Muiderslot

Muiderslot stands where the Vecht runs into the IJmeer, a compact square of brick with round towers at the corners and a moat around it, which is close to the picture-book idea of a castle and unusual in a country with few of them. The core is late thirteenth century, rebuilt around the end of the fourteenth after a long spell as a ruin. In the seventeenth century it was the home of the poet and historian P C Hooft, and the writers and musicians who gathered around him gave the castle a second life as a literary address. It opened to visitors in the nineteenth century, and the walled kitchen garden and falconry are part of the visit.

What you actually see

• The castle block - the square brick core with its corner towers and the moat around it.
• The Hooft rooms - interiors furnished to the seventeenth century, when the poet lived here.
• The kitchen garden - the walled plot outside the moat, planted as it would have been.
• The falconry - birds kept and flown in the grounds, with demonstrations in season.

When to go

April to October, when the garden is planted, the falconry flies and the boat to the island fort of Pampus runs from the harbour beside the castle. Weekday mornings are calmest, while school holidays fill the courtyard with family programming. Winter opening is limited to weekends and holiday periods, with the garden bare.

Honest expectations

It is small, and a thorough visit is over in two hours. The interiors are furnished reconstructions rather than surviving rooms, and the route through them can feel scripted. In summer the castle leans heavily on knights and falcons entertainment for children, which is fine if that is what you wanted and grating if it is not.

Nearby

Muiden harbour and the boat to Pampus, with Amsterdam half an hour west.