Holiday apartment in Uithoorn – UNESCO fort, Amstel and polder landscape

Uithoorn combines a history that remains visible in forts, dikes, and monuments with water and polder landscapes. Along the Amstel lies the renewed Waterlijn, an important recreational area for walkers and water sports enthusiasts or other water recreation seekers. In the green rampart surrounding Fort bij De Kwakel there is a concrete gun emplacement aimed at the road to Vrouwenakker.

Culture and history

Fort aan de Drecht dates from 1911 and is part of the Stelling van Amsterdam, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the gorge casemate of the fort there is an exhibition about the fort and the UNESCO World Heritage Site Stelling van Amsterdam. Historic traces can also be found in Oranjepark: near Emmalaan stands the bronze artwork Levenskracht from 1967 by Sjra Schoffelen, featuring human figures at its centre. The bronze monument Aarde en Water II also stands in Oranjepark. It commemorates the liberation festival of 1980, which was celebrated 35 years after the liberation.

The Vuurlijn consists of a chain of old polder dikes with a grass embankment, earth batteries, and a covered connecting path. The paths through Uithoorn also connect local history and landscape: the route oude dorp leads through the old centre of Uithoorn and the Thamerdal district with its first post-war expansions. Along the way are several monumental trees, the Sint-Jan de Doperkerk, and the former inland harbour. The route is three kilometres long and takes about an hour; it is suitable for wheelchair users up to the steps at the crossing of Koningin Maximalaan.

Paths through the polder and local landscape

The Quackelroute connects Uithoorn and De Kwakel via quiet residential streets, dikes, and historic lines. It passes water, old defensive structures, and characteristic village rows. The seven-kilometre Wandeling door groen Uithoorn begins at the Tuin van Bram de Groote and runs through the marsh woodland of the Zijdelse Zomp, the banks of the Zijdelmeer, and the towpath along the Amstel to Fort aan de Drecht.

The Bruggetjes-Route offers views over the Uithoornse Polder. It is an old peat polder landscape whose medieval parcel pattern has been preserved. The area visible from there is a meadow bird area connected to the NatuurNetwerk Nederland. The Tuin van Bram de Groote developed from an English landscape garden into a Heemtuin with native plant species; the distinctive trees were preserved. The garden includes an ornamental garden with a flower meadow and beds, an orchard, a small marsh woodland, a toad pond, a herb garden, a berry corner, and around ten beehives.

Water and nature

Zijdelmeer is one and a half kilometres long and covers an area of 30 hectares. It is part of the protected Uithoorn nature reserve and can be circumnavigated on foot, while running, by bicycle, or on inline skates. The visitor moorings in Uithoorn have new jetties. Excursion boats from Amsterdam and historic ships can moor by arrangement with the harbourmaster. Aemstel Boating rents several sloops from a boarding point on the Amstel in Uithoorn, including boats for six or eight people and a Langweerder 6.50 Classic for eight people. Fortvarend offers SUP courses and SUP equipment rental; the boarding point is on the Amstel in Amstelhoek, opposite the harbour of Uithoorn.

The 27-hectare Libellebos is a nature park with a herd of large grazing animals where visitors can play, cycle, and go for walks. At Kinderboerderij De Olievaar in Libellebos, visitors can see goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, roosters, ducks, Vlaamse Reuzen, and rabbits. The grounds also include a sandbox, playground, aviary, water play equipment, butterfly garden, vegetable garden, and a shed with pedal go-karts, kick scooters, and bicycles.

The Tuin van Bram de Groote can be visited free of charge on the first Sunday of the months from April to September, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The entrance is on Elzenlaan, near the work shed of Landschap Noord-Holland; bicycles can be parked there.

Active experiences in De Kwakel and Uithoorn

The De Kwakelse Polder Experience offers various guided tours. The first leads over the Stellingdijk, visits the forts, and provides a view into Fort De Kwakel. The second begins at a horticultural nursery with greenhouses and outdoor cultivation, lasts 3 to 3.5 hours, and then continues by bicycle through the Uithoornse Polder to the source of the Amstel. In the meadows around a stately farmhouse dating from 1894, Poldersport offers Poldersurvival, Zeskamp, human football, Highland Games, Kidz Survival, canoeing, archery, and Quakelgolf.

The Bamboelabyrint Nirwana covers 2,500 square metres and combines a bamboo maze with a tea garden, a willow tunnel, and the play hill De Ruïne van Steenwyck. The history of the site also goes back to the Uithoorn cheese and butter market held on Thursdays: it began in 1858 and ended in 1960.

Further local pages: De Kwakel, Uithoorn.

To the overview of the wider travel destination: North Holland.

More destinations

More places within the same destination:

Bergen, Ouder-Amstel, Edam-Volendam, Schagen, Beverwijk, Oostzaan.