Gardens of Eden

The art of gardening is based on three principles: location, water and money. In the Netherlands the Dutch classicism comes into existence with domes, arbours, cabinets and symmetrical coordinate systems as far as the moats. With the arrival of Jacob Roman and Daniel Marot at the end of the 17th century the French baroque garden became the trend: an enlarged terrain by means of long middle axes as far as the surrounding landscape, strong symmetry, water gardens, parterres de broderie and many statues.

Holland’ s Versailles

The French architect Marot played an important role in the lay-out of the grounds of castle Het Loo. This is expressed in the symmetrical subdivision into parterres and in the beautiful broderies of buxus as can also be found in the gardens of Versailles. We find the old Dutch garden style again at the borders with their flowering perennials.

The splendour of a 17th century royal garden

In the eighties the garden of Het Loo was restored into its 17th century splendour and thus became a unique garden in Europe with many statues, watergardens, fountains, terraces, pergolas and vases. By visiting Het Loo , where you can fully enjoy a splendid garden in royal surroundings, HollandThe RideWay offers you an excellent alternative to the real Versailles.

Plant sundial

The delightful garden of one of the county seats in the northern part of Holland will show you a truly special garden lay-out in the shape of a plant sundial.

Little Snowwhite Roses

If you love roses, a visit to a castle with no less than 42 varieties of roses in the castle garden, among which the enchanting Snowwhite is a must.

English landscape style

A country estate, which is situated at the inner dunes with its park in English landscape style with age-old beeches, is an oasis in the crowded and urbanised western part of Holland.

Roman garden

At the end of the 19th century Castle De Haar got an English landscape park with French period gardens immediately round the building.
The Roman garden takes its form from a Roman racecourse, it is an extensive grassparterre with flowerbeds laid-out according to a geometrical pattern. In addition there are a hundred-year-old buxus palmgarden, a rose garden with a rose arch and scattered medieval fortification motives in the form of brick bastions complete with loopholes.

The eco cathedral

In the sixties and seventies the so-called wild gardens, where nature could take its own course, were very popular. Le Roy created with the help of 700 truckloads of scrap and waste materials a four hectare (16 acres-) large wild garden as a model for urban greendevelopment. This garden looks like a site of Inca ruins.

Private gardens

Of course, this is only a small selection of HollandTheRideWay’s gardens suggestions.
The country also has dozens of beautiful private gardens which are open to the public, and, not to mention the many arboreti, horti and nursery gardens to be found in the Netherlands.