Wassenaar: Dunes, Gardens and Historic Paths

A walk of around one hour through and around Wassenaar’s old village centre takes you past 22 historic monuments.

The poetry route features 21 poems by poets with current or former connections to Wassenaar, displayed on façades, in the paving and in public spaces. Wassenaar’s Dorpskerk preserves traces of the Van Wassenaer family, including a family coat of arms on the lords’ pew and a tomb monument in the churchyard.

Find out more about the village at Wassenaar.

History

The Wassenaarse Landgoederenzone opened in 1961 as a large public park for walking. The Buitenplaats De Paauw was established in the 17th century on the site of two older farms.

The entire park of Backershagen has Rijksmonument status, making it a protected Dutch cultural heritage site. Ter Horst preserves a geometrical French garden from the last quarter of the 17th century alongside an English landscape garden; this combination is considered unique in the Netherlands.

Three walking routes have been compiled for exploring the country estates of Prince Frederik of the Netherlands in Wassenaar and Voorschoten.

Gardens and Art

The Clingenbosch sculpture garden displays almost 70 works by national and international artists.

The Piet Oudolf garden at Museum Voorlinden blooms for three seasons and features more than 60 species of perennials and ornamental grasses. Museum Voorlinden can be reached by car, public transport and bicycle.

Nature

Wassenaar offers a landscape for walking, with forests and pastureland, an extensive dune area and the nearby beach.

Meijendel is part of Hollandse Duinen National Park and offers opportunities for cycling and extended walks through forests and high dunes, as well as views of infiltration lakes.

Kijfhoek & Bierlap is a day-ticket area within Meijendel where visitors can walk along the paths and may see Galloway cattle or Konik horses.

Meijendel is one of the ten most bird-rich nature areas in the Netherlands; moreover, nowhere else in the Netherlands are there so many nightingales.

Paths

De Tapuit, Dunea’s visitor centre, is the starting point for visits to Meijendel and offers walking and cycling routes.

The 4.5-kilometre Dunea walking route leads from the De Tapuit visitor centre through the Vogelbos to the beach and back to De Tapuit via a viewpoint.

The 3.2-kilometre Eikenroute runs through the forested part of Meijendel and includes a birdwatching wall overlooking the infiltration lakes.

The 2.6-kilometre Reeënroute starts at the De Kieviet car park and leads through high dunes, deep valleys and lush forests to the De Piek viewpoint.

A 9-kilometre walk through the Hollandse Duin nature area passes preserved bunkers and an anti-tank wall from the Atlantic Wall.

Back to the higher-level travel overview: Wassenaar.