Kasteel Radboud

Floris V, Count of Holland, built a ring of castles across West Friesland after subduing the region in 1282, and Radboud at Medemblik is the one that survives - a square brick castle with round corner towers and a moat, on the harbour, put up not to defend the Frisians but to control them, which the local population understood and resented. It was reduced over the centuries and only about a quarter of the original plan stands; what is left was restored heavily in the 1890s by Pierre Cuypers, the architect of the Rijksmuseum, in a manner that added as much as it preserved. Inside is a knights' hall and an exhibition on Floris and the castle ring. Medemblik around it is one of the oldest towns in the province, a working harbour on the IJsselmeer with a marina, and the terminus of the museum steam railway from Hoorn.

What you actually see

• A count's control castle - one of the ring built after 1282 to hold West Friesland.
• A quarter of the original - the rest reduced over the centuries.
• Cuypers's restoration - heavy 1890s work by the Rijksmuseum architect.
• A steam railway terminus - the museum line from Hoorn ending at the town.

When to go

April to October. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Only part of the castle survives and much of what stands is 1890s restoration. Seasonal opening with limited winter hours. The steam railway runs a seasonal timetable and books up.

Nearby

Enkhuizen and the Zuiderzee Museum are south-east; Hoorn is south.