Vacation fun at Castle de Haar
It’s summer vacation time. Also for us a challenge to do something fun with the children between work. Wednesday is our regular day off and during the vacations we always try to do something fun with the kids. Today we planned to visit Castle de Haar in Utrecht.
Castle de Haar is one of the most beautiful castles in the Netherlands and is located in a beautiful castle garden surrounded by a park. We had already read on the website that there are several scavenger hunts available for the kids during the summer vacations.
Harry Potter
Our boys are totally in a Harry Potter mood at the moment so they loved going to a castle. Especially when they came to the conclusion that Castle de Haar also looks a lot like Hogwarts. In other words, when we set off for Castle de Haar, we had three kids sitting in the back seat with a wizard’s cloak slung around their shoulder and wand ready in their hand.
Discovering the castle with a scavenger hunt
Arriving at De Haar, we could easily park in the spacious parking lot. From there we walked right up to the gate of the grounds and onto the castle square. Here we started with a nice cup of coffee (Fristi for the children of course) and apple pie at the Coach House.
The castle store also serves as the entrance to the castle and castle garden and there we could buy the scavenger hunt. The two oldest boys got the tour from the baron and baroness and the youngest the animal scavenger hunt. Full of enthusiasm, we rushed to the castle and the boys quickly set out to find the assignments they were given in the scavenger hunts.
A beautiful castle with many stories
The castle is in very good condition and is therefore still often used for film sets, parties and events. All spaces and rooms are furnished in such a way, with the original inventory, that you get a good idea of how the last residents (Baron and Baroness van Zuylen van Nijevelt) lived here.
Exploring the castle garden
After we had admired the entire castle and gone through all the rooms, the children also finished their scavenger hunt. We then started exploring the grounds around the castle. The children soon discovered a group of trees along the castle garden that was renamed The Forbidden Forest. And when they found the maze located a little further back in the park, they were absolutely thrilled.
The entire maze scene from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was played out with abandon. After all that fun, we started to get hungry and headed back to the Coach House for a nice lunch.
A successful outing
The kids had a great day, but it was also a very nice outing for us. A beautiful castle that absolutely appeals to the imagination and about which the room guides can tell a lot of beautiful stories.
