Cycling through the Utrechtse Heuvelrug National Park

A cycling tour full of castles and beautiful old buildings of allure, which surround the Utrechtse Heuvelrug National Park. This route takes you along the banks of the Lower Rhine, through the southeastern part of De Utrechtse Heuvelrug National Park. The sand ridge consists of several peaks, each with its own name. Some of them are higher than fifty meters and on a total area of approximately 23,000 hectares there are thousands of trees swaying in the wind. This makes the Utrechtse Heuvelrug the largest forest area in the Netherlands after the Veluwe. You will see the best of the Utrechtse Heuvelrug during this bike tour. Both the Amerong and Zuylestein forests still exude an atmosphere of old estates. Forests are intersected by long avenues. In these forests you will find the pine marten, the bat, but also many special ground beetles. Various plant species give this part of the sand ridge a varied appearance. The Amerongse forest is located on a 69 meter high mountain and is one of the oldest pieces of forest in the Utrechtse Heuvelrug. The first sight of the bike tour is a castle-like country house in Maarsbergen that was built in 1660. The building was built in the neo-Gothic style. You can look forward to Sterkenburg Castle, which is waiting for you just a few kilometers further. Sterkenburg Castle is the next stop on the route. The oldest mention of this knightly court town dates from 1261. The history of the castle is marked by the brutal murder of Anthonis van Aeswijn in June 1647, which was never solved. Hindersteijn, of which the oldest mention is made around 1300, is privately owned and therefore cannot be visited. There is a residential tower on the estate that was built at the beginning of the country estate's history. The castle falls under the Natural Beauty Act of 1928 and is protected as a national monument. Close by is Lunenburg Castle, which first appears in the archives of history in 1339. Until the end of the eighteenth century, there was still a moat around the estate and the forecourt was built on. The canal was then filled in, the buildings on the forecourt were demolished and the tower was expanded into a classicist country house. The castle is not open to the public, but garden days are occasionally organized. After four kilometers you arrive at Walenburg Castle. This castle from the thirteenth century is located on a small square island with a second island behind it, on which the castle garden is located. It originated as a knight's court town and was previously also called Walensteyn. The nearby Sandenburg Castle, which was first mentioned in 1391, is part of the estate of the same name. In 1865 the castle was purchased by a count who, with the help of an architect, had the current castle built. To this day, this castle is privately inhabited by the descendants of that count, the Van Lynden van Sandenburg family. Natewisch Castle is nothing more than a robust residential tower. It is already very old: the building was built around 1270. Back then it was a much more extensive complex, but over the years only the imposing tower has remained standing. The last sight of the tour is Bergestein Castle, which is located a little way off the road. This will take you back to Cafe Restaurant Hotel De Buitenlust. The journey of almost 60 kilometers has undoubtedly made you tired, so we recommend that you do nothing in the evening and stay overnight in the hotel. You no longer have to look for a place to eat well, because the hotel restaurant serves delicious daily specials or a good dish from the menu. With a drink on the terrace, a nice chat or a quiet moment with a book, you can give your muscles a well-deserved rest before crawling between the fresh sheets.