Holiday apartment in Hilversum: Nature, culture and distinctive routes

In Hilversum, the specific destinations range from the approximately 26-kilometre Voetstappenpad and the Spanderswoud to Beeld & Geluid, the Photography Museum and Dudok’s Town Hall.

The interactive media museum of Beeld & Geluid explains how media influence visitors and how visitors influence media. This dual perspective makes the venue a starting point for conversations about how media affect everyday life. Beeld & Geluid’s media museum can be reached via Hilversum Media Park NS railway station, which may be a factor when planning a day of culture.

Routes through forest and heathland

Those who enjoy walking will find the approximately 26-kilometre Voetstappenpad, a route around Hilversum through forest and heathland. The route can also be walked in sections. It is marked by concrete posts bearing a footprint along the way. At approximately 26 kilometres, the complete route is a longer undertaking; walking it in sections changes the time required for the outing.

Nature experiences in the Spanderswoud

In the Spanderswoud, nature has largely been allowed to take its own course since 1981; dead trees are left lying where they fall. The forest provides a habitat for numerous woodland birds and various species of bats. Walking, cycling and horse riding are possible. These three means of travelling involve different paces: walking, cycling and horse riding take you through the same natural landscape.

Landgoed Zonnestraal and its history

At Landgoed Zonnestraal, a hike or bicycle tour passes the buildings and through the estate’s natural surroundings. On the last Sunday of each month, guided tours led by a professional guide take place there. The exhibition “Zonnestraal, Schip op de heide” presents the history of the world-famous Hilversum sanatorium designed by architects Jan Duiker and Bernard Bijvoet. The monthly guided tour adds a fixed cultural appointment at the estate to the hike or bicycle tour.

For those interested in culture, the guided tour of the exhibition at the town hall can be contrasted with the guided tour at Landgoed Zonnestraal as a different historical perspective.

Dudok, the Town Hall and photography

Hilversum’s architecture includes the Town Hall, completed in 1931 and regarded as the pinnacle of Willem Marinus Dudok’s work. A guided tour of Hilversum Town Hall takes visitors into the particularly remarkable and still largely authentic rooms of the Rijksmonument. The approximately 8.5-kilometre city walk along distinctive Dudok buildings takes about three hours. The city walk and the guided tour each focus on a different aspect of Hilversum: one follows distinctive buildings, while the other leads into the rooms of the Rijksmonument. At approximately 8.5 kilometres and with a duration of about three hours, the route remains clearly defined in time as a separate programme item.

The Hilversum Photography Museum specialises in photography and explores its boundaries by connecting it with other art forms. Lectures, guided tours, masterclasses and special activities for children regularly take place around the exhibitions. This makes it possible to plan a cultural day with different approaches to photography.

For the overarching travel overview: Hilversum.