Montfoort: Historic Places and Routes in the Green Countryside

Montfoort lies on the Hollandse IJssel. If you are looking for a hotel in Montfoort, you can plan your trip around the places and activities that interest you most: mills and town history, routes through the polders, or art and regional products. Linschoten also offers its own historical and landscape connections.

Countryside and Routes around Montfoort

Landgoed Linschoten covers more than 500 hectares and is the largest contiguous estate within the Randstad. It is also a protected nature area with many distinctive plants. TOP Landgoed Linschoten is a starting point for exploring the surrounding polders on foot, by bicycle or by boat. This gives you a choice of different ways to get around when planning your excursions.

The more than three-kilometre-long Engherkade runs between Montfoort and Linschoten, along a dike through a landscape of pastures, meadow birds such as curlews and lapwings, cows and numerous ditches. The Doortraproute Montfoort offers a different view of the region: this 31.3-kilometre cycling route passes through Linschoten, Montfoort and Oudewater, and by cheese farms, orchards and Molen De Valk. As route conditions can change, check them before setting out.

Mills, Museums and History

Molen De Valk has shaped Montfoort’s townscape for more than 250 years. Guided tours with experienced millers are offered on Saturdays; check the schedule before your trip. The mill also grinds and sifts flour and prepares baking mixes. Stadsmuseum De Knoperij presents Montfoort’s thousand-year history through themed exhibitions. Exhibitions may change. The museum is also a starting point for historic town walks, available on paper, digitally or with a guide; booking arrangements may also change.

Button-making is part of Montfoort’s history and was important in the 17th and 18th centuries. Galerie Montfoort is located in the basement of the former town hall, dating from 1375. It displays works by the gallery owners and other artists. Those interested in architectural history can also take note of Kasteel Montfoort: it was originally built in the Middle Ages on the edge of the town centre.

Linschoten is home to the present-day Grote of Sint-Janskerk, which dates from the 13th century. Its origins are thought to lie in a chapel at the nearby Castle Linschoten, which has been gone for centuries. The village has a protected townscape. The church and historic village setting thus offer a different focus from the mills and town history of Montfoort.

Activities for Different Interests

The QR-Fit and experience route offers free outdoor exercise in Montfoort and Linschoten. Its Montfoort section is 3.1 kilometres long and passes through the town park and the Hofland neighbourhood. The route includes the Waterflipper, an educational experience about animals in and around the water in the town park. If you prefer to explore historic places on foot, the Monumentenroute Montfoort booklet provides the route and information about the monuments. The booklet is available from the Toeristisch Informatiecentrum TIP De Knoperij; check availability before your visit.

Boer Hans has an 18-hole miniature golf course as well as farm games such as tug-of-war, scooping water from the ditch, cheese carrying and wheelbarrow races. Klompen footgolf takes place amid the extensive pastures of the Groene Hart. Het Beloken Land offers guided visits to a duck decoy; advance booking is required. Check the current conditions for activities before your trip.

Art and Regional Cuisine

Many visitors travelling along the Hollandsche IJssel often moor behind the Stadscafé Het Oude Stadhuis for a culinary and artistic outing. Het Oude Stadhuis is a medieval building and part of the former IJsselpoort; today it houses a restaurant and a characterful town café. Check availability before your trip. Refined seasonal dishes made with local ingredients are served in the historic setting of Kasteel Montfoort.

The farm shop at the cheese and care farm Boerderij Doruvael sells cheese from its own farm and other regional products. In the summer months, the farm serves freshly baked apple pie, herbal tea from its own garden and toast with homemade cheese on the terrace, overlooking the pastures. Check this seasonal offering before your trip. You can therefore choose your travel dates based on the guided tours, exhibitions or seasonal offerings that are of interest to you.

Discover more destinations: Montfoort, Linschoten, Ijsselstein, Renswoude, Loenen, Stichtse Vecht, Bunschoten, Woudenberg.

For the broader travel overview: Utrecht.