Gelders Arcadië

Not to be confused with Rhenen, a town in Utrecht, found along the Nederrijn river..

Gelders Arcadië is littered with castles and country estates. Shown is the Gelderse Toren in Spankeren.

Gelders Arcadië is an area in between the Veluwezoom dunes and the river IJssel. The area is notable for its high density in (former) estates, many of which, especially around Arnhem have been turned into public parks. The complete region consists of three municipalities, whereas this article only includes two: Rheden and Rozendaal. Arnhem, which is part of the region, has its own article.

Understand

The Veluwe, which Gelders Arcadië borders and is partly in, has been settled for over 2000 years. The oldest known settlements in Rheden date from the 9th century. Over time, many castles and later estates were built where the Veluwezoom meets the river IJssel. These estates were most always in the woods, allowing for hunting opportunities, while also being easily reachable from the rest of the Netherlands. The boom in estates happened not long after Staatslijn A (The Arnhem — Leeuwarden railway) was completed in the 1860s. The region has always offered a beautiful retreat for the wealthy Dutch, but is now accessible and affordable for practically anyone. Aside from estates, the region is littered with forests, hills and heath on the Veluwezoom side (northwest), while being relatively flat at the floodplains of the river IJssel. Velp and Dieren, at opposite sides of the region, are the biggest cities.

Get in

The Velperbroek interchange. In the distance are the river IJssel and Westervoort. In the bottom left is Velp.

By car

Coming from either the Western or Southern Netherlands, first head to Arnhem via the A12 highway (from The Hague) or A15/E31 (from Rotterdam), make your way onto the A12 heading east towards Zutphen. This will get you onto the A348. If you'd like to get to Velp, turn off of the highway directly into town at the Velperbroek Interchange (Knooppunt Velperbroek). The A348 will get you to Rheden, and terminate not far from Dieren. To get to Dieren from here, turn left onto the N348, and follow this road turning right near Ellecom. This will send you right into Dieren.

From the Northern Netherlands and Overijssel, the A50 is the main route you want to follow (From Hengelo, take the A1, which meets the A50 at Apeldoorn). Exit the A50 at exit 23 (Loenen) not long after passing by Apeldoorn. Here, turn left, following signs to Dieren. The road you're on, the N786, will terminate not far from Dieren's railway station. From here, you can turn right onto the N348, after which you can either use the A348 or Zutphensestraatweg to get to De Steeg, Rheden or Velp.

From Oberhausen, follow the Autobahn 3 towards Wesel, following the A3 all the way into the Netherlands. The A3 will become the A12 after crossing the border at the former border checkpoint at Beek. The first major river you will cross is the IJssel. Here, turn onto the Velperbroek Interchange (Knooppunt Velperpoort) and either take the first exit on the interchange to turn onto the A348 heading for Dieren, or use the second exit to get directly into Velp.

By public transit

Dieren railway station, serviced by NS and the VSM, running heritage trains to Apeldoorn.

See also: Rail travel in the Netherlands

Gelders Arcadië has three stations, all of which are on Staatslijn A (Arnhem — Leeuwarden). These are 1 Velp railway station  NS , 2 Rheden railway station  NS  and 3 Dieren railway station  NS . On this line you will find Intercity trains to Zwolle, Wijchen, Nijmegen and Roosendaal, as well as Sprinters (stopping trains) from Nijmegen/Wijchen to Zutphen and vice versa. Dieren is the only station where Intercity trains stop, the other two stations only see Sprinters. Dieren also sees heritage trains to Apeldoorn, but these run rather infrequent (see Do).

Get around

Middachten Castle, De Steeg.

To get about, renting a bike is recommended, given you have the time to cycle from town to town. If you don't perhaps rent a car in nearby Arnhem or use public transit. Buses will get you from Velp to Dieren and everywhere in between via line 43, which runs from Arnhem to Apeldoorn. Line 70 will get you to Rozendaal.

See

• Gelders Arcadië houses many estates. Some of the highlights are:
  • 1 De Gelderse Toren, Zutphensestraatweg. A castle, consisting of a single tower, in the floodplains of the IJssel. (updated Dec 2017)
  • 2 Landgoed Rhederoord, Parkweg 19, De Steeg. A historical estate that was built in baroque style in 1745, but modified over time. (updated Dec 2017)
  • 3 Kasteel Biljoen (Biljoen Castle), Biljoen 1, Velp. 16th-century castle just south of Velp. (updated Dec 2017)
  • 4 Kasteel Middachten (Middachten Castle), Middachten 3, ☏ +31 264 952 186. Castle to the east of De Steeg, built on one of the biggest estates of the Veluwe, counting 900 hectares of land. (updated Dec 2017)
  • 5 Kasteel Rosendael (Rosendael Castle), Rosendael 1, Rozendaal, ☏ +31 263 644 645. A castle was built here in the 13th or early 15th century by the Duke of Guelders. The castle and estate were rebuilt after they were hit by a lost V2-rocket during the Second World War. (updated Dec 2017)

Do

• Gelders Arcadië borders and partly includes the Veluwezoom National Park, which, like its bigger sister, the Hoge Veluwe National Park, consists of many sand dunes, forests and heath fields.
  • A highlight of the park is the 1 Posbank.
  • 2 Bezoekerscentrum Veluwezoom (Veluwezoom National Park Visitors Centre), Heuvenseweg 5a, Rheden, b.veluwezoom@natuurmonumenten.nl. Main entrance of the Veluwezoom National Park. This is where you can rent bikes to explore the park. Hiking through the park is also possible. (updated May 2019)
• 3 Veluwsche Stoomtrein Maatschappij (VSM), Noorder Parallelweg, Dieren (Beside the Dieren train station), ☏ +31 555 061 989, info@stoomtrein.org. Heritage rail line of 22 km. The trains go from Dieren to Apeldoorn. For the driving days, refer to their website. €17. (updated May 2019)

Sleep

• 1 Hotel/B&B Erg-Leuk, Rozendaalselaan 60, Velp (Located by the Rozendaalselaan bus stop (line 8 from Arnhem CS)), ☏ +31 263 610 033, info@erg-leuk.nl. Check-in: 14:00, check-out: 11:00. €69. (updated Dec 2017)
• 2 Hotel/B&B Beekhuizen & Lodges, Beekhuizenseweg 70-72, Velp, ☏ +31 263 391 645, info@introvast.nl. (updated Dec 2017)
• 3 Sandton Hotel de Roskam, Arnhemsestraatweg 62, Rheden (Located by the Hotel de Roskam busstop (line 43 from Arnhem CS)), ☏ +31 264 971 277, rheden@sandton.eu. €69. (updated Dec 2017)
• 4 Landgoed Rhederoord, Parkweg 19, De Steeg, ☏ +31 264 959 104, info@rhederoord.nl. €78. (updated Dec 2017)

Go next

Other destinations in Midden-Gelre are:

• Arnhem, the only city in the Netherlands to run trolleybuses.
• Nijmegen, the oldest city of the Netherlands.
• Wijchen

Other easily reachable destinations are:

• Achterhoek, a mostly agricultural region with cities such as Doesburg, Doetinchem and Groenlo.
• Zutphen
• Apeldoorn, the largest town of the Netherlands, on the Veluwe.

Routes through Gelders Arcadië

The Hague ← Gouda ← Utrecht ←	W  E	→ Zevenaar → Emmerich am Rhein → Oberhausen
Arnhem ←	S  N	→ Zutphen → Deventer → Ommen
Roosendaal ← Oss ← Nijmegen ← Arnhem ←	S  N	→ Zwolle → Zutphen