Our Cruising Guide describes the Vecht River as one of the most beautiful waterways in the Netherlands. From the moment we entered it we were delighted by the houses along its banks with gardens full of flowers which seemed to spill into the river. This continued through almost the whole 40 kilometres. Wealthy people from Amsterdam had built country houses here in the 17th and 18th centuries, and that tradition seems to have been maintained. There were also many houseboats and some join it to the East.
The River Vecht
The River Vecht
We stayed at two towns along this stretch. The first was Breukelen, said to have given Brooklyn New York its name as many Dutch settled there; it was a busy town on a Saturday afternoon with a number of specialty shops such as an excellent cheese shop and also a baker we sampled the wares. The gardens were spectacular and for the first time in our lives we were bowled over by the hydrangeas which were flowering prolifically in a great array of colours and shades.
Breukelen Cheese Shop
The second town we visited was Weesp, chosen because it allowed an easy 20 minute train trip to Amsterdam and to Schipol Airport for our family's return to Australia. This was a very pleasant town, again with good shops and the best ice cream shop we have found in Europe. The five of us (the baby was thought too young to try yet) sampled a wide range of delicious flavours for a very reasonable price. And best of all, the park was almost like an adventure playground, with cubby houses, a slippery dip, swings and even an old- fashioned see- saw. There was plenty of room to play and our baby, 9 months old that day and a demon for balls, enjoyed crawling around chasing hers, wearing herself out for the long journey home. Meanwhile the 3 year old created an imaginary world in the cubby house. We were very sad to say farewell the next day.
Anja, very comfortable atr Weesp
Best Regards,
Penny and Dave
Grand House, the Vecht
The River Vecht