Apeldoorn: museums, stories & tips for your day

The story of Apeldoorn

Stadholder William III built a hunting palace here, and for three centuries members of the House of Orange lived in it. Today Paleis Het Loo is a museum, with a baroque garden and a new underground wing. All around lies the Veluwe.

Apeldoorn is approx. 1 hour by train from Amsterdam and approx. 35 minutes from Amersfoort. From the station take the bus to Paleis Het Loo, or walk there in half an hour along the avenues. Allow half a day for palace and gardens: the rooms run from the 17th century to Queen Wilhelmina, and the garden has been restored in its original baroque style. After a major renovation the palace also has an underground museum wing. In the centre, CODA shows art, jewellery and changing exhibitions. With children, Apenheul is a must.

1684William III starts building Het Loo
1975the last members of the House of Orange leave the palace
1984Het Loo opens as a museum

Your museum day in Apeldoorn

One day, four moments. How to get the most out of your visit.

10:00MUSEUM
Paleis Het Loo Palace, gardens and stables. Take your time.
13:30EAT
Lunch at the palace The palace has its own restaurant, or eat in the centre.
15:30SHOP
Hoofdstraat and centre Shops, terraces and the old town hall.
19:00SLEEP
Hotel on the edge of the Veluwe Wake up among the forests.

Apeldoorn in six moments

1684Stadholder William III buys the old Het Loo castle and starts a new hunting palace.
1689William III and Mary become King and Queen of England; the palace is enlarged.
Approx. 1807Louis Napoleon uses Het Loo; the garden becomes an English landscape park.
1962Princess Wilhelmina dies at Het Loo.
1984Paleis Het Loo opens as a national museum, with its restored baroque garden.
2023After a major renovation the palace reopens, with a new underground wing.

What to do in Apeldoorn

Six places to complete your museum day.

01
Paleis Het Loo →

The palace of William III and Mary, and later of King William III, Queen Emma and Queen Wilhelmina. With the baroque garden, the stables and the new underground museum wing.

Royal ParkHalf a day
02
CODA Museum →

Museum of art and jewellery, with archive and library under one roof, in the town centre.

Vosselmanstraat1 to 2 hours
03
Apenheul

A zoo where many kinds of monkeys roam freely among the visitors. Open in season.

J.C. WilslaanHalf a day
04
Royal Park and Berg en Bos

Avenues, ponds and woodland on the edge of town, ideal for a walk after the palace.

West Apeldoorn1 to 2 hours
05
De Hoge Veluwe National Park

Heath, drifting sands and free white bikes. In the middle of the park is the Kröller-Müller Museum.

Otterlo / HoenderlooFull day

Museums in Apeldoorn

Buy your tickets online and plan the rest of your day around them.

All museums in Apeldoorn (2)

CODA Museum

View Tickets & website ↗

Paleis Het Loo

View Tickets

On the map

All museums in Apeldoorn. Click a museum for the route.

Plan your trip to Apeldoorn ↗

Hidden story

The garden that came back

The baroque garden vanished under an English landscape park. It was rebuilt from old prints.

Read the storyHide the story

William III and Mary had a formal baroque garden laid out at Het Loo, with fountains, parterres and long vistas. Around 1800, when Louis Napoleon used the palace, the garden was covered by a fashionable English landscape park and the palace was plastered white. When Het Loo became a museum in the 1970s and 1980s, the decision was made to bring the old garden back. Researchers used 17th-century prints, descriptions and excavations of old foundations. So Het Loo got its baroque garden back, and the original colour of its facades too.

Where: Palace garden, Paleis Het Loo

Beyond the city

Apeldoorn sits on the east side of the Veluwe, the largest nature area in the Netherlands.

Bus to Hoenderloo or Otterlo, then through the park

Kröller-Müller Museum

Van Gogh, a sculpture garden and heathland, in the middle of De Hoge Veluwe National Park.

Route by public transport ↗

Train, approx. 10 min

Deventer

Hanseatic town on the IJssel, with bookshops and medieval streets.

Route by public transport ↗

Bus, or train via Zutphen, approx. 45 to 60 min

Arnhem

The Netherlands Open Air Museum and the story of the Battle of Arnhem.

Route by public transport ↗

Travel times are indicative. Live times on 9292.nl ↗.

SLEEP

Stay in Apeldoorn, explore the Veluwe

Apeldoorn has hotels in the centre and in the woods around it. It is a good base for De Hoge Veluwe, Arnhem and Deventer. Rent a bike: the Veluwe is one of the best cycling areas in the country.

Find your hotel →