Alphen brings together different sides: a landscape of orchards, farmland and floodplains, as well as buildings with a clearly defined history. The Moas-Wetteringpad focuses on the surrounding landscape, while the mill, churches and a former dike depot lead through different chapters of the town’s history. When choosing where to stay, it is therefore helpful to consider whether you would prefer to focus on the landscape and water or on architecture and remembrance.
Landscape and changes along the river
The Moas-Wetteringpad runs through orchards, farmland and extensive floodplains on the outskirts of Alphen aan de Maas. On the Alphen side of the weir, the same path passes a hydroelectric power station. Fish passes have been built there to encourage fish migration. Along with its different landscape types, the route therefore offers an example of how water management and nature management come together here.
On the Maas riverbank near Alphen, the stone embankment was removed to a point one metre below the waterline. The work is complete, allowing natural processes to take hold again. Gradually, a riverbank with shallow water and river beaches is taking shape. The change is therefore happening in two stages: the construction work is finished, while the described riverbank features are developing step by step.
A mill with a history and demonstrations
The Tot Voordeel en Genoegen mill complex was built in 1798 on the commission of P. van Dam. The mill can regularly be seen turning, and guided tours are available. When there is enough wind, it mills grain for demonstration purposes. Guided tours are offered, while milling depends on sufficient wind. If you are interested in the mill, you can therefore take these different visiting conditions into account when planning your visit.
Churches and historic buildings
The Hervormde Kerk in Alphen is a simple hall church dating from the mid-19th century. Pointed-arch windows and a wooden roof turret are among the building’s defining features. Inside is a pulpit with four carved panels from the late 16th century. There is also a two-manual organ made by H. Knipscheer around 1865. The building, pulpit panels and organ thus point to different periods.
The parish church dedicated to St Lambert offers another architectural perspective. Its present form is a three-aisled, pseudo-basilica cruciform church dating from 1932; it also has a Romanesque west tower. The former dike depot in Alphen provides a different point of interest: this brick building in the Waterstaats style dates from the third quarter of the 19th century and belongs to the oldest type of dike depot found in the Land van Maas en Waal.
The Martien Derks Memorial is also part of the town’s history, but not as a building with a former function. It is a natural-stone column topped with a helmet, commemorating a Dutch soldier who died fighting the occupiers during the Second World War. Together with the churches and the dike depot, it offers another perspective on Alphen’s architecture and culture of remembrance.
Plan your ferry crossings
The municipal ferry connections include Alphen–Ooijen and Lith–Alphen for the period from 1 January 2025 to 1 January 2035. If you are planning a crossing, check the timetable. This makes the ferry a specific point to consider when planning, without implying a particular itinerary for your stay.
Choose a focus for your stay
If you are considering Alphen as a place to stay overnight, you can plan around the aspect of the town that interests you most: the landscape and changes along the river, or the history of the mill, architecture and remembrance. This distinction gives your choice a specific theme. The places you combine will then depend on how you want to arrange your stay.
Discover more destinations: Beneden-Leeuwen, Appeltern, Maasbommel, Wamel, Dreumel.
Back to the main travel overview: West Maas En Waal.
