Country Estates and Lakes

(36 km)

The Country Houses and Lakes Route connects a series of beautiful nature and water reserves and quintessential Dutch landscapes with windmills, historic farmsteads and centuries-old castles and country houses. It is a short but varied ride, leaving plenty of time to break for a refreshing dip, tasty lunch or visit to the Vechtstreek regional museum or the castle museum of Slot Zuylen.

Below are just a few of the beautiful country houses along the route:

  • Nieuwerhoek, in Loenen aan de Vecht. Built in the 17th century by the Hoek family, a Mennonite merchant family from Amsterdam;
  • Pupillenschool, former premilitary school dating from 1877, now a women's prison, on Zandpad in Nieuwersluis, next to cycle junction 02;
  • Rupelmonde, in Nieuwersluis. A stately 18th-century house with statues of Neptune and Mercury adorning the façade;
  • Kasteel Nijenrode, castle built in 1250 by Gerard Splinter van Ruwielt. The name …

The Country Houses and Lakes Route connects a series of beautiful nature and water reserves and quintessential Dutch landscapes with windmills, historic farmsteads and centuries-old castles and country houses. It is a short but varied ride, leaving plenty of time to break for a refreshing dip, tasty lunch or visit to the Vechtstreek regional museum or the castle museum of Slot Zuylen.

Below are just a few of the beautiful country houses along the route:

  • Nieuwerhoek, in Loenen aan de Vecht. Built in the 17th century by the Hoek family, a Mennonite merchant family from Amsterdam;
  • Pupillenschool, former premilitary school dating from 1877, now a women's prison, on Zandpad in Nieuwersluis, next to cycle junction 02;
  • Rupelmonde, in Nieuwersluis. A stately 18th-century house with statues of Neptune and Mercury adorning the façade;
  • Kasteel Nijenrode, castle built in 1250 by Gerard Splinter van Ruwielt. The name Nijen Rode dates back to the original keep and means ‘new clearing’;
  • Buitenplaats Doornburg, country house owned and occupied by the Sisters of the Holy Sepulchre. In the 1960s, the nuns built a modern convent next door in the Bossche School style;
  • Vechtenstein, a large white house with an eye-catching green roof, built in the 1930s.

Take a look

Sights on this route

Starting point:

Top Slot Zuylen
Tournooiveld 1
3611 AW Oud-Zuilen
Navigate to starting point

Castle Slot Zuylen

Tournooiveld 1
3611 AS Oud Zuilen
Castle Slot Zuylen
45
62
47

Fort Maarsseveen

Fort Maarsseveen
Herenweg 3
3602 AM Maarssen
Fort Maarsseveen
48

Museum Vredegoed

Temporarily closed
Heuvellaan 7
3612 BA Tienhoven
Museum Vredegoed
49
27
Nieuw Loosdrechtsedijk
1231 LJ Loosdrecht
28
26
07
25
02

Fort Nieuwersluis

Rijksstraatweg 7B
3631 AA Nieuwersluis
Fort Nieuwersluis
84
87

Vechtstreekmuseum Maarssen

Vechtstreekmuseum
Diependaalsedijk 19
3601 GH MAARSSEN
Vechtstreekmuseum Maarssen
46
45

End point:

TOP Slot Zuylen
Toernooiveld 1
3611 AW Oud-Zuilen
Navigate to endpoint
  • 45
  • 62
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 27
  • 28
  • 26
  • 07
  • 25
  • 02
  • 84
  • 87
  • 46
  • 45

Attributes