Winterswijk

Winterswijk is a small city and municipality in the far east of the Achterhoek region of Gelderland, The Netherlands.

Understand

Winterswijk, which name means something along the lines of "Place where Winter lives", was founded around the year 1000 and remained an isolated part of the country until 1830, when a road from Borken to Zutphen via the city was built. Ten years later, a wave of migration hit the town. Many of its citizens moved to the United States, particularly Michigan. After 1870 the town became a producer of textiles and eight years later a railway connecting the town to Zutphen was established to benefit this textile trade. One of Winterswijk's most notable citizens has to be Piet Mondrian, who lived in Winterswijk from 1880 to 1892. During this period, Mondrian started the painting career that would make him famous.

Get in

By car

When travelling from Utrecht, use the A12 in the direction of Arnhem. After driving past Arnhem and Zevenaar, use Oud-Dijk interchange to turn onto the A18 heading for Doetinchem. Follow the A18 and turn right onto the N18 when the A18 ends. Follow the N18 until you find Lichtenvoorde, and enter the town using a right turn onto the Richterslaan. Go straight on at the two roundabouts that follow and take the second right, followed by a left turn after that. Go straight on at the roundabout that's now in front of you and follow the road that you then find yourself on, the N312. This road will take you directly to Winterswijk.

By train

From any location in the country, take a train to Arnhem or Zutphen. From these two cities you can take a train to Winterswijk. Trains from either location go to Winterswijk every 30 minutes.

Get around

Winterswijk can best be travelled by bike, though taking a car or bus, especially when visiting nearby locations outside of the city, might be recommended. When using a bus, use 9292.nl, a website created by Dutch public transport companies which will help you plan your journey.

See

  • 🌍 Villa Mondriaan, Zonnebrink 4, ☏ +31 543 515 400. The former house of Piet Mondrian, which has been turned into a museum. (updated Aug 2018)
  • 🌍 Jacobschurch, Markt 1, NL-7101 DA Winterswijk, ☏ +31 543 522 303. (updated Oct 2016)
  • 🌍 GOLS Museum (Transit Oost), Kleine Parallelweg 5, NL-7101 HN Winterswijk, ☏ +31 543 515 714. Will re-open in 2017. A museum housed in the old GOLS Train station. It has seven of the original vehicles used in the public transport system of the Achterhoek, and a model railway, displaying what used to be the station-network of Winterswijk (updated Oct 2016)

Do
  • 🌍 Winterswijk Quarry (Steengroeve Winterswijk), Steengroeveweg 50, . The only active quarry of significance in the Netherlands. This limestone quarry itself is of relatively low economic importance for construction materials, but what makes it unique is that an exceptional combination of geological circumstances pushed 240 - 236 million year old deposits from the Trias era almost to the surface. As a result, the quarry is famous for its rich deposits of fossils, shells, and several minerals of which Celestine is the most appreciated by collectors. The quarry is opened to visitors a few times per year, during which collecting fossils and minerals is allowed. There is usually a waiting line for registrations, so sign up as fast as possible to secure access to the quarry when it opens. (updated Mar 2019)

Eat

Sleep

Hotels

Campsites and bungalowparcs

Go next

Winterswijk is an easy link to Germany, with cities such as Bocholt, Münster and Duisburg not far out of reach. You can also stay in the Netherlands and visit nearby cities such as Arnhem, Doetinchem, Enschede or Zutphen.

This article is issued from Wikivoyage. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.