Muiden Castle

Amsterdam Muiderslot (Muiden Castle) in the Netherlands

Muiderslot (Muiden Castle) outside Amsterdam, The Netherlands. (Photo courtesy of Muiderslot.)Kids especially will get a kick out of this.

Just eight miles east of Amsterdam, the A1 highway leads to the fortress town of Muiden on the River Vecht and its fairy-tale medieval castle of Muiderslot.

The Muiderslot is a postcard of a fortress—five turreted towers, a drawbridge over the moat, battlements and embrasures and the whole lot.

It was built in 1285 by Count Floris V but is today furnished in style of the 17th century Dutch Golden Age, when the castle hosted literary salons under its most famous owner, the playwright and poet P.C. Hooft—after whom the famous Amsterdam shopping boulvard near Museumplain is named.

(It's not that poetry was such a lucrative career; P.C. was the son of Amsterdam's mayor, and he got the castle as part of his political appointment as sherrif of Muiden.)

How to get to Muiden Castle

You can get there by car on the A1 highway (Exit 4: Muiden-Oost), of by train from Amsterdam to Weesp (15 min.), then grab a local bus (10 min.) or rent a bike at the Weesp train station (15 min.).

Daytrip idea

Muiderslot also makes for a good stopover on the way to Hoge Veluwe National Park. In fact, it would make a perfect day to drive east of Amsterdam, stopping at Muiden in the early morning, then seeing Hoge Veluwe in the late morning though afternoon, then turning back west to arrive at Utrecht to spend a night or two.

Unless otherwise indicated, all photographs ©Amsterdam Tourism & Convention Board