Gelderland

Gelderland is one of the twelve provinces of the Netherlands, the largest province by area. It lies in the east of the country. It is sometimes called Guelders in English.

Regions

Regions of Gelderland

Achterhoek The region in the east of Gelderland, a mostly agricultural area. The most noteworthy cities here are Doetinchem, Winterswijk and Zutphen.

Rivierenland Also known as the Betuwe, Rivierenland is characterised by de Bommelerwaard en the Land van Maas en Waal. The Betuwe is known for its cultivation of fruits. Tiel is the biggest city in the region.

Stadsregio Arnhem Nijmegen The large cities Arnhem and Nijmegen and their surroundings.

Veluwe A large area covered mostly by forest. Apeldoorn is the largest city here.

Cities

Map of Gelderland with division into municipalities

• 🌍 Apeldoorn — a very green city with lots of monuments and parks, as well as the home to Het Loo Palace
• 🌍 Arnhem — capital of Gelderland and the gateway to the Veluwe
• 🌍 Barneveld — with a permanent exhibition on the Veluwe and a poultry museum
• 🌍 Culemborg — a historic city founded in 1315
• 🌍 Doetinchem — capital of and gateway to the rural Achterhoek region.
• 🌍 Ede — gateway for cycling tours through the Veluwe
• 🌍 Elburg — with a preserved rectangular street grid and fortifications
• 🌍 Harderwijk — known for its Dolfinarium, a dolphin theme park
• 🌍 Nijmegen — oldest city of the country, known for its marches, left-wing politics and large student population
• 🌍 Tiel — an old and historic town, and one of the largest fruit production centres of the country
• 🌍 Wageningen — a major student city due to its agricultural university
• 🌍 Wijchen
• 🌍 Zutphen — first town to get city rights in medieval times

Other destinations

• 🌍 Hoge Veluwe National Park — the country's largest national park with heathlands, sand dunes, and woodlands. Also Kröller-Müller Museum with the largest collection of Van Gogh's work, located in the middle of the Hoge Veluwe.
• 🌍 Veluwezoom National Park — the country's oldest national park with heathlands, woodlands, grazing wildlife, and mountainbike paths
• Gelders Arcadië — Region in between the Veluwezoom and river IJssel, which is littered with historical estates and country retreats.

Understand

Gelderland started as the duchy of Guelders (Hertogdom Gelre), based in Zutphen but named after Geldern, Germany, which was contained within its borders. Zutphen County, Veluwe County and Nijmegen County, the parts of Guelders located in what nowadays is the Netherlands, made up the Guelders that signed the Union of Utrecht that declared the Dutch provinces independent of Spain in 1579, thus starting the Dutch Republic which would eventually become the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Gelderland is now a popular destination for two reasons. One is the Stadsregio of Arnhem and Nijmegen, two of Netherland's oldest cities with ample heritage spanning centuries. The other is Veluwe, the sparsely-populated region best known for its "natural" qualities and a popular destination for Dutch tourists making day trips, featuring woodland, heathland, sand dunes, wildlife and two national parks. The highest point in Veluwe is about 110 m, a noteworthy elevation for such a flat country.

Gelderland is partially in the so-called Bible Belt of the Netherlands and may tend to be a bit more religious and conservative than the rest of the country. This applies mostly to the most west parts of the province. The general span can be seen on the map of SGP (Religious party) voters in 2003

Talk

Dutch is the basic language. In the Achterhoek area, some people speak a local dialect (Achterhoeks), but even they generally speak regular Dutch. German is decently understood and English is spoken by most people.

Get in

From Amsterdam

To get to Ede, Arnhem and Nijmegen, take the Intercity train to Nijmegen which leaves from Amsterdam Central Station at --:22 and --:52 minutes of every hour. Travelling time: 59 minutes to Ede (station Ede-Wageningen), 70 minuten to Arnhem (arrival at --:02 and --:32), 89 minutes to Nijmegen. Note that the train reverses direction in Arnhem; don't be surprised, it will turn south when it leaves the station of Arnhem again.

