The Orange Route (Dutch: Oranje-Route, German: Oranier-Route) is a holiday route, that runs from Amsterdam in the Netherlands through North and Central Germany and returns to Amsterdam. It is 2,400 kilometres long and crosses the Netherlands and nine German federal states. The Orange Route runs through towns and regions that linked the House of Orange-Nassau for centuries.
The Orange Route runs from the Netherlands initially through the states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse, first in a southerly, then in a northeasterly direction in order to head for Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg and Berlin. From there it heads northwest through Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and then turns westwards through Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen and Lower Saxony once again along the North Sea Coast near Amsterdam.
Landscapes
The holiday route crosses a great variety of different landscape types: the North Sea coast and the plains of the Netherlands, the Lower and Middle Rhine Valley, the green, sometimes rugged, sometimes gently Central Uplands, the Havelland, the Mecklenburg Lake District and finally the broad North German Plain. In detail, the regions are, starting from Amsterdam:
North Sea region
North Brabant
Betuwe
Lower Rhine
Siegerland
Middle Rhine
Lahn
Rheinhessen
Westerwald
Taunus
Lahn-Dill region
Waldeck Upland
Weser Uplands
Harz Mountains
Elbe valley
Havelland
Mecklenburg Lake District
Baltic Sea region
Elbe water meadows
Lower Weser
North German Plain
Veluwe
Friesland
West Friesland
IJsselmeer
Picturesque towns, castles, palaces and gardens may be found everywhere along this holiday road. Here are some of the places and sights that were linked to the House of Orange-Nassau:
Amsterdam – Prinsenhof, today the Hotel The Grand
Den Haag - Residence of Binnenhof
Delft – St. Agatha's Abbey (Sint Agathakloster)
Dordrecht – Berckepoort housing complex
Breda – Orange church of Onze Lieve Vrouwe
Buren (Gelderland) – St. Lambertus' Church
Apeldoorn – Summer residence of Paleis Het Loo
Moers – Moers Castle
Freudenberg – old town / former Nassau border fortifications
Nassau – Nassau Castle
Diez – Ladies' residence of Oranienstein with the Nassau-Orange Museum
Dillenburg – Wilhelmsturm on the Schlossberg, birthplace of William I, Prince of Orange
Siegen – Siegerland Museum in the Oberen Schloss with the Orange Forum
Bad Arolsen – Arolsen Castle
Bad Pyrmont – Summer residence of Pyrmont Castle with its museum
Wernigerode – Castle and museum of Wernigerode
Stolberg (Harz) – Stolberg Castle
Dessau – Mosigkau Castle
Oranienbaum – castle and orangery
Wörlitz – Landscape garden of Wörlitzer Anlagen and castle
Potsdam – Dutch Quarter, Dutch Mill
Oranienburg – Oranienburg Palace and orangery
Schwerin – Residence castle of Schwerin and Ludwigslust Castle
Hitzacker – Prince Claus memorial busts
Lingen – old town
Nordhorn – Frenswegen Abbey
Kamp-Lintfort – Kamp Abbey
Leeuwarden – Princessehof Palace and Prinsentuin Gardens
