Wijk bij Duurstede

Dorestad stood here in the seventh to ninth centuries and was the largest trading settlement in north-western Europe, a Frankish emporium on the Rhine handling goods between the Baltic, England and the Rhineland, with a waterfront of jetties running for kilometres. It was raided repeatedly by Vikings in the ninth century and the river shifted; the site was excavated from the 1960s and the finds are in the town museum. What Wijk bij Duurstede is known for now is a windmill: Rijn en Lek, built in 1659 on the town gate, with the road running straight through the base of it and the sails turning above the traffic - the only mill in the country built on an old town gate, often confused with the mill in Ruisdael's painting, which stood about two hundred metres further west. There are also castle ruins, a church tower and the Lek with its ferry.

What to look for

• A mill over a road - Rijn en Lek of 1659 standing on the gate with traffic beneath.
• Dorestad's site - the largest north-west European trading settlement of its day.
• Ninth-century Viking raids - the attacks that helped end the emporium.
• Castle ruins and a ferry - the town's other survivals on the Lek.

When to go

April to October. A day.

Good to know

Nothing of Dorestad is visible above ground - the finds are in the museum and the site is farmland and town. The mill is viewed from outside and opens on limited days. Museums close on Mondays.

Nearby

Amerongen is east; Utrecht is north-west; the Lek ferry crosses south.

Key facts