Gelderland, NL - 2025

Gelderland is the largest province of the Netherlands, located in the centre-east of the country.

Travelling by train from Breda, between Antwerp and Rotterdam, to Zutphen, there are stops in Gelderland cities including Nijmegen and Arnhem. A few days later, a more northerly route back to Utrecht was via Apeldoorn in Gelderland.

Zutphen

View from 2nd floor front bedroom at B&B Hobbema

We stayed in Zutphen for two nights at a recommended B&B - Hobbema, a 1930s house in a quiet street near the converted watertower and within walking distance of the centre. We enjoyed chatting with our friendly hosts Marsje and Cor at breakfast time.

View west from De Wijnhuistoren towards river IJssel & road/rail bridge

Zutphen is on the eastern bank of the north flowing river IJssel at the point where it is joined by the river Berkel. Zutphen joined the Hanseatic League around 1285. The city has several historic towers and so is sometimes referred to as the city of towers. 

Our visit accidentally coincided with both the national Open Monumentendag (second weekend of September) and the local Dweildag (second Saturday of September).

These events gave us the opportunity to visit interesting buildings including the water tower and station signal box and to see a variety of marching bands performing around the city.

After an interesting free guided visit to De Wijnhuistoren, involving steep climbs to gain 360 degree views of the city, we visited Camelot Cafe, whose terrace is visible from the tower (on the left in a previous photo) and through the window by our table (in photo above left). 

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