De Hoge Veluwe

  • A swine with her piglets
  • Girl with a monkey at the Apenheul in Apeldoorn

De Hoge Veluwe is Holland's largest national park with a wonderful art museum and a large Van Gogh collection (Kröller-Müller Museum), a sculpture garden, forest, and hunting lodge. Visitors to the park can use one of the 1,000 'white bikes' free of charge and cycle through 26 miles of paved paths, including the outdoor sculpture garden. You can also walk along the heath fields of the Veluwe with a shepherd.

Villages around De Veluwe

To get an impression of the history and culture of this area you should visit the ancient cities, castles and estates or one of the many museums. Wonderful places that you can put on your list are:

  • Hattem has a grand market square and is known for the designer Anton Pieck, who was one of the creative minds behind the amusement park Efteling.
  • Harderwijk used to be a Hanseatic city. Nowadays most people travel to Harderwijk to visit the marine mammals at Dolfinarium.  
  • Elburg is one of the oldest cities of the Netherlands and boasts at least 250 monuments. There are walking tours that lead you along the most interesting highlights.
  • Surrounded by the nature you can find peace and quiet in Nijkerk.
  • The old university town Wageningen has, besides students, many historic buildings.

Visit Arnhem

The biggest city in the area of National Park De Hoge Veluwe is Arnhem. The quarter Klarendel and the Artez Fashion Academy Arnhem gave this city the label of fashion city. Besides shopping there are numerous museums and zoos in this area, such as the Netherlands Open Air Museum, Netherlands Water Museum, Apenheul and Burgers’ Zoo.