Voorschoten: Discover Culture and History

A visit to a castle, the village’s history in a museum, historic buildings, and routes through the town or its surrounding region offer different highlights. When planning, you can first decide whether you would prefer to explore a particular cultural theme in more depth or set aside time for an outdoor route.

A Castle Visit and the History of the Village

Kasteel Duivenvoorde can be visited independently with a mobile audio tour or with a guide. The castle also has a landscaped park. As ticketing and tour arrangements may change, check the information for your visit in advance. This makes it easy to fit the castle visit into your day’s plans without confusing it with the attractions in the town centre.

Museum Voorschoten preserves, collects, and presents the village’s ancient and more recent history. It also offers bookable guided tours of the old town. The tour goes along Voorstraat and Treubstraat, part of Schoolstraat, and the first stretch of Molenlaan. If these streets are your main focus, the tour offers a different way to learn about local history than a visit to the museum itself. Check the booking arrangements for your chosen date.

Buildings and Historical Layers

In Voorschoten, you can encounter several periods of history. The Kanaal van Corbulo dates back to Roman times. Around 50 AD, natural waterways were connected to create a waterway about 30 kilometres long between the Rhine and the Meuse. The archaeological remains of the canal in Voorschoten are a Dutch national monument. The canal forms part of the Lower Germanic Limes, which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since July 2021. This links local archaeological remains with a broader historical context.

A different period is represented by the former Zilverfabriek van Van Kempen en Begeer: the building was constructed in 1858 in the eclectic-classical style and used as a silver factory until 1984. The Catholic church complex Sint Laurentius was built between 1866 and 1868 in the Neo-Gothic style, based on designs by the architect Th. Asseler. Its furnishings include a richly carved Neo-Gothic high altar, made by the Belgian firm Peeters & Divoort around 1867. The main building at the Ter Wadding estate has been listed as a Dutch national monument since 23 August 2010. These examples differ in period, architecture, and their connection to the history of the town.

The Dorpskerk is also a venue for cultural events. Alongside church services, it hosts concerts, theatre, cabaret, and literary events. The programme varies, so plan your visit around the dates announced at the time.

Routes Through Voorschoten and the Surrounding Area

The Bomenroute combines exercise with views of 50 notable trees that can be seen from, or are located along, public roads. The walking route is 7.5 kilometres long in total. It can be divided into a 4-kilometre northern section and a 3.5-kilometre southern section. This gives you a clear choice between the full route and either of the two shorter sections. The route can also be cycled; in some sections, you must walk your bike along Ambachtspad, at Zuster Anna Lambooplantsoen, in Adegeestpark, and along De Loozepad.

For a circular walk, consider Burgemeester Berkhoutpark. The park was laid out in the landscape style between 1936 and 1944. A circular path goes around the entire park, with a few side paths and open vistas along the way. If you would like to walk a longer distance, you can choose the 10-kilometre walking route along the country estates. It passes five estates and Burgemeester Berkhoutpark and can be started at either Voorschoten NS railway station or De Vink NS railway station.

In the area around Voorschoten, the walking programme covering Prince Frederik’s country estates also includes a route through the village centre to De Paauw; two other routes go through De Horsten. The protected Duivenvoordse en Veenzijdse Polder is also suitable for walking. Its landscape includes medieval coppice woodlands and drainage waterways such as the Veenwetering and the Dobbewetering. This means you can choose between routes in town and a walk further afield during your stay.

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