Heeswijk Castle: from motte to museum
In the stream valley of the Aa, castle, walled garden and estate lie side by side.
Heeswijk Castle lies in the stream valley of the Aa, not far from Den Bosch. Its history begins around 1050 with a motte castle: a wooden fort on a mound within a moat. The present museum shows several later phases of that site.
One striking episode is 1672, when, according to the castle’s history, Louis XIV made his headquarters here. The main castle regained a museum function in 2000.
The castle garden inside the wall is part of the museum and requires a castle ticket. The route through buildings and garden with the audio tour takes about an hour and a half. Outside the wall lies a larger estate with old deciduous woodland, coppice, fields and meadows in the Aa valley.
The autumn programme includes a guided estate tour until 31 October. The landscape also offers room to combine a castle visit with a walk.
Heeswijk Castle is at Kasteel 4 in Heeswijk-Dinther. It is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 17:00 and closed on Monday; the ticket desk and catering close at 16:00. Parking is free.
A regular ticket costs €15 and children aged four to twelve inclusive pay €8. The walled garden and the estate are part of the visit.