Route through Utrecht

Old NS Walk Amelisweerd, which also leads past Museum Oud Amelisweerd

Before you go for a walk…

Introduction
The Walking Platform-LAW has put together a series of walking tours from station to station in collaboration with the Dutch Railways. These NS walking tours follow part of a Long Distance Walking Path (LAW). The Amelisweerd route runs together with the Utrechtpad (region path 13, a route of 163 km through the province of Utrecht and the Gelderse Valley). You start at the Central Station in Utrecht and walk out of the city along the Oude Gracht and the Kromme Rijn. Via the towpath along the Kromme Rijn and the Amelisweerd estate, you will arrive at Bunnik station after about 15 km. It is possible to shorten the route by taking the bus back to Utrecht Central Station after 7, 10 or 12 km. You can also shorten the route by skipping a small part of the route at the Nieuw Amelisweerd estate. The length of the route is then 13 km.

Directions
The description of the walk is divided into smaller parts. These pieces are indicated with yellow-red blocks. The text of the route description is interspersed with brief background information about places of interest, nature and landscape. This information is printed in red and is indicated by numbers. The numbers in the text can be found on the map

Marking the route
The first kilometer the route is indicated with yellow-red signs with an NS logo. From the Lichte Gaard the route is marked with yellow-red markings of the Utrechtpad. The extra loop through the Oud Amelisweerd estate is marked with yellow-red signs with an NS logo. An NS logo has also been incorporated in the yellow-red signs on the branch route through Bunnik. You will find the markings on fences, traffic signs, bollards and sometimes on trees. Markings have been made especially at those points where doubts about the correct route could arise: at or just after junctions or intersections. Where directions and marking differ, continue to follow the marking as much as possible. In this way, interim changes in the terrain are accommodated.
The marking is applied in the following way:

The marking of the route is maintained by volunteers from the Walking Platform-LAW and the Nivon.

Catering on the go
You will find many catering establishments on the Oude Gracht in Utrecht. In Oud Amelisweerd you can go to De Veldkeuken (www.veldkeuken.nl ) for honest and traditional catering, located next to Museum Oud Amelisweerd (www.moa.nl). 
After more than 10 km you will pass a tea house in Rhijnauwen that is open daily all year round from 11.00 am (Saturday and Sunday from 10.30 am).
In Bunnik you will find café-restaurant't Wapen van Bunnik\\\' (closed on Tuesdays) on the Dorpsstraat.

Public transport between station and walking tour
After 7 km, a city bus to Central Station stops several times a day at the Galgenwaard stadium in Utrecht. After 9.5 km you can go to the Oud-Amelisweerd bus stop at Oud Amelisweerd. After 12 km you can take a branch route at the Rhijnauwen tea house to the Rhijnauwenselaan bus stop.

Train journey back
Trains to Utrecht run daily from Bunnik station. A train also runs in the direction of Rhenen. For the direction of Arnhem you have to change trains in Driebergen-Zeist. For further information about the timetable, call 9292 OV Reisinformatie, 0900 - 9292 (€ 0.70 per minute) or look on the internet: www.9292ov.nl or www.ns.nl.

Description of the walk
From the station hall, walk towards Hoog Catharijne. After 25 meters turn right, exit'Streekbuses\\\'. At the bottom of the escalators, walk straight ahead across the regional bus station. At the end, turn left, cross the tram track and enter the Moreelsepark. Straight ahead you will see the Domtoren. At the traffic lights cross straight to the Mariaplaats. Straight ahead and at the end turn right. After 30 meters turn left and you will enter the Zadelstraat. You walk in the direction of the Domtoren.
Cross the bridge and you will arrive at the Vismarkt. Here you turn right into the Lichte Gaard. From here you follow the yellow-red marking of the Utrechtpad. The Lichte Gaard changes into the Donkere Gaard and then into the Oude Gracht (Tolsteeg side). Keep following the Oude Gracht to the end. (It is also nice to walk down the old quays. You must always take the stairs down and up at the bridges over the canal.) The Oude Gracht changes into the Twijnstraat. Enter the Twijnstraat and at the end go straight across the Tolsteegbrug (keep to the left).

