Bronkhorst

Bronkhorst received town rights in 1482 from the lords of Bronckhorst, whose castle stood beside it, and it has never grown: the population is around a hundred and fifty, which makes it the smallest place in the Netherlands legally entitled to call itself a city, and it consists of one street of farmhouses and cottages with a chapel at the end. The castle was demolished in the nineteenth century and only the mound and some earthworks remain in the field. What survives is deliberately preserved - the whole village is a protected townscape and new building is not permitted, so it looks much as it did, with thatched and brick farmhouses, a Dickens museum in one of them, and a ferry across the IJssel. It is a twenty-minute walk end to end and is on the IJssel cycle route, which is how most people arrive.

What you actually see

• The smallest Dutch city - about 150 people with town rights from 1482.
• One street - thatched and brick farmhouses, walked end to end in twenty minutes.
• A castle mound - earthworks in the field where the lords' castle stood.
• A protected townscape - no new building permitted, so nothing has changed.

When to go

April to October. Two hours.

Honest expectations

It is one street and an hour at most. Facilities amount to a couple of cafes. The ferry is seasonal and weather-dependent. It works as a stop on the IJssel cycle route.

Nearby

Zutphen is north; Doesburg is south along the IJssel.