Nice daytrips
The Achterhoek is famous for its beautiful nature. Aside from that the Achterhoek also has many nice activities to offer, for people of all ages. We have made a selection of a couple of fun daytrips/activities for you.
Museum farm Erve Brooks
If you are looking for a nice outing for the whole family, Museum Farm Erve Brooks is a good option. The farm, built in 1538, is open all days for a lunch or a visit. Part of the farm is a nice shop, where countless presents, wooden toys and treats from the past, typical for the Achterhoek. The farm also has a number of nice rooms for a family day, birthday or a wedding celebration, for example.
Outside in the yard there is a big playground for the children with a water and sand area where you can pump water yourself, and a real treehouse for the children to play in. There are also plenty of animals in the yard. There are two pigs that can roll in the mud, rabbits and more. In the barns there are still agricultural machines and tools to be viewed.
Contact information:
Broekhuisdijk 5 | 7275 CB Gelselaar | info@erve-brooks.nl | +31 545-481371
Forest climbing range Achterhoek
The Forest climbing range Achterhoek in Ruurlo is a real adventure for young and old.
You can find no less than 6 different climbing adventures and about 100 different crossings.
Forest climbing range Achterhoek is also equipped with a continuous securing system, so your safety is guaranteed! If you are looking for an active and adventurous afternoon, this is certainly perfect for you! Also very nice as a group outing.
Contact information:
Hengeloseweg 2 | 7261 LV Ruurlo | achterhoek@klimbos.nl | +31 88-554 66 36
Museum MORE
Are you looking for an artistic and interesting afternoon? MORE is the biggest museum for Dutch Modern Realism. Hans Melchers’s collection is housed here. This collection contains work of leading artists of Dutch modern realism of the past 100 years.
MORE has masterpieces of patriarchs (and matriarchs) of modern realism: Carel Willink, Jan Mankes, Pyke Koch, Dick Ket, Raoul Hynckes, Wim Schuhmacher and Charley Toorop. The collection also contains post-war realistic work, and new acquisitions are still being added.
Contact information:
Hoofdstraat 28 | 7213 CW Gorssel | +31 575-760 300
Museum De Lebbenbrugge
Are you looking for a unique outing? De Lebbenbrugge may just be perfect for you. This is a typical 15th century farm house, on the Hessenweg from Borculo to Barchem.
De Lebbenbrugge was also the former hunting lodge of the Lords of Borculo. It was later used as an inn, post office customs house, and now also as a wedding location. The annexe was built in 1400 and was a ‘lös hoes’. People and animals lived together here, in one space.
If you visit De Lebbenbrugge, you will travel back in time to around 1900. It is like the residents have just gone outside to do their work. You can use your imagination to get an idea of what things were like in bygone times, but you can also let yourself be informed by one of our guides. They would love to tell you the story of the famous past of this unique building.
Contact information:
Lebbenbruggedijk 25 | 7271 SB Borculo | +31 545-272178 | info@lebbenbrugge.nl
Crystal museum
Are you looking for a nice outing for the afternoon, or an informative package for a group?
In the Crystal museum in Borculo you can discover the history of the earth.
Here you will find a big collection of fossils, minerals, crystals and gemstones, the formation of which takes you back millions of years in time. Both the expert and the interested visitor can come to the museum to the enjoy splendour from the inside of the earth.
Contact information:
Burgemeester Bloemersstraat 1 | 7271 DA Borculo | +31 545-272200
Estate de Wiersse
Estate de Wiersse is a historical property of 300 hectare, of which 16 hectare of gardens surrounded by 32 hectare landscape park.
The Woodland Garden with stream and ponds, heme plants and ferns, a swaying passage of beech foliage of 100 metres, bridges, fountains and statues, is beautiful to behold.
Around the mansion, most of which was built in 1720, the rose garden, the vegetable garden and the deepened ‘low garden’ with its borders and pergola show an ever-changing combination of bloom and leaf.
Contact information:
Wiersserallee 9 | 7251 LH Vorden | +31 573 451409 | wiersse@xs4all.nl
The Labyrinth
Get lost in the biggest labyrinth of Europe! "Who wants to wander amongst the green, has to do so in a labyrinth", it says in ornamental letters on the gate of Labyrinth Ruurlo. The labyrinth in Ruurlo has a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the biggest hedge maze in the world. Dive into the adventure quickly and dare to get lost, because everyone eventually finds the big watchtower in the middle!
The labyrinth is big, but because the paths are very wide it is not too difficult to find the centre. Did you find it? Then climb the big watchtower and enjoy the beautiful view of the labyrinth. It’s fun to see the rest of your family and friends figure out the route, while you have already found the solution yourself!
Contact information:
Hengeloseweg Ruurlo | +31 573-453175 | www.doolhofruurlo.nl
Cactus Oase
Walk the paths, past thousands of special colourful cacti, of many different kinds. A gorgeous sight! There are also other plants here, with some special names like the ‘fish hook cactus’ and 'hottentottenbilletjes'. The flowering period is from the middle of April till September. Also come and look at the peculiar parrots and colourful parakeets in Cactus Oasis’s garden of birds. You should not miss the Indian Art Gallery. A special and extensive exhibition of Jeroen Vogtschmidt.
Anny Cactus loves to share her great passion with the visitors: the aloe vera plant. The plant has a special place in her heart, because of its beauty, growth, bloom and medicinal properties. Anny can tell lovely stories about this. Visit her shop 'Anny Cactus Passion for Life’ at the Cactus Oasis, where you can buy magnetic jewellery and aloe vera products. Fun for a family day or daytrip with friends! Anny can be recognised by her red cowboy hat. Check the website for all the great packages.
Contact information:
Jongermanssteeg 6 | 7261 KA Ruurlo | +31 573-451817 | info@cactusoase.nl
Fire brigade museum
In Borculo, the town located in the Achterhoek, you will find one of the two biggest fire brigade museums in the Netherlands. The museum houses a unique collection. This gives you a very good idea of fire brigades from the very beginning to the end of the seventies.
What will you see during a visit to the Fire brigade museum: Various hoses and pumps that are operated by manpower; old pumps that are powered by fuel engines and a big collection of small extinguishers. You can also admire an extensive collection of helmets.
Contact information:
Hofstraat 5 | 7271 AP Borculo | +31 545-271966 | info@vvvborculo.nl
Veluwsche Stoomtrein Maatschappij (The Steam Train Corporation of the Veluwen)
Travelling with the Veluwsche Stoomtrein Maatschappij (VSM) is like stepping into another world! Experience the piercing sound of the steam whistle. Experience the stamping, the steam development and the tensile force of the powerful steam locomotives. The journey by steam train will take you over the railroad Apeldoorn – Dieren, which is over a hundred years old. The station of Beekbergen forms the heart of this living railroad museum.
But also the big workplace, a beautiful old station building with an authentic railroad office, a big hub to turn the locomotives, a driving coal crane, water columns, hand signals, manually operated level crossings, and much more. Here you will feel like you have gone back to the time when the steam train was still a common sight. Everything has changed, but the steam train between Apeldoorn and Dieren has remained. Not as an everyday means of transport, but as a special attraction.
Contact information:
Rijnstraat 68 | 7332 AX Apeldoorn | +31 55-506 1989 | winkel@stoomtrein.org