"Paleis Het Loo: a must see sight" Top 5 Page for this destination Apeldoorn Things to Do Tip by vtveen

‘Paleis Het Loo’ was built in 1686 by Stadtholder William III and used for almost 300 years as a (summer) palace by members of our Royal family. Queen Wilhelmina lived here till the year of 1972. After a huge restoration palace and gardens are back in their original state. Since 1984 ‘Paleis Het Loo’ is a national museum and open for public.

Roughly there are four parts of the museum, which can be visited:
- Just behind the ticket booth are the Stables and Coach Houses with (royal) carriages and old cars. In one part of the building is a yearly changing exposition. There is also a Grand Café 'Prins Hendrik Garage'.
TIP: this part of the palace can be visited free of charge !

- Two wings of the palace: the East Wing with an art collection and the Museum of the Chancery of the Netherlands Orders of Knighthood and an art collection (open from 13.00 hours). The West Wing always offers temporary exhibitions.

- The main building with lots of rooms to visit (guided, audiotour or unguided). Rooms are decorated with original furniture, china, portraits, court-dresses and so on. They display the lives of the members of the House of Orange-Nassau, especially the members of the Dutch royal family who lived in the palace. In the main building is another café and the museum shop with unique ‘royal’ gifts.

- The gardens; here you will understand why ‘Paleis Het Loo’ is called ‘Versailles of the North’.

Be aware you will have to do a lot of walking when visiting the palace. From the car park through the palace to the end of the Upper Garden will be a couple of km’s !!

Special Events
- "Winterpaleis": with "Christmas at the Palace Het Loo", an ice rink and some special evening openinghours (see for more info website: 'Tentoonstellingen, nieuws en evenementen').
- A Royal View over the gardens: the roof of the palace is open for public on Easter, Queensday, Whit Sunday and Monday and on Wednesday’s in June, July and August;
- Monthly concert: every last Friday in the Ballroom of the palace (see for more information www.paleisconcerten.nl).

Openinghours and admission: see website (Dutch, English, French and German).

If you have some spare time also visit the three nearby monuments: The Man with Two Hats (Canadian Liberation Monument), Queen's Day Attack Monument and 'De Naald'.

Address: Koninklijk Park 1, Apeldoorn
Directions: Car: follow the signs 'Paleis Het Loo' along highways A1-A50.
Bus from the bus station: lines 102,104,400-stop 'Paleis Het Loo'; line 10-stop 'Tuinmanslaan'; lines 202,16-stop 'Gedenknaald'.
On foot: 40 minutes from the railway station.
othercontact: info@paleishetloo.nl
Phone: 055-5772400
Website: http://www.paleishetloo.nl