Country Estates and Lakes

(36.0 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 …

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

Take a look

Sights on this route

Starting point:

Top Slot Zuylen
Tournooiveld 1
3611 AW Oud-Zuilen

Castle Slot Zuylen

Slot Zuylen, a place to wander and wonder at! Slot Zuylen Castle is situated on the river Vecht in the tiny village of Oud-Zuilen near Utrecht.

Fort Maarsseveen

The defence work near Maarsseveen is one of the last ‘forts’ of the New Dutch Waterline, built in 1881 to close off access to the Maarsseveense Vaart. It housed a garrison of 80 men. Only the bo...

Museum Vredegoed

Fort Nieuwersluis

This very green World Heritage site between Loenen and Breukelen is part of the New Dutch Water Line; a unique historical defense line that spans 85 kilometres (52 miles). Discover Fort Nieuwersluis with a guide or visit the Tea Garden on Sunday.

Vechtstreekmuseum Maarssen

The Vechtstreek Museum in Maarssen is a small-scale cultural-historical museum. Located in the former Silversteyn house, which was converted in 1744 into the Goudestein coach house, one of the m...