Haar Castle is the largest castle in The Netherlands and quite easy to visit on a day trip from Amsterdam, as it is located near Utrecht.
If you only have time to visit one castle in Holland, it should be this one! It was never intended for debate, but it was (and still is) used as a kind of luxury house. You can pay extra to get inside, and the interior is beautiful and it’s worth it.
In this travel guide you will find out how to get to Haar Castle, current timetables and ticket prices, day trip options and everything you need to know before you go!
How To Get To The Lock Hair
Haar Castle is located in Haarzuilens, just outside the Dutch city of Utrecht.
You can get there by bicycle, car rental (self-propelled), taxi or public transport, or you can book a one-day package that includes pick-up and drop-off from the hotel of Amsterdam. The castle is a 30-minute drive from Amsterdam or Utrecht.
For public transport to the castle of Amsterdam Centraal, you should allow more time. You must first take the train to Utrecht Centraal and then take the train from Utrecht with the route den Haag Centraal (4x per hour) to Vleuten station.
Once in Vleuten, take bus 111 to Kasteel de Haar, a 2-minute walk away (only available on summer weekends). Alternatively, you can take the bus 127 from Vleuten to Breukelen (Brink stop in Haarzuilens), which is a 15-minute walk from the castle.
With this map you can navigate directly to the castle, which is located about 20 kilometers from the center of Utrecht or 33 kilometers from Amsterdam.
Visit To Haar Castle: What To Expect
Firstly, Haar Castle is surrounded by 135 hectares of landscaped gardens with colorful flowers, ponds, deer and beautiful landscapes, so you should explore it first. It is the perfect place for a long walk or a picnic.
The exterior of Haar Castle is impressive and photogenic, with all the usual features you would expect from a medieval castle, such as towers, turrets, moats, gates and suspension bridges.
You can take great photos of the castle from almost all sides!
In my eyes, I had never really associated castles with Holland before, but this one is really spectacular, like a fantastic castle.
It is the largest castle in the Netherlands, and one could definitely say that it is also the most beautiful. The castle has a souvenir shop, a café and a visitor center where you can buy tickets.
There is also a wildlife park on the territory of the park, where you can see friendly deer walking around and eating grass.
If you visit De Haar at the right time of the year, there are even special seasonal events taking place there, such as the Elfia Fantasy Fair and the Christmas Market.
No advance reservations or reservations are required for Kasteel de Haar, although you can book a day trip in a small group from Amsterdam if you want to avoid the hassle of organizing your own transport (more on that after).
In any matter, the castle is worth a visit, especially if you come from the USA or another country where castles are not very common!
Interior of the lock hair (interior)
The interior of the lock hair is just as impressive as the exterior! If you buy a combined ticket, you can inspect the interior at your discretion.
The interior of the Haar Castle is extremely detailed and beautiful, with luxurious rooms, sculptures and sculptures, paintings, fancy furniture, stained-glass windows, armor sets and much more. It feels like visiting an art museum.
The castle has 200 rooms! Although they only let less than a dozen of them go through, the visit inside was very thorough and it was worth it.
I can only recommend it! The combined ticket is easily worth the extra price you pay for admission.
You can take an audio tour in Dutch or English, and there are also friendly multilingual guides in almost every room of the castle to explain part of the history of the building and the people who lived there.
Taking pictures in the castle is allowed, including cameras (without flash), so we took a lot of photos. It was fascinating and we could easily have stayed longer to visit each room.
They do not allow backpacks, tripods, drones and other similar items in the lock hair, but there are convenient lockers where you can store items while visiting the interior.
Even if you can’t enter the castle itself until 11 o’clock, you can stroll through the entire grounds from 9 o’clock, so the morning is a good time to visit.
The castle is open daily. Exceptions for the holiday can be found here.
If you want to go to the castle, there is a more expensive combination ticket, which also includes the park. You can buy it on arrival or book it here in advance.
Cash is not accepted in the castle, only credit or bank cards.
History Of Haar Castle
Haar Castle looks medieval, but most of it was actually built in the 19th century and replaces some old castle ruins that had been standing there since 1391.
The property was owned by the de Haar family until 1440 and was then passed on to the Van Zuylen family by marriage.
Between 1892 and 1912, the Van Zuilens commissioned the Dutch architect Pierre Cuypers to rebuild and completely renovate the castle, turning it into a masterpiece that can be seen today.
In the 1960s, the castle became a popular place for the Van Zuylen family to host international celebrities such as Brigitte Bardot, Gregory Peck, Joan Collins, Roger Moore and Michael Caine.
In 2000, the Van Zuylen family transferred the ownership of the castle and gardens to the Kasteel de Haar Foundation, but the family reserved the right to stay in the castle for one month a year, which they continue to do every year. Happiness!
Best travel time
At any time of the year it is nice to visit the Haar Castle, although summer is best, as you can see the flowers in full bloom. The rose garden is really beautiful, with over 1,200 roses and 79 different species.
My wife was quite sad that we missed the famous tulip season in The Netherlands on this trip, but the flowers in August were always spectacular at Schloss Haar.
The best time of day to visit is the morning when the park opens for the first time (9 am), this way you can enjoy the whole park with less crowds. We were on a summer morning and for an hour or two we had the feeling that we had the place all to ourselves!
I would recommend spending 2-3 hours exploring the castle and the park, depending on the pace and whether the gardens are in full bloom during your visit. Most people will probably be ready in about 2 hours to visit everything.
