Muiderslot, Muiden

This is a nice day trip from Amsterdam. Touring the castle won't take too long. Maybe an hour if you do both audio tours. And you should do both audio tours. They are informative and add context to what you are seeing. It was fun to climb the spiral staircases into the towers and walk along the castle walls. The castle is in remarkable condition and looks like it's right out of a fairy tale. The garden and surrounding grounds are worth walking around as well. They had some outdoor game set up (tug of war, stilts) that families were enjoying. You can also walk through the castle's plum tree orchard. The fruit was just starting to grow on our visit. We rode over on the ferry from Amsterdam and we had time to walk into the nearby town of Muiden before the return time. It is definitely worth walking into town and it is only about 10 minutes from the castle down a pleasant brick road. We had a quick lunch along the locks where we watched boats sail by and listened as a men's choral group sang what seemed to be traditional Dutch songs. All-in-all this was a pleasant way to spend the day.

The castle is super nice and you can use the audio guide for 2 different tours. There's a lot of stairs, be ready! Today wasn't super crowded but the gardens were still looking a bit wintery. I'll definitely come back in the summer. Also went to the cafe, the apple tart is delicious. Today had a musical presentation, a mix of classic, Eastern and Persian styles. Amazing!