In the coming days Queen Elizabeth II is being expected at Balmoral Castle. Balmoral Castle is one of the two personal and private residences of the British Royal Family (the other being Sandringham). The castle is located in Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. While Holyroodhouse Palace in Edinburgh is the official residence of the family in […]
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Whit Monday (the Monday after Pentecost) is a legal holiday in many European Countries. In the Netherlands it is since 2008 also the “Dag van het Kasteel” (Day of the Castle). Many castles and country seats, gardens and ruins are open. Since 2016 also some Belgian and German castles take part. Many of them are […]
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Looking at my pictures I really should go back and take better ones. I guess I was either in a hurry, or the weather wasn’t that great. The photos certainly don’t do the fairytale castle justice. Today King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands started their three-day visit to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Brandenburg at […]
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Few hotels have ever been a royal residence or the residence of a King’s mistress. The ones you can stay in are often quite expensive, but they don’t have to be, and they can be very nice to stay in if you’re travelling. I am certain there are more than I listed here, but these […]
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When King Abdullah II and Queen Rania of Jordan came to Belgium for a state visit in 2016, Queen Mathilde took choc-a-holic Rania to “The Chocolate Line” shop in Bruges, on request of the Jordan queen herself. Both queens were received in chocolate heaven by chocolate maker Dominique Persoone, who told afterwards that Rania had […]
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A few years ago when I visited Saxony I had some time left one afternoon and decided to pay a visit to a castle called Schloss Wackerbarth – also known in the past as Wackerbarth’s Ruh – in Radebeul. I never got into the castle, but I did enjoy my visit anyway, despite of the […]
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Windsor Castle is one of the biggest castles in the world and according to its website the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world. It has since been the home to British Kings and Queens for 39 generations. History The castle was built by King William I The Conqueror, who reigned 1066-1087. The castle […]
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When you’re walking on the Long Walk near Windsor Castle and look around you might notice a small building popping up in the distance behind some trees. This is the mausoleum of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in the gardens at Frogmore House. The house itself is not visible from the Long Walk as far […]
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As I reported earlier Palace Het Loo in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands, has closed its doors on 8 January 2018 and will be renovated and extended in the coming years. The palace expects to open its doors again in 2021. Many people I know can hardly wait and hope that the renovation will be great. Of […]
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Scotland is a wonderful area to visit. Thus far I’ve only been there once unfortunately, in July 2006. I guess I was lucky with the weather. I started in Edinburgh, with 18C and rain, and ended up with at least 25C in Glasgow. On the way – by bus and train – I visited Dunfermline, […]
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Or to be exact: Meghan Markle will be living with Prince Harry of Wales at Nottingham Cottage at Kensington Palace. They are not the only British royals living at the property. The palace contains the offices and the London residences of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children Prince George and Princess Charlotte, […]
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When visiting the city of Braunschweig (Brunswick) last July, we didn’t quite know what to expect. The city has a real royal palace, but surprisingly it is only ten years old. Where discussion went on in Berlin for many years before they finally started rebuilding the city palace, in Brunswick they realised these plans already […]
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The nice thing about the Noordeinde Palace is, that it is situated in the heart of The Hague, The Netherlands. I have passed it a dozen of times in the past weekend on my way to Booksellers Van Hoogstraten or back to the hotel, or just during a walk in town. A good opportunity for […]
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Halloween, All Saint’s Day, just the right time for a spooky post. Often royal palaces and castles are old. There are many stories going around about ghosts haunting these buildings, sometimes friendly, sometimes they are not. A palace without a moat is like a palace without a ghost. This is of course just a very […]
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On 9 October 2017 the Princessehof (court of the Princess) in Leeuwarden – also known as the National Museum of Ceramics – closed its doors for renovation. Actually the renovation already started before the Autumn, but parts of the museum were open as long as possible. The reopening will be on 2 December 2017. Just […]
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