To get to Apeldoorn, take the Intercity train to Enschede which leaves every half hour at --:27 and --:57, and arrives in Apeldoorn 63 minutes later.

To get to Zutphen or Winterswijk, take the Intercity train to Apeldoorn and change in Apeldoorn to the small diesel train connection Zutphen and Apeldoorn in 20 minutes. It leaves from Apeldoorn at --:10 and --:40, a few minutes after the Intercity from Amsterdam arrived. It usually departs from the opposite side of the platform. Alternatively, you can reach Zutphen via Arnhem by changing there, but it will take about 10 to 15 minutes longer; it doesn't cost more (i.e., with a ticket to or from Zutphen you can choose between the Apeldoorn and Arnhem routes). See the article on Zutphen for more extensive information. For Winterswijk, trains leave at --:07 and --:37, and depending on the route taken (Amsterdam-Apeldoorn-Zutphen) or (Amsterdam-Arnhem-Zutphen) will take between 135 and 153 minutes.

To get to Doetinchem, take the Intercity to Nijmegen and change trains in Arnhem. The train to Doetinchem and Winterswijk leaves 2 minutes after the arrival of the Intercity from Amsterdam, at --:04 and --:34, usually from platform 9. These trains take 34 minutes to Doetinchem and 68 minutes to Winterswijk, during the morning and afternoon rush there are 2 more to Doetinchem, at --:15, and --:45. For Winterswijk it's better to travel through Zutphen instead of Arnhem when coming from Amsterdam. To Doetinchem this should take 102 minutes, but it's likely to take 30 minutes longer because there's only a 2 minute change in Arnhem, which one is likely to miss.

To get to Culemborg and Tiel, take the Intercity for Arnhem/Nijmegen at --:22 or --:52, and change in Utrecht for the commuter train to Tiel, which leaves at --:28 and --:58. Travel time is 51 minutes to Culemborg, and 73 minutes to Tiel.

To get from Amsterdam to Harderwijk, take the Intercity for Amersfoort (departure at --:27 and --:57) and change there for the train to Zwolle, departure at --:12 and --:42. Travel time is 72 minutes.

Get around

See

• The Veluwe, the largest area of relatively unspoilt nature in the country.
• The Kröller-Müller Museum, which has many paintings by Vincent van Gogh on display as well as some Mondrians.
• Palace "Het Loo" near Apeldoorn, where William and Mary used to live.
• Beautiful old castles near Vorden, Ruurlo and 's Heerenberg, Staverden, Vaassen.

Do

• The region of Rivierenland is a popular cycling area. There are many cycle routes following the various rivers and dykes.
• Explore the Veluwe by bike. See the Apeldoorn Cycle Route - Het Loo Palace and the Royal Forest.

Eat

Drink

The beer brand "Grolsch" (English: from Grol) founded in Groenlo and based in Enschede in the Achterhoek supplies pilsner in the entire country. Trips to the brewery are interesting, but to drink their beer can be fun as well.

Go next

From Arnhem, the German city of Cologne can be reached by high speed train in about 90 minutes.

Routes through Gelderland

Amsterdam ← Utrecht ← Amersfoort ← Barneveld ←	W  E	→ Apeldoorn → Deventer → Enschede
The Hague ← Gouda ← Utrecht ← Ede ←	W  E	→ Arnhem → Becomes Autobahn 3 → Duisburg(D) → Frankfurt am Main(D)
Rotterdam ← Dordrecht ←	W  E	→ Tiel → Nijmegen
Arnhem via A12 ←	W  E	→ Doetinchem → Becomes N18 → Enschede
Zwolle ← Apeldoorn ← Arnhem ←	N  S	→ Nijmegen → Eindhoven
Nijmegen ←	N  S	→ Venlo → merges with A2 → Maastricht