country.

This castle has another magnificent garden, with a 120-metre-long 'snake wall': a special construction technique to create a microclimate in which subtropical fruit trees thrive. The snake wall at Slot Zuylen is among the finest fruit walls in Western Europe and is full of peaches, apricots and morels.

A few centuries ago, Belle van Zuylen, perhaps the castle's most famous resident, walked along the same stones. She was an 18th-century writer and composer. Writing in French, her works included novellas, pamphlets, plays and operas. Her work was loved in her time and well beyond. A piece of Dutch, feminist history, what more could you want during your visit?

I myself visited this impressive mansion in winter for a report in Columbus. When it was surrounded by bare trees and grey clouds. But the stories of the volunteers made me so enthusiastic that I will definitely return in the summer to take a look at the green gardens of Amelisweerd.

Today, the 18th century country house is a pop-up museum to make the house and its history accessible to visitors. Rare, 250-year-old Chinese wallpaper, brought by the VOC, adorns the walls of the rooms. Noble Dutch families slept in these rooms, as well as the French Louis Napoleon.

The estate creaks when you walk across the wooden floor. The volunteers who give guided tours in the museum enthusiastically recount the history. Next to the estate is De Veldkeuken, an organic and artisanal eatery where they cook with ingredients from Amelisweerd's historic vegetable garden. A lovely place to recover from all the impressions. If you have had enough of Amelisweerd, Fort Rhijnauwen is also nearby.