Don’t get us wrong: Amsterdam is a great place to be. It has a lot to offer, from museums and great restaurants to clubs and theatres. But sometimes even the biggest city fan wants a little escape. For a weekend with some peace and quiet, which makes you appreciate the city even more. The Betuwe is the perfect place for this little getaway. It is located in the province of Gelderland and is best known for its apple and pear orchards.
Villages in the Betuwe
Culemborg, Tiel, Elst and Huissen are somewhat bigger villages in the Betuwe. These villages are the perfect base to explore the surroundings from, if you want to stay for a weekend. But remember that the Betuwe is only a carride of about and hour away from Amsterdam, so you can absolutely visit the Betuwe for a day and come back to Amsterdam at night.
When to visit the Betuwe
The best time to visit the Betuwe is when the orchards are blooming, which is roughly in April or May. The timing of the blossom depends on the whether conditions. When it is warm early in the year, the blossom will come early. The Marienwaerd estate is a beautiful place to visit during the blossom period. You can walk through the orchards and taste local products. They also have a typical Dutch pancake restaurant which is worth a visit. If you’re visiting the Betuwe in May or June, you can taste cherries in the cherry orchards. There are plenty of orchards who have a stall by the side of the road. Fall is the harvest season. Farmers are busy harvesting all the pears and apples.
Partying in the Betuwe
The Betuwe is great to enjoy nature, take a bike ride along the dikes or eat cherries in a cherry orchard. You can also expect a great party if you visit Tiel in September. In the second weekend of September Tiel hosts Appelpop (which would translate to Apple pop). It’s a free two-day festival with lots of great well-known Dutch bands and artists. When the festival started in 1991 a couple of hundred people from around Tiel visited. Nowadays it attracts around 152,000 visitors.
In short: the Betuwe is a beautiful place to visit if you want to escape the busy city of Amsterdam.
