Discover Haastrecht

Haastrecht brings together water management history, historic buildings and cultural sites with outdoor activities. If you’re looking for a hotel in Haastrecht, these highlights can help you plan your stay: Would you like to learn about pumping technology and the peat meadow landscape, explore architectural history, or include a SUP tour in your plans? The following topics offer some specific ideas.

Water Management and a Protected Townscape

Haastrecht is one of five protected townscapes and villagescapes in the municipality of Krimpenerwaard. The town is also home to 68 Rijksmonumenten, buildings and sites designated as national heritage monuments in the Netherlands. For travelers interested in cultural history, the protected townscape is as much a focus as its individual buildings.

Within the built-up area is the “De Hooge Boezem achter Haastrecht” complex. Owing to its cultural and water management history, it is considered a representative and rare pumping station dating from the third quarter of the 19th century. The former De Hooge Boezem achter Haastrecht area was converted into a water storage basin in 2015.

The Poldermuseum De Hooge Boezem achter Haastrecht has original machinery and equipment in its pumping station. Its permanent exhibition explores the history of the local peat meadow landscape. The pumping technology and the history of the landscape thus offer two distinct perspectives on water management.

Museums and Architectural History

The Paulina Bisdom van Vliet Museum is an atmospheric house museum furnished authentically. It is still arranged as it was when the house was lived in, offering a glimpse into the lives of wealthy families in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its focus is on domestic culture and living conditions, while the Poldermuseum centers on the history of water management and the landscape.

The Nederlands Hervormde Kerk in Haastrecht is a late Gothic cruciform church. Only the short nave, transept and tower remain. These few surviving features offer a specific insight into the church’s historic form without reducing its architectural history to a single element.

The Oranjerie Bisdom Van Vliet was built around 1800; its original orangery windows are preserved at the rear. The Oude Schoolhuis also tells a longer story of education: it is an old schoolhouse dating from 1671, while the French-language boarding school was substantially expanded in 1767. The two dates refer to different events.

Culture, Parks and Outdoor Activities

“De Schaatsers” depicts Haastrecht’s skating culture. The artwork at a roundabout consists of two corten steel silhouettes of speed skaters and pays tribute to successful Haastrecht speed skating champions Hein Vergeer and Leo Visser from the 1980s and 1990s. This brings local sporting history into the picture alongside the buildings and museums.

The Molenvlietroute runs through the historic Overtuin Bisdom van Vliet park. The park dates originally from the 18th century and features various garden styles. It is open to the public and free to visit. Check the current access conditions before your visit. The Molenvlietroute is subject to a seasonal restriction: it is closed from March to July during the bird nesting season. If you’re planning to take the route, check this restriction before you travel.

SUP tours and lessons are available from Haastrecht. The two options mainly differ in their focus: a tour is an outing on a SUP, while a lesson centers on instruction. This makes it easy to decide whether a tour or a lesson better suits your travel interests.

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