Vierhouten, a small culinary oasis in the Veluwe region.

De Veluwe, an area of outstanding natural beauty

The history of this area takes us back to the Saale ice age (10.000 years ago) as much of the Veluwe consist of push moraines. When after the last ice age the temperature rose the area of over 1000 km2 turned into woodland. During the middle ages and especially during the Dutch Golden Age deforestation took place. The timber was used to built ships to conquer the world's oceans and as stilts to build the splendid canal houses on in the marshland that Amsterdam then was. Many of the canal houses still rest on tree trunks from the Veluwe! 

Deforestation led to the area gradually being covered in sand, making it impossible for farmers to grow their crops: communities would move away to fertile land and the Veluwe became a desolate place, with desert-like areas.  It was only from 1895 onward that trees were planted again to keep the sand from shifting. Large scale forestry industry created the vast woodlands we can enjoy today. 

At less than an hour away form the urbanised Randstad region between the large cities of Amsterdam, The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht you'll find the Veluwe as a place to unwind and enjoy nature as pure as it can be. 

 Walks starting from the estate, to the village and the forrest.

You’ll be staying in the middle of an area of outstanding natural beauty, so make the most of it.  We recommend going for a long walk in the forest. If you go early or late, at around dawn or dusk, you have a good chance of seeing wild boars and deer, if you keep quiet.

From Dennenholt at Gortelseweg 64, you can walk straight into the forest, through the gate at the rear of the estate. Guest staying at Gortelseweg 54 are welcome to walk across too.  Coming from Gortelseweg 54 you can access the estate via the footmansdoor on the right of the gates. To get to the gate at the rear you walk up the drive towards the main house, then turn left past the donkey stables. Then go straight onto a small track which leads you to a little cottage. Behind the little cottage there is a wooden gate through the deer fence. The key to the lock is in the birdshouse attached to a tree near by; please return it after locking the padlock after coming back.  Then walk through the forest for about 30m until you come on some grass.  Now there are two options: If you turn right, and keep going right following the fence, you’ll end op at the endo of a dead-end road,  a small tarmac road that leads into the village (+/-10 min). If you turn left, right and left again on the first paths you see, you will come into an old beech forest, and a wide path, a little country lane. Here you see a color code on little poles. The orange coded walk is a 4km walk through the forest. Please have a look at the map inside information pad in the accommodation. 

 Another way of walking to the village (apart from walking along the road) is leaving the main oak gate at the front. Turn left and then turn right into the first path (after about 50m) into the forest. When you come to the end at a t junction left takes you to the village, with a small detour but totally traffic free and through nature. When turning right, you’ll end up at a small wooden gate in a fence that keeps wild boar out of the village. The gate gets you into some forest with plenty of game. There is a lot of game in this part of the woods. If you keep walking straight, after going through the gate, you will end up at beautiful heather field which you can walk around and back home.  This is about 5.3km. If you have the energy, we suggest you try to find ‘Verscholen Dorp’ (the hidden village). During the 2nd world war, when the Germans occupied The Netherlands, many Jews from the cities hid in this area. Some villagers decided it was too dangerous to keep all these people in their houses and decided to build a hidden village in the forest. This village was situated about 500m past the heather field I described earlier (please check out the map in the information pack inside your accommodation)  Around 100 refugees, mainly Jews and sometimes English pilots, have been living here for several years. There is a monument on the site and 3 huts have been rebuilt giving you an idea how these people lived.

You can also drive to the hidden village. Turn left out of the gate, and turn right into the first tarmac road. The road is called Tongerense weg. Keep going straight, also when it becomes a sand track. Drive until the end (just past the only house on the right) and turn right. At the end of this track is a small parking area with signs to the hidden village. 

There is a small museum about the hidden village in restaurant “De Vossenberg”.

Daytrip suggestions 

Daytrip 1 : Deventer and other hanseatic towns

Daytrip 2: Nationaal Park de Hoge Veluwe

Daytrip 3 : Giethoorn

The town of Giethoorn is high on our list of recommendations. It is a little historical farming village without roads but with canals. You can rent a boat there, then just follow the one way canals and be amazed about the beautiful farmhouses you will pass. The route included crossing a pretty big lake, and a nature reserve and has lots of options to moor the boat somewhere and go for a coffee, a swim and just enjoy. This will give you a real Dutch experience.

Daytrip 4: Zuiderzee Museum in Enkhuizen

The Zuiderzee museum in Enkhuizen is another recommendation. Here they have made a complete village out of old Dutch buildings. It has a typical Dutch setting; water and dykes. Go on a nice day as the museum is outdoors.

The drive to Enkhuizen is a lovely one. It will take you just over an hour but you will travel through what previously was the Zuiderzee but has now been made into a lake and of which much has been reclaimed. Drive via Harderwijk to Lelystad and then take the road to Enkhuizen. This road which is built on a dyke but the land around it was never reclaimed. It takes you straight through the water to the other side of the lake and takes you to Enkhuizen. Check out www.zuiderzeemuseum.nl , also in English and German. You can also get to Enkhuizen by boat from Urk. 

Daytrip 5: Urk

Urk is a former island which became part of the mainland in 1938. Much of the deeply Calvinist population still makes their money from worldwide fishing. The fishing boats are not moored in its pretty harbor anymore, but on the North Sea coast and the catch is transported to Urk where it subsequently is processed. If you go to Enkhuizen via Urk you need to plan your day as the sailings are not that frequent.

