Grand Dutch Discovery Tour Hollands Secret Weapon!

The Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie was a military line of defence that extended from the former Zuiderzee near Muiden to the Biesbosch. The line was established as a protective ring approximately 85 km long and 3–5 km wide around the Dutch cities of Muiden, Utrecht, Vreeswijk and Gorinchem. We offer you a few Hotel and B&B options from where you can start to Discover our 'Dutch Secret Weapon'. The minimum stay is 3 nights and we arrange on request a rental car and take car for the right routes and discription to find our Secret's.

The Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie forts are, for the most part, closed during the winter months due to the bats that nest there. However, from May through September scores of guided tours of the forts are possible. In the northern part of the Hollandse Waterlinie, you can visit: PAMPUS - MUIDERSLOT - - FORT SPION

Most of the forts are located in the central section of the Hollandse Waterlinie. Many forts had to be built around Utrecht, as the city could not be defended by flooding. You can check out the forts around the city of Utrecht via these links to start: Fort aan de Klop - Fort Blauwkapel - Fort de Gagel - Fort de Bilt - De Lunetten - Werk aan de Korte Uitweg - Fort Vechten

In the southern part of the Waterline, you can visit the following castles and forts: Fort Asperen - Fort Vuren - The fortified triangle Vesting 3 hoek Gorinchem, Woudrichem en Slot Loevestein. Fort Altena - Slot Loevestein

Nature at the forts

A fort offers space and quiet. One finds a variety of soil types and clean water. In short: good conditions for nature development! The forts house an enormous diversity of plants and animals. The difference in management, human use, construction and location in the landscape makes every fort unique.

Plants: Rare plants are found at many forts: from lichens to lamb's lettuce. Plants growing at Fort Rijnauwen include the very rare rupturewort, but also wild geranium, sharp-leaved pondweed, sweet cherry, zigzag clover, a wealth of mushrooms and the mosses Arhonia spadicea and Porina chlorotica, which grow in only two other spots in the Netherlands. Around Fort Kijkuit in Loenen, you can find lesser hawkbit, cornsalad, and hoary plantain. Plants that appear at other forts include the March violent, glaucous sedge, wild strawberry, rough hawk's beard and tuberous pea.

Birds: The old trees and bushes provide good shelter and nesting places for birds. Birds from park land and the forest’s edge, from farmland and grassland, and from the marsh establish themselves in and around the forts. These include wrens, robins, great tits and blue tits, tawny owls, sparrow hawks, and all sorts of water birds, such as the kingfisher. Rare house martins and swallows nest in the abandoned buildings.

Mammals: Abandoned buildings often provide a calm haven for deer, foxes, and animals from the Mustelidae family. An outstanding example of fort residents are bats. In addition, many sheep can be seen walking around the forts, group shelters and bunkers.

Life in the moats: The moats along the line often contain stagnant water. Only rain and groundwater replenish the moats. The water is oxygen rich and clear, good for rare plants and animals, such as the waterbug Mirconecta minutissima and the slug Marstoniopsi schalzi. The moats contain an abundance of fish and are teeming with life on and near the banks, including amphibians and reptiles, such as the green and brown frog, the small newt and the grass snake.

More information: Hollandse Waterlinie.nl