Royalty and the Modern Era

Emilia had the external portion of the castle heavily renovated before moving in. Centuries later, a devastating fire (1906) completely gutted the internal portion of the castle, but these renovations remained intact. As such, the legacy of her era’s architecture is what you’ll find when you visit Wijchen, listed as 11^th on their top 20 castles, on your trip to the Netherlands.

The small country has over 600 castles and country homes anyone can visit. Many of these sites are strongly connected to royalty and people of noble births.

The country is also proud that these estates are open to the public through means of museums, restaurants, attractions, hostels and luxury hotels.

The province of Gelderland has several castles turned hotel. One of these is Castle de Essenburgh, built 17^th century, which has 37 rooms available for booking, and is only a 15-minute walk away to de Zwaluwhoeve, a spa.

Other castles for stay in this region include Châteaux Castle Engelenburg, which is host to a golf course.

There’s also Ophemert Castle, a bed and breakfast style lodging. This quaint hotel was built in the 13^th century, but don’t let that fool you, it now has an outdoor swimming pool available.

Modern meets history when it comes to shopping in Nijmegen. You’ll actually find traces of the Roman influence in this area as you take your grand shopping spree.

The country’s oldest street “market” is still going strong with luxury fashion stores and department stores.

There are parks, squares, cafés and restaurants to discover as you stroll this area. But don’t get lost in the labyrinth, Malden Maize — just kidding, you’re more than welcome to visit this tourist attraction