Stay overnight in the Vesting Bourtange

Vesting Bourtange is one of the most famous sights in the Groningen region. Staying overnight at Hotel Vesting Bourtange is certainly one of the more unusual overnight stays you can experience….

Vesting Bourtange is located not far from the German-Dutch border and is one of the most beautiful destinations for a day trip in the region. Inside the reconstructed fortress, visitors stroll through the cobbled streets during the day, enjoy an ice cream or a meal in the restaurants and store in the small stores. When evening falls, the fortress empties out. Now you will only meet the few inhabitants of the small houses and those who have put up at the Hotel Vesting Bourtange.

Arrival at Hotel Vesting Bourtange

If you have reserved a room at the hotel, you should first go to the information center of the fortress. This is located right next to the large free visitor parking lot. The hotel reception is located in the information center, where you will not only receive a map of the individual locations in the fortress, but also your room key.

From the information center, a path leads along the outer grounds of Vesting Bourtange over several small bridges and the large gate in the fortress wall into the complex. We decided to leave our car in the visitor parking lot and carried the little luggage we had. If you don’t want to do this, you can drive along the path and park in the parking lot for residents and hotel guests in the complex. From there, it is only a few steps to the hotel rooms.

Room options

The 3-star Hotel Vesting Bourtange offers its guests various room categories. These are known as captain’s or soldier’s rooms and have double beds or two single beds. There are 12 rooms in total, located in two buildings. Some rooms are located on the second floor and are accessible via a staircase.

All rooms have a small seating area, a TV and free Wi-Fi. In our room there was a small fridge, mobile air conditioning and, to my delight, a bathtub. Attention! There is no hairdryer in the rooms.

I found the simply designed room to be quite large and the beds were very comfortable. We spent one night there and I was very surprised at how quiet it was. As the day visitors had all left, it was wonderfully quiet, interrupted only occasionally by the bleating of the sheep in front of the Vesting Bourtange.

Around the food

In the evening, we ate in one of the two restaurants in the fortress complex. Both restaurants are located on the central square in the fortress. At ‘t Oal Kroegie, you can sit in a cozy dining room or on the terrace when the weather is nice.

We enjoyed a very good meal sitting on the terrace. I ate succulent pork in peanut sauce with chips. A dream for me, I love peanut sauce and chips. Unfortunately, I was so full afterwards that I couldn’t try the Groninger Eggballs. I was told that these should definitely be on the menu when visiting the region. I also only admired the fantastic ice cream sundaes at the next table – I’ll have to come back again!

Our second dish was meat with a mushroom sauce and fries. The meat was tender and juicy and the sauce was very well seasoned. A harmonious meal that we enjoyed with a beer from the neighboring Westerwolde brewery. Unfortunately, the Bourtang fortress beer had not yet been brewed, but we got the last bottle in stock at the brewery the next day and will enjoy it at home.

Breakfast is offered to hotel guests in a small breakfast room called ‘De Gasterije’. The room is very cozy and stylishly furnished, I immediately felt at home.

Excursion tips

• Nature reserve with free-roaming Konik horses – borders directly on the Vesting Bourtange
• E-scooter tour: With the rental vehicle you can, for example, ride the Ter Borg – Sellingen tour. The rental shop is about 10 minutes by car from the fortress.
• Visit to the Westerwolde brewery
• The brewery store is open every Saturday. Tastings are organized for groups. The brewery is about 10 minutes by car from the fortress.
• Excursion to Veendam – about 30 minutes by car

Good to know

Address

W. Lodewijkstraat 33,
9545 PA Bourtange, Niederlande

The overnight stay at Hotel Vesting Bourtange was part of a press trip.