Since my visit to Amsterdam this month was my second time there, I tried to squeeze in as many side quests as possible to new places. These included Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Delft. But by far the best day trip I took was to the Kröller-Müller Museum and De Hoge Veluwe National Park.
If you’re staying in Amsterdam, it is quite an effort to get to these places by public transport. It won’t be cheap either. Despite this, I would genuinely recommend it to anyone.
Google Maps says the trek from Amsterdam Centraal station to the Kröller-Müller Museum generally takes at least two hours. However, check local site 9292.nl, as it can come up with better options. (It might try to sneak a taxi ride into your itinerary, which you can remove by changing the option ‘Plan with transport on demand’ to ‘No’.)
From where I was staying a few kilometres from the city centre, it did indeed end up taking about two hours. It also cost me approximately €20 ($33) in each direction… Yes, both the time and money are likely off-putting, but there are alternatives.
If you’re in a group, it looks to be both cheaper and quicker to hire a car. I can see last-minute rentals for under $100 a day and the drive to the the Kröller-Müller Museum should take an hour. Meanwhile, there is apparently a small group tour from Amsterdam with prices starting at €199 ($324).
Entry into De Hoge Veluwe National Park costs €13.05 ($21) per adult. Tickets to the Kröller-Müller Museum, which is located inside the park, are another €13 ($21) per adult. Admittedly, this all adds up to being a pretty expensive day out. I still stand by it being worth it though!
My journey
After walking from my hostel, my journey began at Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA station at 8:20am. I jumped on a train heading towards Nijmegen and got off at Arnhem Centraal station nearly an hour later. I then took bus route 105 for roughly 25 minutes to the stop Otterlo Rotonde.
Bus route 106 took me to the rest of the way. This is run by a mini bus which can get full. The first stop is at the entrance to the Hoge Veluwe National Park, where I got out and bought a ticket. Then I got back on and within a few minutes was just outside the Kröller-Müller Museum.
If you decide to walk from Otterlo Rotonde, it’ll take about 20 minutes to get to the entrance to the park. Then you can grab one of the 1,800 free white bikes to get to the museum or elsewhere. I’ll talk more about these later on.
The Kröller-Müller Museum
The Kröller-Müller Museum officially opened in 1938. It is probably most famous for having one of the world’s largest Van Gogh collections, second only to the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
I enjoyed looking at all the different works by Van Gogh and other artists. But I think the real highlight of the Kröller-Müller Museum is its sculpture garden. There are more than 160 sculptures spread out over 25 hectares. Watch the video below for some of my favourites.
You could potentially spend the whole day just walking around the sculpture garden, at least if the weather allows. (They do cover up some of the pieces during winter). Even though the food from the museum’s cafe was okay, I’d recommend bringing along a picnic lunch to enjoy on the grounds.
Hopefully you’ve still got energy (and your feet aren’t too sore) after seeing the museum and sculpture garden. There’s still a national park left to check out!
De Hoge Veluwe National Park
De Hoge Veluwe National Park was originally a private estate for Anton Kröller and Helene Kröller-Müller (the museum’s founder) in the early 1900s before being turned into a national park in 1935.
According to its official website, the park has some 5,400 hectares of woodland, heathland, drift sands and peat bogs. Once you’re finished up at the museum, grab a bike and start exploring it.
I had held off on hiring a bike in the Netherlands up until this point due to cost. But since these ones are free (or I guess included in the entry price), I took full advantage.
While there are actual routes you can follow, I just ended up riding around randomly and stopping off at points of interest. If you stick to the paths, there are plenty of signs with directions and distances.
Make sure to head to Jachthuis Sint Hubertus, the former residence of Anton and Helene. There is also an underground museum, Museonder, which seems to be mainly for kids. It’s probably still worth a walk through if you’re near the visitor’s centre.
Just taking in all the nature as you bike or walk around truly makes for an awesome experience. I genuinely lost track of time but ended up riding around for hours.
If you find yourself in the Netherlands, try to squeeze in a trip to the Kröller-Müller Museum and De Hoge Veluwe National Park. Whether you make the trek all the way from Amsterdam or maybe somewhere closer by, I really don’t think you’ll regret it.
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