Holiday Apartment in Hilversum: Between Dudok, Heathland and Media

Hilversum combines striking architecture, traces of human activity dating back thousands of years, and a distinctive media and photography culture. Between the Town Hall, heathland areas, historic routes and museums, a multifaceted picture of the town emerges, bringing together culture, nature and a vibrant urban history.

Culture

The Town Hall in Hilversum, dating from 1931, is regarded as the pinnacle of the work of architect Willem Marinus Dudok. It can be visited under the guidance of an experienced tour guide. The building is also home to the Dudok Architectuur Centrum, which focuses on Dudok’s life and work.

Landgoed Zonnestraal is another of Hilversum’s defining buildings. It was built in the last century as a sanatorium for tuberculosis patients and is considered a monument to light and air created by architect Jan Duiker. The estate can be visited daily. On the last Sunday of each month, guided tours are offered there at 12:00 and 14:00.

Fotomuseum Hilversum specialises in photography and explores its boundaries by combining it with other art forms. It is also home to the Zilveren Camera, the Netherlands’ most important journalistic photography competition. Lectures, guided tours, masterclasses and special activities for children are held regularly.

Nature

The Hoorneboegse Heide contains traces of human activity dating back thousands of years, including burial mounds, urn fields and cart tracks. Walking is possible on the Bussummerheide, which also features burial mounds as well as archaeological remains from the Stone Age and a settlement dating from the 12th century.

A route operated by Goois Natuurreservaat runs along Hilversums Wasmeer and offers a viewpoint over the marsh. Notable plants found there include rushes, cottongrass, white beak-sedge and round-leaved sundew. Another distinctive landscape feature is Pinetum Blijdenstein, a botanical garden of international importance in a residential villa district of Hilversum. The Pinetum has one of the world’s most significant conifer collections and is open year-round.

Routes

The approximately 26-kilometre-long Voetstappenpad runs around Hilversum through woodland and heathland and can also be walked in sections. An 8.5-kilometre urban walk passes remarkable buildings designed by Dudok and takes approximately three hours. A walk of around 7 kilometres leads through the Boomberg district, along the Oude Haven and through the Corversbos.

For cyclists, there is the Gooische Vrouwen cycling experience route. In Hilversum, it passes eighteen sculptures of Gooische women that contribute artistically to the cityscape. The route can start at Hilversum railway station, where visitors can rent an OV-fiets. A cycling tour in the area around Hilversum is 36 kilometres long.

Other routes focus on different themes: one route passes Hilversum’s most important media attractions, from Media Park to the city centre and back. A historic route conveys the city’s diverse history, including the stories of farmers, carpet weavers, factory owners and the media.

Media

Beeld & Geluid houses one of the world’s largest media archives. The building in Hilversum was designed by Neuteling & Riedijk Architecten; the coloured glass panels were created by Jaap Drupsteen and depict scenes from Dutch television history. Hilversum also offers an interactive Media Museum and Hillywood tours providing behind-the-scenes insights into television studios.

Food and Drink

Hilversum is also diverse in culinary terms: restaurants in the city serve dishes from seven cuisines of the world, and visitors can pour themselves a Goois beer.

Included services, individual price components, and booking and cancellation conditions can likewise be compared before booking. What matters is what is specified in the specific offer.

For local navigation: Hilversum, Blaricum, Harenkarspel, Ouder-Amstel, Heiloo, Wijdemeren, Graft-De Rijp, Schermer.

For the higher-level travel overview: North Holland.