Naarden — properly Naarden-Vesting, the fortified old town — is a perfect star-shaped 17th-century fortress, six bastions and a double moat, best appreciated from Google Earth or the tower of the Grote Kerk. It was rebuilt after a Spanish massacre in 1572, held its military function until 1926, and today the whole star is a heritage zone with narrow streets, a big church with famous acoustics, and the fortress museum inside one of the bastions. The wider Naarden extends beyond the walls into unremarkable suburbs.
This suits people combining a Muiden castle visit with something else on the same day, or anyone into fortifications and military engineering (there is a lot of it here). It does not suit long stays — the Vesting is 500 metres across and you can see it thoroughly in half a day. Restaurants inside the walls are pleasant but few; the town shuts down at night. Passion of St. Matthew performances in the Grote Kerk during Easter week are internationally famous and worth planning around.
Where to stay in Naarden
Inside the Vesting is the only atmospheric option — Hotel Het Arsenaal in a former arsenal building on Kooltjesbuurt is the boutique choice, $130-$210. A couple of B&Bs on Marktstraat. Outside the walls it becomes generic suburbia and there is no reason to be there. Book weekends two weeks out; Bach festivals fill everything months ahead. Total in-Vesting rooms are maybe 30.
Hotels in Naarden
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Things to do in Naarden
- Grote Kerk (Sint-Vituskerk)Marktstraat 13, free entry, $6 to climb the tower for the star-fortress view. The painted wooden ceiling from around 1510 depicts Old and New Testament scenes and is unique in the Netherlands. Famous acoustics — the annual St. Matthew Passion is legendary.
- Nederlands VestingmuseumWestwalstraat 6, $12, inside Bastion Turfpoort. Actual 17th-century casemates, cannons you can crawl through, and demonstrations of muzzle-loader firing on some weekends. Good on the history of Dutch defensive engineering. 90 minutes.
- Comenius MuseumKloosterstraat 33, $7, dedicated to Jan Amos Comenius, the 17th-century Czech educational reformer buried in Naarden. Small and specific — go if you have kids interested in old schooling, otherwise skip.
- Walk the bastionsThe full circuit of the ramparts is 2.5 km and free — you walk on top of the earthworks with the moats on both sides. Start anywhere; a full loop is 40 minutes at a stroll. Best light late afternoon.
Getting there & around
Start at the Utrechtse Poort (the main gate), climb onto the ramparts, walk clockwise past all six bastions (Oud Molen, Turfpoort, Oranje, Nieuw Molen, Promers, Katten), pausing at the Vestingmuseum in Turfpoort, and finish by walking through the town centre via Marktstraat past the Grote Kerk.
Train from Amsterdam Centraal to Naarden-Bussum station, every 15 minutes, 22 minutes, $5.50. From the station it is a 20-minute walk or a 5-minute bus 109 to the Vesting. From Schiphol, change at Amsterdam Zuid, 40 minutes total. Bus 320 connects Naarden with Muiden (10 min) and Amsterdam Amstel. Parking outside the walls, $6 a day. Inside the walls is pedestrian-friendly and walkable end to end in ten minutes.
Questions answered
Naarden or Muiden — which is worth more time?
Muiden has the castle, which is the bigger draw. Naarden has the star fortress, which is more interesting to see from above than to walk through. Combine them — bus 320 links them directly in 10 minutes and both can be done in one full day from Amsterdam.
When is the St. Matthew Passion at Naarden?
Every year in the week before Easter, at the Grote Kerk. Performances by the Nederlandse Bachvereniging since 1922 — one of the most famous performances of the work in the world. Tickets go on sale in autumn and sell out within weeks. Hotels also fill.
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