(1) Old unloading quays and wharf cellars
Where the water now ripples along the high quay walls in the Oude Gracht, a river flowed long ago, a branch of the Rhine. At the time, the banks were protected with piles. When the water level dropped in the 13th and 14th centuries due to reclamations outside the city, new banks were created within the revetment due to siltation. Sturdy quays were built on top of this, which made it possible to unload ships. The cellars were extended from the canal houses to these yards. This created extra storage space close to the unloading bays. The old quays with their wharf cellars are now pleasant, almost rural parts of Utrecht.
After the bridge turn left and after a few meters turn right to cross the busy road. Turn left at ANWB bicycle signpost, direction Hilversum/Zeist. Follow the Kromme Rijn clinker street diagonally to the right before the water, along the river of the same name. After 100 meters you walk under a viaduct. 300 meters further you will reach the first piece of towpath along the Kromme Rijn via a lock gate. Follow this path under the railway bridge. Beyond this bridge you will enter a park. Continue straight on the paved footpath along the river. You cross two roads straight ahead. After 500 meters at the end of the park, take the path diagonally to the left, which continues along the river under the low viaduct of the national road.

(2) Towpath
The name'tow path\\\' still reminds of the days of the barges. These were pulled by a horse or a man in the absence of wind. The man who had to keep the horse moving along the path was called the'hunter\\\'. Long before that time, the Kromme Rijn was a wild, unpredictable stream, more than 60 meters wide. In the 12th century, the Rhine at Wijk bij Duurstede was dammed. From that time on, the Rhine water is fed to the sea via the Lek.
Continue to follow the towpath along the Kromme Rijn and you will pass some sports fields on your right. After crossing the Laan van Maarschalkerweerd, you pass the Mytylschool and two farms. The path then goes under the viaduct of the A27 motorway. Shortly after passing the viaduct you will see a rectangular, sand-coloured construction on the right against the embankment of the motorway. The many round holes in it provide nesting opportunities for sand martins in the summer. After about 1 km you will pass a white wooden bridge over the Kromme Rijn.
The bridge gives access to the Nieuw Amelisweerd estate. However, you do not cross this bridge, but continue to follow the river until the second bridge, 1.5 km further. Cross this bridge and you will arrive at the Oud Amelisweerd estate. (You can also shorten the route here by 2 km. In that case, you do not cross the bridge, but follow straight ahead with the Kromme Rijn on your left, the yellow-red marked Streekpad Utrecht (which here briefly runs parallel to the yellow-red with blue accent marked Waterliniepad) At the next bridge both routes (the extra loop through Oud Amelisweerd and the Utrechtpad) come together again, see the broken line on the map and read more at * on page 12).

(3) Country house Oud Amelisweerd : Museum Oud Amelisweerd
The name Amelisweerd comes from knight Amelis, who in the early 13th century was lent by the Proosdij of Oud Munster with an innkeeper near Bunnik. A host or weert is an island in a river or a piece of land that was flooded at high tide. After that the knight called himself Amelius uten Weerde, which later became Amelisweerd. The country house Oud Amelisweerd dates from 1770. The castle, together with Nieuw Amelisweerd, gained a certain fame when it was bought in 1808 by King Lodewijk Napoleon. Plans were made to furnish the whole, together with a new palace to be built, as a royal residence. It did not come to that and in 1810 the estates became Dutch property again.
Since August 2012, the country house has been a museum and is open to the public: Museum Oud Amelisweerd (MOA). Combine your walk with a visit to this house of art and nature. Check www.moa.nl for all changing activities and opening times. A visitor center has been set up in the coach house of Oud Amelisweerd. During opening hours you can also have a drink here and try delicacies, which are prepared according to traditional methods in the Veldkeuken. The ingredients mostly come from the two centuries-old vegetable gardens on Amelisweerd.

(4) Landscape Amelisweerd
The landscape of Amelisweerd is a patchwork of pilot whales, forests, meadows and orchards, intersected by ditches, straight avenues and winding paths. The forests were planted in the 17th and 18th centuries. Much of the land was leased to farmers. They built their farms on the higher grounds and used the lower and therefore wetter grounds as pastures.
Through Oud-Amelisweerd, follow the yellow-red markings with the NS logo. After the next bridge you will arrive at a five-forked road. You are now in the park forest of Oud Amelisweerd. At the five-forked road, take the second path to the left and turn left 10 meters further on. A little further turn left again. You arrive at a spacious six-fork and take the second path to the right. Keep left after approximately 80 metres. The path leads to a wider path, keep right here. At a wooden bridge turn left over the bridge. Keep right at the Y-junction. At the next Y-junction keep right again along the water. Cross a wooden bridge to the right and immediately turn right. After about 60 meters cross another wooden bridge (ignore the wooden bridge to the left) and go straight on.
Keep going straight on via a winding path to a four-fork at the edge of the forest. In the distance on the left you will see the country house Nieuw Amelisweerd. Go straight on here. At the end of the long, straight lane, turn right onto an asphalt road. After about 100 meters turn left over a white bridge and immediately right. You keep to the right until you see another white bridge on the right. Cross this bridge and cross the asphalt road. Go straight ahead again into the Oud Amelisweerd estate.