Daytrip 6: Arnhem

Arnhem is about 45 min away. The city is famous for the Battle of Arnhem (“A bridge too far”) which took place in and around Arnhem in 1944 as part of Operation Market Garden. Apart from interesting exhibition about the battle is has a good zoo and a wonderful open air museum with original relocated traditional houses from all over The Netherlands (including one from Vierhouten) , ranging from moss huts, stately homes, grand farm and a street in Amsterdam! 

Daytrip 7: Walibi (Biddinghuizen)

For kids, big and small, there is the theme park Walibi , which is half an hour away near Biddinghuizen. It has roller coaster rides and all sorts of attractions. Check out www.walibi.nl

Daytrip 8: Theme park Juliantoren (Apeldoorn)

For the smaller children from 2-12 there is theme park Julianatoren just outside Apeldoorn. Check out www.julianatoren.nl

Daytrip 8: Apenheul (Apeldoorn)

The zoo called ‘Apenheul’ in Apeldoorn is something special. It is focused around monkeys only! It is not a normal zoo though as some of the monkeys roam free and can mingle between the visitors. Great for kids. Here you can walk between monkeys. Check out www.apenheul.nl

Daytrip 9: Dolfinarium (Harderwijk)

Dolfinarium Harderwijk is the Dutch Seaworld. It is a very popular marine life park with lots to see and do for young and old www.dolfinarium.nl

Daytrip 10: Het Aardhuis (Apeldoorn)

Het Aardhuis near Apeldoorn is another nice little park. The large wooden hunting lodge is the visitor centre to the Kroondomein Het Loo, the royal hunting grounds. Here you can see the animals that live in the forest alive and close up. There is a nice little museum in an old royal hunting lodge as well. Recommended! www.aardhuis.nl

Daytrip 11: Visitor centre Nunspeet

There is a visitor center in Nunspeet which shows you the animals of the area. It is called  “bezoekerscentrum Nunspeet” and is situated near the station in Nunspeet. When you drive from Vierhouten to Nunspeet, you come to a roundabout just before you cross the railway. Turn right on this roundabout and the visitor center is on your right. Next to the center is a lookout tower which you can climb and which gives you nice views of the area!. www.bezoekerscentrumnunspeet.nl

 Cycling

Rent a bike and cycle through the forests. Holland seems to be made for cycling. There are some beautiful routes, which are well indicated. A cycling map is available at the tourist office in the village. 

Cycling destinations

•       Castle “de Cannenburg” a small nearby castle with beautiful interior and herb garden, open to visitors.

•       Landgoed Staverden, a beautiful country house with old water mill set in an old forest. There is a small museum in one of the farm houses, and a brasserie for a coffee or lunch. You can also cycle on to nearby restaurant de ‘Zwarte Boer’, an old farmhouse turned into restaurant.

•       Country house turned into upmarket hotel and restaurant “Het Roode Koper” – a very stylish place, recently awarded its first Michelin star. 

 •       Beekhuizerzand. This landscape of sand hills or dunes will surprise you.

 •       For children a stop at playground Stakenbergerweg can be nice. This is a free, no nonsense playground, set in nature (about 5 km from the house).

 •       If you want to cycle a bit further go to Royal Palace ‘t Loo, with the current palace built for William and Mary and the old palace still used as the hunting palace of the Dutch Royal family. There are several routes to get there. The Palace is closed for extensive renovations but the Royal Park Gardens are open to the public

https://www.paleishetloo.nl the site is in English and German as well

 •       The beautiful small and old fishing town of Elburg is also within cycling distance.

 •      Harderwijk, which is nicer to cycle to, as the cycle tracks go straight through the forest, has a similar old center but has a bigger modern town built around it.

 Both Harderwijk and Elburg were seaside towns up to 1938 when the sea was closed off with a dyke (called afsluitdijk). The sea has become a lake and part of it has been re claimed. 

 The lake which is now called Veluwemeer, starts about 10km from Vierhouten, past the village of Nunspeet. It is great for sailing, surfing, renting a small rowing boat and going for a picnic on one of the islands. It is quite safe for children because the water is very shallow. It hardly gets deeper than 1-1.2 meters (except for one channel on the far side where professional shipping takes place.

•       There is a small lake in the forest near Nunspeet called Zandeplas, which is good for a nice swim and great for children with plenty of sandy beach. It is a lovely bike ride to get there through the woods. Bear in mind it is set close to a motorway but there’s enough to distract you from that.   

Cycle hire / cycle tours

In Vierhouten: 

• Fietsverhuur Hazeleger, Elspeterbosweg 9, Vierhouten, +31 6 11 68 56 83

  will deliver at our address

  www.fietsverhuurhazeleger.nl

In Nunspeet: 

• Hoegen Fietsverhuur, Industrieweg 60-D, Nunspeet, +31 341 258 759

  will deliver at our address

  www.hoegen-fietsverhuur.nl

Emst:  

• Mountainbikenopdeveluwe.nl, Oranjeweg 98, Emst, +31 889600810

  mountainbike rental, routes, guided tours,

  www.mountainbikenopdeveluwe.nl  

• De Weerdt fietsverhuur, Vaassenseweg 51, Emst, +31 578 661 564

  www.deweerdtrijwielen.nl

 Restaurants

In Vierhouten:

• Restaurant Bistro The Novice

  +31 577 411 662

  www.thenovice.nl

• Restaurant Klavertje Vier

  +31 577 411 205

  www.klavertjevier.nl

• Restaurant Tante Sjaan

  +31 577 411 335

  www.tantesjaan.lankmanonline.nl

Nearby: