Private Palace Het Loo Tour

A palace built to impress

William III and his wife Mary Stuart had Het Loo built in the 1680s as a royal hunting palace in the woods of the Veluwe. When the couple became King and Queen of England in 1689, the palace and its gardens grew with their ambitions. Everything here, from the perfect symmetry of the wings to the long view over the gardens, was designed to show visitors exactly who they were dealing with.

Three centuries of royal life

The House of Orange used Het Loo for more than 300 years. Its best-known later resident was Queen Wilhelmina, who led the Dutch government in exile during the Second World War and came to live here after she stepped down in 1948. She stayed until her death in 1962. The palace route called Wilhelmina’s Home shows how the family lived in the 19th and 20th centuries, a world away from the baroque splendour of William and Mary’s rooms.

The new Het Loo: what changed in 2023

Het Loo became a museum in 1984. Between 2018 and 2022 it closed for a major renovation, and it reopened in spring 2023 with something you would never guess from the outside: around 5,000 square metres of new museum space beneath the forecourt, designed by KAAN Architects, with daylight falling in through a glass roof under the water. This is where you now enter, and where the permanent exhibition on the House of Orange tells the family’s story from William of Orange to Princess Amalia.

What you will see with your guide

Every visit is shaped around your interests, but most days at Het Loo include:

• The palace rooms. The east and west routes take you from the state rooms of William and Mary to Wilhelmina’s private apartments. Look down in the ballroom: its wooden floor was made from trees planted when the palace was first built.
• The roof. Take the stairs or the lift up for the best view of the gardens’ geometry.
• The baroque gardens. Fountains, colonnades and the shaded berceau walkway in the Queen’s Garden, laid out to the royal couple’s own taste.
• The royal stables. Carriages and cars of the royal family in the old coach houses on the stables square.
• Below stairs. In the basement, an introductory film and everyday objects from the staff quarters, including the system the servants used to communicate.

The baroque gardens change completely with the season. Our bloom calendar for the Netherlands shows what will be flowering during your visit.

Find out more about how we plan your private tour. Free cancellation up to 7 days before the tour, minus any non-refundable tickets, in writing, under our terms and conditions.