Baarn

Amsterdamsestraatweg 1, between Baarn and Soest and about 3 km from Baarn station. The royal residence of Queen Juliana until 2004, now in private hands and shown by guided tour of the state rooms and grounds, typically around €17 with advance booking essential. The Baarnse Bos across the road is free and full of enormous beeches.

Groeneveld 2, north-west of the centre off the Hilversumsestraatweg. An eighteenth-century country house run by Staatsbosbeheer with changing exhibitions about the Dutch landscape, a walled kitchen garden, a coach-house café and a free park of ponds and lime avenues. Modest entry for the house, nothing for the grounds, open daily except Monday in winter.

Dorpsstraat, Lage Vuursche, 4 km south-west and a 15-minute cycle through the woods. Half a dozen pancake houses under old trees serving from noon; around €12 a plate and long queues on Sunday. Walk it off on the sand paths toward Drakensteyn, the moated castle where Princess Beatrix lives, which is closed to visitors.

Faas Eliaslaan, five minutes' walk from Baarn station. A former Utrecht University botanic garden of about four hectares with a pond, a pergola, mature exotic trees and small glasshouses, now a public park kept up by volunteers. Free, open daily, and the quietest bench in Baarn on a weekday morning.

Take the Eemweg east from Baarn toward Eemnes, where the land goes flat and treeless within a kilometre. Godwits, lapwings and redshanks breed in the wet meadows in spring; geese take over in winter. There are viewing screens along the Eem dyke and a cycle path the whole way. Best between 06:00 and 09:00 in April and May.

Enter from the Hilversumsestraatweg or the Vuursche Steeg, south-west of town. A large private-but-accessible estate of beech and pine with marked walking routes, bridleways and a mountain-bike loop that links into the Vuursche and Drakensteyn woods. Parking at the forest edges is free; the paths drain quickly, so it is a good wet-weather option.

From Schiphol the quickest route is a train to Hilversum, then the sprinter toward Amersfoort, which stops at Baarn — about an hour in total. From Utrecht Centraal, take a train to Hilversum or to Amersfoort and change to the same sprinter: reckon on 35 to 45 minutes end to end, with two to four trains an hour and a last connection around half past midnight. Local buses link Baarn with Soest, Amersfoort and Hilversum but are hourly in the evening. By car, exit off the A1 at Baarn or Eemnes; town parking is free outside the Brink zone. For Lage Vuursche and the woods, a bicycle is much the best answer — hire runs about €14 a day.

Yes, but only on a booked guided tour. The palace passed out of state hands in 2017 and the current owners run tours of the state rooms and the gardens on set days, usually costing about €17 and selling out at weekends. There is also a programme of events and markets in the grounds. Turning up unannounced at the gate will get you nothing but a view of the drive.

It is workable rather than ideal. There is no direct line: you change at Hilversum or Amersfoort and the whole journey takes 35 to 45 minutes each way. If Utrecht city is your main target, stay in Amersfoort, Bilthoven or the city itself. Baarn earns its keep if you want the Heuvelrug woods, the Eempolder and the Gooi as well, and it is a fast train to Amsterdam.

Only from a distance and only partly. Drakensteyn is the private home of Princess Beatrix and is closed to the public, with security along the approach. The surrounding forest is freely accessible on marked paths and you catch glimpses of the moat and the octagonal house through the trees. The village of Lage Vuursche and its pancake houses are five minutes away on foot.

April and May, unarguably. That is when black-tailed godwits, lapwings and redshanks are on territory in the wet meadows and the dawn chorus in open grassland is something people travel for. Go early, before 09:00, and use the viewing screens along the Eem dyke rather than walking into the fields. In winter the same polder fills with thousands of geese, which is spectacular in its own way.