{"id":14980,"date":"2019-07-03T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-03T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/?p=14980"},"modified":"2026-02-07T17:21:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T17:21:24","slug":"loevestein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/loevestein\/","title":{"rendered":"Loevestein Castle \u2013 Historic Netherlands"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LoevesteinThis is said to be the most famous castle in the Netherlands. That will come as a surprise to most tourists, who will likely not have realised that Holland even had any castles. Loevestein Castle will intrigue and delight and have visitors wanting to learn more about the history of this relatively undiscovered region of Gelderland.<\/p>\n

Loevestein Castle\u2019s rich history spans some 650 turbulent years. The most prominent time is the period when it acted as the State Prison. Ironically that celebrity is due to an inmate who actually escaped! One would likely not appreciate its colourful past when one arrives, to see sheep grazing on its grassy and peaceful fortifications.<\/p>\n

Stone bastions, moats, an arsenal<\/h4>\n

Loevestein is a castle surrounded by water. \u00a0It was built between 1357 and 1368. Its location was strategic for the protection of the Netherlands. It is where the Maas and Waal rivers meet in Gelderland. Initially it was a plain brick building from where tolls were levied from trading vessels using the two rivers. By 1372, the castle was the property of the Counts of Holland. In the 16th century it was enlarged to become a fortress surrounded by earthworks, with stone bastions, moats, an arsenal, and housing for officers and soldiers.<\/p>\n

\"LoevesteinFrom 1619 the castle became a jail for political prisoners, one of whom was the lawyer and politician Hugo de Groot who is considered to be the \u201cfather of modern international law\u201d. His wife Maria van Reigersberch, stayed with him for his controversial confinement at the castle.<\/p>\n

A learned man, Hugo had a chest of books frequently delivered to his rooms. He would read the books and return them in the same chest, exchanging them for more volumes.\u00a0 This aided his eventual escape when his wife hid him in the chest, which was carried out of the castle. \u00a0Hugo de Groot subsequently became the Swedish Ambassador to France for 10 years.<\/p>\n

\"LoevesteinPerfect holiday hub<\/h4>\n

This marvellous historic building houses not only a museum and a tavern but also accommodation. Yes, one can actually stay at Loevestein Castle. Visitors are able to book a restaurant table in the nearby town and enjoy a water-taxi ride to and from their evening destination. There are plenty of beautiful country walks in the area, so the castle makes a perfect holiday hub. Children will be transported to a time when knights passed through these striking rooms. Older visitors will welcome the tranquillity of a couple of days in such a noteworthy monument to the rich and surprising heritage of the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

Castle opening hours, apart from National Holidays:
\nJanuary \u2013 February: Saturday & Sunday 11 am \u2013 4 pm
\nMarch \u2013 April:\u00a0 Saturday & Sunday \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 11 am \u2013 5 pm
\nMay \u2013 September: Tuesday \u2013 Sunday \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 11 am \u2013 5 pm
\nJuly \u2013 August: Monday \u2013 Sunday \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 11 am \u2013 5 pm
\nOctober: Saturday & Sunday \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 11 am \u2013 5 pm
\nNovember \u2013 December: Saturday & Sunday \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 11 am \u2013 4 pm<\/p>\n

Loevestein Castle
\nLoevestein 1
\n5307 TG Poederoijen
\nThe Netherlands<\/p>\n

Phone: +31 (0)183 447171<\/p>\n

Email: info@slotloevestein.nl<\/p>\n

Visit Loevestein Castle here https:\/\/www.slotloevestein.nl\/en\/<\/a><\/p>\n

For travel with DFDS: \"DFDS\"<\/h4>\n

Travel with car:<\/strong>
\nPrices for travel with DFDS from Dover to Calais are from \u00a349 each way, or from Dover to Dunkirk are from \u00a345 each way, for a car with a maximum of nine people.<\/p>\n

High vehicle:<\/strong>
\nPrices for travel with a motorhome and up to nine people on DFDS\u2019 Dover to France service start from \u00a357 each way. For customers travelling with a car and caravan, prices start from \u00a380 each way.<\/p>\n

Additional information:<\/strong>
\nAll ships in the modern fleet feature a premium lounge, which can be booked for an additional \u00a312 per person each way. The lounge provides a quiet space with free newspapers, fresh fruit, pastries and petits-fours, soft drinks and a glass of Prosecco upon arrival.<\/p>\n

Prices vary in line with demand and are subject to change.<\/p>\n

Crossings on the Dover-Calais route take 90 minutes each way and Dover-Dunkirk sailings are two hours. Customers should check in at least 45 minutes before their scheduled sailing time, or 60 minutes prior during busy periods.<\/p>\n

Book DFDS ferries here<\/a><\/p>\n

To learn more about vacations in The Netherlands visit here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is said to be the most famous castle in the Netherlands. That will come as a surprise to most tourists, who will likely not have realised that Holland even […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23533,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37,10],"tags":[2713,2711,2712,364,153,2710,76],"class_list":["post-14980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-european-travel","category-travel","tag-dfds","tag-dover","tag-ferry","tag-historic","tag-holland","tag-loevestein-castle","tag-netherlands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14980"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25026,"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14980\/revisions\/25026"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}