Why you Should Take a Day Trip to Kasteel de Haar and Everything you Need to Know!
Getting to Kasteel de Haar (aka Castle de Haar, De Haar Castle, etc) tested my nerves a little because I wasn’t fully prepared. But let me tell you, it was worth it and I am here to help make getting there and planning a trip to the castle easier!
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Why visit Kateel de Haar?
Kasteel de Haar is the biggest castle in the Netherlands and is located just outside of Utrecht, Netherlands. Why take a trip to Kasteel de Haar? I think the pictures speak for themselves! 😍 Maybe I’m alone in my obsession with castles, but, if not, this castle should be on your list to see! It has Disney-approved (I’m sure) architecture, surrounded by a moat and beautiful gardens outside.
To learn more about the history of the castle and the family, you can visit the Kasteel de Haar site!
How to get there
A day trip to Kasteel de Haar is easiest from Utrecht, though it can be done from Amsterdam as well. Directions to get there also depend on what day of the week you visit!
Utrecht to kasteel de Haar:
Monday-Friday
- Take the sprinter train from Utrecht central to Vleuten train station
- This is only about a 10 minute train ride
- Be sure you get the right train; not all of them stop at Vleuten station!
- The best app for clearest train instructions is the NS app!!
- From the Vleuten train station you will walk down the stairs to the Vleuten bus station
- Take bus 127 to the “Brink Haarzuilens” stop (about a 5-10 minute bus ride)
- From the bus stop you will have about an 18 minute walk to the entrance where you can purchase tickets (I know, quite a walk!)
Saturday-Sunday
- Still train from Utrecht Central to Vleuten train station
- However, on the weekend, take bus 111 from Vleuten to “Kasteel de Haar, Haarzuilens” stop. This bus route will take you to the castle entrance and save you quite a walk!
- This information was given to me by someone who worked at the castle when I asked if there was an easier way to get back to Utrecht from the castle
- They looked up the bus routes and informed me the bus that came to the castle entrance was on the weekends only. I’m not sure if this is year-round or not, honestly!
For everything you need to know about visiting Utrecht, click here!
Amsterdam to kasteel de Haar:
- Do all of the above, but you will train from Amsterdam central station to Utrecht central station and then continue on from there
- This ends up being about an hour and a half travel time
How Much time is Needed to visit
Obviously the time will depend on where you are coming from and what day.
Prepare for:
- About 50 minutes to an hour to get from Utrecht to the castle and about an hour and a half if day-tripping from Amsterdam
- If you would rather, you can also take a Taxi or Bolt to the castle, which is likely between $40-$50 one-way from Utrecht but cuts the trip to 20-30 minutes to the castle
- We spent about 2 hours at Kasteel de Haar exploring the gardens and did a self-guided indoor tour
- In total, prepare for 4-5 hours at the least for a day trip to Kasteel de Haar!
Good news is, though, if you arrive around 10am you can spend some time in the gardens, explore the inside and be back in Utrecht by about 2 or 3 pm giving you time to fit other activities into the afternoon.
Grounds Tour or Inside Tour?
As you can see above, it takes a little effort to get to the castle. Therefore, I recommend if you are going to take the time to go to the castle then you should see inside the castle as well.
The rooms are set up as they would have been when the castle was used regularly and workers are available in some of the popular rooms to explain what the room was used for, etc.
Cost of a day trip to Kasteel de Haar
You can choose to just visit the outside and the gardens or you ca take a self-guided tour inside the castle. Prices:
- Garden only: 7 euros per person
- Gardens and castle self-guided tour: 19 euros per person
- Train tickets are about 3.5 euros one-way to Vleuten station and bus tickets to the castle are about 2-4 euros one-way
- Total cost of a day trip from Utrecht to Kasteel de Haar: around 32 euros (give or take a few euros) with entrance to the castle
Book tickets into Kasteel de Haar and the Gardens here!
Guided Tour to Kasteel de Haar from Amsterdam
If you are coming from Amsterdam, a guided tour may be a good option if you don’t want to take two trains and a bus to get to the castle.
- The tours leave from Amsterdam at around 10:15 in the morning, drive you the 45 minutes direct drive to the castle and then will do about a 3 hour tour around the castle and the gardens. Entry is included in the ticket.
- The guided tour from Amsterdam can be booked below!
Kasteel de Haar hours
Kasteel de Haar hours:
- Gardens: open from 9am to 5:00 pm
- Castle: open from 11am to 5 pm (doors close at 4:30pm)
Kasteel de Haar Recap!
Kasteel de Haar was one of our favorite day trips on our 5-day itinerary to Amsterdam! Though it was a bit out of town (and took us longer because we got on the wrong train), we enjoyed seeing more of the Dutch countryside on the trip there and really felt like it added something different to the itinerary!
For a details on how we spent 5 days in and around Amsterdam, click here!
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