Het Loo Palace
Royal Palace Of The House Of Orange Built From 1684 86, With Restored Baroque Gardens; Reopened In April 2023 After A Five Year Renovation And Underground Extension · Apeldoorn, Gelderland
Het Loo Palace, Paleis Het Loo, is the grandest royal palace in the Netherlands you can actually visit, set on the edge of the Veluwe forests in Apeldoorn. It was built from 1684 to 1686 as a hunting palace for Stadtholder William III and his wife Mary Stuart, who in 1689 became King and Queen of England, and it stayed a home of the House of Orange for three centuries: Queen Wilhelmina spent her last years here. Since 1984 it has been a national museum, and after a five-year renovation it reopened on 21 April 2023 with a large underground extension of over 5,000 square metres beneath the forecourt, holding a new museum of the House of Orange and temporary exhibitions. People come for the furnished royal rooms from several centuries, the formal baroque garden restored to its 1680s plan with fountains, clipped box parterres and a colonnade, and the stables with royal carriages and cars. The honest caveats: Apeldoorn is out of the way for most visitors, the palace is closed on Mondays, and the gardens are much plainer from late autumn to early spring.
Koninklijk Park 1, Apeldoorn, on the edge of the Veluwe, Apeldoorn, Gelderland, Netherlands
Open Tuesday to Sunday, roughly 10:00-17:00, closed on Mondays (confirm holiday exceptions and any extra summer days). Buy a timed ticket online, especially on weekends and in school holidays. Apeldoorn station has direct trains from Amsterdam (about 1 hour 15 minutes, sometimes with a change - confirm) and Deventer; local buses run from the station to the palace in about 10-15 minutes (confirm line), or walk about 30-40 minutes. Paid parking is next to the entrance. Allow half a day.