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Paleis het Loo

Visit the Netherlands: Royal Family at Palace Het Loo

by Emiel Van Den Boomen

Visit Netherlands Palace Loo

The Dutch Royal family was extensively in the news last week. Our Queen Beatrix abdicated in favor of her son who will now be our new King! King Willem-Alexander will be crowned on 30 April 2013 (watch that date!).

There are a couple of royal places to visit in the Netherlands. But as many travelers only visit the big cities like Amsterdam (with the Royal Palace) and The Hague (Palace Noordeinde), a little royal gem in the eastern part of the Netherlands is often overlooked: Paleis (Palace) Het Loo.

Dutch royalty: Palace Het Loo

Close to the city of Apeldoorn, the 300 year old Palace Het Loo is waiting for your visit. Since 1984 and after a thorough renovation, this former royal residence is open to the public.

Visit Netherlands Palace Loo

It is a great opportunity to walk gracefully through the beautifully furnished quarters of the Royal Family. They have different exhibitions throughout the year. When we visited we where were thrown back in time and watched how Christmas was celebrated at the dinner table of ‘the Royals’!

Visit Netherlands Palace Loo

Visit Netherlands Palace Loo

From the outside it might not look like a fairytale castle, but the interiors are truly wonderful. The baroque gardens are great for a nice stroll.

Paleis het Loo

Royal stables

What I found interesting were the stables where lots of carriages were on display, together with some historical cars that the Queens of the Netherlands used in the past years and centuries. The last Queen who actually lived at Palace Het Loo was Queen Wilhelmina. She died in 1962 at…yes, Palace Het Loo. The white carriage is actually the one that was used for her funeral. Check out the video, impressive…

Visit Netherlands Palace Loo

Visit Netherlands Palace Loo

Many Dutch people think the Royal Family is like glue keeping us all together; on Queens Day (that will turn into Kings Day as from next year) we all feel connected and we celebrate the Queens birthday like she is the most important person in the world. However, others have long parroted that the Royal Family are only ceremonial figureheads (so without any real or political power). You want to know my opinion? Ceremonial or not, having a King or a Queen is something special. It brings added value when it exists next to the regular political forces.

Visit Netherlands Palace Loo

Inside Palace painting

Mind you, when you travel in the Netherlands and try to understand the different groups within our society, you will realise that our country is actually a beautiful patchwork of cultures. Our unity is created through diversity (but more about that in a later post on this blog).

ALSO READ: VISITING THE NETHERLANDS: OPEN AIR MUSEUM ARNHEM

The Palace is open daily, except on Mondays (and not in winter time). More information about the Palace can be found on the English website.

Cannot wait and want to read more about things to do in the Netherlands? Click here for my 5 favorite places!

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4 comments

capturinglavita December 29, 2013 - 20:33

What an exquisite place! Just beautiful.

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We Won! It's Official - We Are Awesome! Thanks To YOU!! | Life Changing Year February 14, 2013 - 01:35

[…] were so far ahead of Act Of Traveling that I actually heard Emiel weeping in his sleep all the way from the Netherlands!!  True […]

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Bama February 4, 2013 - 15:17

Our countries share so many stories. Even today, some people really paid attention to the news of the abdication of Queen Beatrix. I think it’s only about time for me to visit the Netherlands one day and pay a visit to this palace. 🙂

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Emiel van den Boomen February 5, 2013 - 11:50

They surely do, and you are so welcome to visit our little country!

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