Three city parks in autumn, with no promise of peak colour

The Amsterdamse Bos covers about a thousand hectares, the organisation reports, with woodland, play meadows, polders, ponds and waterways. It mentions two hundred thousand trees. Its creation began as a job-creation project of the municipality of Amsterdam in the crisis years of the 1930s.

At the Grote Vijver, the Speeleilanden have been under renewal since 5 October; according to the manager the works will last until early December. An autumn walk through the woods remains possible, but anyone looking specifically for these islands must allow for work on site.

Haagse Bos is the correct name of the forest in The Hague. Staatsbosbeheer calls it the oldest protected forest in Western Europe and links that protection to the Akte van Redemptie of 1576. The manager also calls it a place where, in autumn, the rutting calls of red deer and fallow deer can be heard.

Staatsbosbeheer describes forestry work that was planned from April 2025 to September 2026. During sawing work, one block was closed to visitors. For the accessibility of all parts on 14 October, the manager indicates the current situation.

According to the national monuments register, the Vondelpark in Amsterdam is the city’s first riding and walking park. The first phase of construction dates from 1864–1865. In the romantic part, three undulating pond areas with small islands belong to the design.

These three places offer different walks: a large forest, a protected city forest and a nineteenth-century park. None of the sources consulted confirms a date on which the autumn colours are at their most beautiful. The title is therefore a seasonal suggestion, not a prediction.