VONDELPARK
VONDELPARK
PEACE AND QUIET?
VONDELPARK Amsterdam
Ready for a break? The Vondelpark is the perfect place to escape and unwind after a full-on museum trip. Enjoy some fresh air and recharge your batteries to keep you going for the rest of the day. You may even be able to time your visit with one of the regular cultural events held here. What’s it to be? Music, theatre or dance?
My Rating:
The positives:
This is the perfect place for a break after perusing the art on display at the nearby Museumsplein.
The negatives:
There aren’t really any negatives... but you might want to give it a miss if it rains ;)
Tip:
Boris says this is one of his favourite places in Amsterdam!
Last Modified: 15.03.2024 | Céline
The details
at a glance
VONDELPARK
Photo Gallery
What is there
to see?
This is the busiest park in Amsterdam and maybe even in the whole of the Netherlands! So what makes it so popular? Well, to be honest, there aren’t exactly a whole load of alternatives in the city centre. But apart from that? The Vondelpark is absolutely massive so there’s lots to see. To be precise, it covers 47 hectares with a length of 2 kilometres and a width of 400 metres.
What better way to spend a summer’s day than sunbathing on the grass and picking up a drink from one of the kiosks or little restaurants whilst the kids splash in the children’s pool or enjoy one of the many play areas? Concerts are held regularly throughout the summer at the open-air theatre too.
Other highlights include the statue of Dutch poet Joost van den Vondel (who the park is named after) and the huge rose garden (rosarium). On 27 April, when the Dutch celebrate their king’s birthday, there’s even a free market for children.
If you’re keen to be at one with nature, this is the place for you. The educational nature trail has been a work in progress since 2007, with the aim of providing a safe home for storks and toads. The stork nest has been a firm favourite with everyone for many years now, providing a perfect opportunity for teachers to teach their classes about nature.
When’s the best time to visit?
The park is open 24/7 all year round and is completely free to visit. As you can imagine, it gets pretty busy at the weekend during the summer months. The side closest to the city centre fills up fast, but you’re bound to find a quieter spot as you move deeper into the park. It also tends to be a lot quieter once the weather turns cooler. If rain is forecast, make sure you have a raincoat with you and prepare for puddles. It’s a great place to bring the kids if they are up for a splash and a paddle.
What’s the best way of getting to the Vondelpark?
By foot/bike: The park is only around 200 metres away from Leidseplein, one of Amsterdam’s busiest squares. The best way to explore the whole park is actually on a bike. The outer cycle path is 3.2 kilometres long.
On public transport: You can reach the far side of the park if you travel on tram line 1 to the stop Rhijnvis Feithstraat. From there, you can walk all the way through the park and back to the city centre.
By car: Driving in Amsterdam is not really recommended and there’s a lack of parking, so it’s best to leave your car at home.
Who was
JOOST VAN DEN VONDEL?
Author Joost van den Vondel (1587–1679) may have been born in Cologne but he was Dutch through and through. As Mennonites (members of an Evangelical free church), his parents had been forced to leave Antwerp and escape to Cologne when the Counter-Reformation launched in the Netherlands. This meant that three of their seven children were actually born in Germany. With the Counter-Reformation ongoing in Germany too, they all retreated back to the Netherlands in 1596. But they settled in Amsterdam this time.
The writer’s main source of income was from the stockings business he had taken over from his father. When he had to declare bankruptcy, he worked as a bookkeeper at Bank van Lening. Vondel was always a prolific writer on the side, though. As the biggest poet of the Dutch Golden Age, he is often referred to as the Dutch answer to Shakespeare. In 1867, a statue of Vondel was erected in the Rij-en Wandelpark, which ended up having its name changed to the Vondelpark.
VONDELPARK
A bit of History
From 1860 onwards, there was a desperate need for living space in Amsterdam. And so no end of parks, promenades and leisure spaces in the middle of the canal belt were commandeered as building sites. It was a completely different story elsewhere in Europe. Whilst most other capitals were busy investing in green spaces, Amsterdam was getting rid of them. And parks are still few and far between in the city centre to this day. The aristocrats at the time were not all too happy with this development and tried to do something to fight it.
Christiaan Pieter van Eeghen (1816–1889), a businessman and President of the Nederlandsche Bank, was one of them. He already campaigned on behalf of the working class and then started working on a plan for a public footpath.
Unfortunately, his initial plans were rejected by the city council. It took until 1864 for the realisation to hit that people would move away from the city sooner or later if they didn’t have a park to go to. A committee was set up and funds were raised, whilst the Zocher family worked on more park plans. A plot of land was purchased, but only one area was set aside for the park. The rest was fortified and developed for building work, before being sold on to fund the park project (a pretty smart move). The areas around Vondelstraat and PC Hooftstraat were created along with the Willemspark neighbourhood. Famous architect Pieter Cuypers developed both streets and designed the Rijksmuseum and the central train station.
The first part of the park, designed for walking and horse riding, opened in 1865, but the last bit wasn’t finished until 1877. As it turns out, not everybody had the opportunity to enjoy the park in the beginning, as the workers didn’t have any spare time whatsoever. But it’s the thought that counts, right?
The statue of van Vondel was erected in 1867 and the park has been known as the Vondelpark ever since.
The park designers did make one crucial mistake… They made sure to reinforce the land sold for building on but neglected to do the same to the park. And so the peat soil is sinking and the park is now lower than the rest of the city. The water level of the ponds is actually 2.5 metres below sea level!
Official website of Vondelpark (NL): www.hetvondelpark.net
Text and image rights: © Céline Mülich, 2021 – 2024
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