Holland beckons with country esates and gardens

For lovers of nature, country estates and gardens the two provinces of North-Holland and South-Holland have a lot to offer. Historical gardens and parks, country estates and castles, herb and botanical gardens, sculpture gardens and beautiful private green paradises created by gardening enthusiasts. The provinces have combined forces and published a very useful map outlining the best routes through these green jewels making it very easy to develop your own personalised route.

Historical gardens
In the 17th century, the Dutch Golden Age, many wealthy merchants began to commission the construction of country estates. These were havens of peace and tranquillity so they could get away from the bustling city life for a more relaxing time in natural surroundings. So it’s not surprising that a lot of thought and effort went into designing the gardens to go with the country estates.

Take for example the ‘Landgoed Elswout’ in Overveen which is situated on the border of the dunes. In the 18th century the gardens were designed as an English landscape garden with a deer park, orangery, ponds and pastures.

From flower park to tea garden
The most famous garden in Holland is the Keukenhof, known all over the world for their tulip displays. But apart from this well-known garden there are plenty of less famous ones that are by no means less beautiful or less interesting.

There are cottage gardens specialising in plants and flowers that are typical of the Netherlands.

Of course they haven’t missed out the many nostalgic tea gardens and impressive sculpture gardens. You can eat some scrumptious home-made cakes washed down with tea at the tea garden ‘De Witte Poort’ in the village of Middenbeemster which is a world-heritage site. Or why not visit ‘Thijsse’s Hof’ which is the oldest botanical garden in Holland. It displays around 800 plant species that occur naturally in the surrounding area.

If you fancy a leisurely walk you should visit ‘De Engelhoeve’. This cottage garden surrounding an old-fashioned cheese farmhouse boasts lavish flowerbeds, ponds, a large kitchen garden with a wide variety of vegetables and herbs, a summer house and in summer months some amazing exhibitions.

North-Holland
High dikes surround polders where pedigree cattle graze in rich pastures and historic lifting bridges are silhouetted against the clouds, just as you remember them in old Dutch paintings. But it’s not just the timeless natural beauty and the bracing air that makes North-Holland so inviting. It is also one of Holland’s most culturally rich regions, careful to preserve its long standing traditions and industries, packed with historic towns and villages, rich in museums and artefacts, and boasting outstanding architecture.

South-Holland
This province offers cheese, windmills, polders, multi-coloured bulb fields and Delft’s Blue as well as historical towns. All the traditional images of Holland can be found within a short distance of each other. With numerous child-friendly museums, theme parks, zoos, children’s farms and adventure playgrounds your kids will not get bored either.

For more information visit www.noord-holland-tourist.nl or www.holland.com.