To the east of the city Utrecht you will find a landscape with tangible traces of a rich cultural history. The beautiful landscape of the Kromme Rijnstreek is the meeting point of the open river landscape with the foothills of the Utrecht hills. The river Kromme Rhine once formed the northern border of the powerful Roman empire. Later, due to the strategic location, many forts and defenses of the Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie were built here. In the present the many country estates with castles, forts and manors, a vast nature, abloom fruit orchards, the meandering Kromme Rhine, the flowery meadows with pollard willows and the floodplains along the river Lek contribute to a characteristic Dutch landscape that is equally attractive in all seasons.