(5) Styles in the Oud Amelisweerd park forest
Two styles can be distinguished in the Oud Amelisweerd park forest. The straight avenues with rows of trees on either side date from 1700 and belong to the Baroque style. The winding paths with vistas and water features are characteristics of the English landscape style. In 1770, a large part of the forest was'modernized\\\' in this style.
At a crossroads, take the path to the right. This path runs parallel to the edge of the forest and turns left after 100 metres. You take the second path on your left. At a crossroads with a wide path, with the country house on the right, go straight ahead. At the end of the path turn right and immediately left, asphalt path. There is a farm on your right. Go straight ahead past the barrier. You will pass a tennis court and keep going straight. On your right is the park forest of Rhijnauwen, on your left is a large lawn. At the intersection with the asphalt road, at the end of the forest, turn right and you will reach the tea house Rhijnauwen.
Before the tea house turn right and immediately left into the forest path. After 150 meters turn left under a stone gatehouse. Directly to the left you will find bar'het Koetshuis\\\', also reception of the Stayokay Hostel. A little further to the left is the country house Rhijnauwen, in which the actual Stayokay hostel is located. Walk straight ahead and pass the bridge over the Kromme Rijn. Across the bridge, turn left again * and follow the towpath along the southern bank. You now follow the yellow-red marking without NS logo.

(6) Rhijnauwen
The name Rhijnauwen is first mentioned in 1212. Like Old and New Amelisweerd, Rhijnauwen was registered as a knight's court town in the Middle Ages. A knight's court city was a fortified (stone) house, surrounded by a moat. The Fort near Rhijnauwen is part of the New Dutch Waterline, built in the last century. The fortification consists of barracks and flank batteries, dug into earthen walls around a large open space. The whole is surrounded by a double moat and overgrown with trees and shrubs, making it an important nature reserve with hundreds of species of plants and animals. The fort is only accessible to participants in guided tours.
After about 10 minutes you will reach a new bridge with white painted railings (Rijnsoeverbrug). Do not cross the bridge, but continue on the towpath until you reach the second bridge 1.5 km further on. Cross this bridge, immediately to the right and now follow the towpath on the other side of the Kromme Rijn. On the right you will see the castle Cammingha. You pass a footbridge. Cross the next bridge and continue the path on the left bank until the next wooden bridge at the old Reformed church of Bunnik.
Cross this bridge and walk straight ahead via the Dorpsstraat, a cobbled road to the Provincialeweg. The route to Bunnik station is indicated by yellow-red markings with an NS logo. Café-restaurant't Wapen van Bunnik\\\' is located on the Dorpsstraat (closed on Tuesdays). Cross the road at the traffic lights and walk straight into the street in front of you (Molenweg). At the crossroads go straight into the Groeneweg. Follow this road to Bunnik station. It is about a 15-minute walk from the church in Bunnik to the station.

Finally...

Walking platform-LAW
On this walk you have become acquainted with a piece of the Long-Distance Walking Path (LAW). In our country, more than 40 LAW\\\'s, varying in length from 80 to 488 km, have been described and marked. All activities in the field of LAW\\\'s in the Netherlands are coordinated by the Walking Platform-LAW. In addition, the platform represents the interests of all recreational walkers in the Netherlands. Twelve organizations work together within this foundation. If you would like more information about LAW\\\'s or if you have any comments about this walking tour, please write to: Wandelplatform-LAW, Postbus 846, 3800 AV Amersfoort or slaw@wandelnet.nl

NS walking tours
The series of NS walking tours consists of various walks, spread across the Netherlands, including a number of two-day tours. The list below gives you an impression of some possibilities in the Utrecht area, subject to change. More information about these and other walks can be found at www.ns.nl or in'Er-op-Uit!\\\', for sale at an NS counter, at the ANWB, at the post office and in the bookshop. You can also download the route descriptions for free via www.ns.nl.