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Recommendations active family... Holland?

14 replies

Kvec1507 · 29/08/2019 14:59

Hi all
Can anyone recommend somewhere possibly Holland or somewhere similar distance for a holiday next year.
We've just got back from majorca and although it was lovely my boys hate the beach (they have allergies to sand) and although loved swimming in the pool they need more activities and sports.
My husband wants to go to Holland as he's heard its lovely and I looked at duinrell but it looks like it would be too big and busy for us.
My kids will be 8 and 12 so would like to do sports whether water based or anything adrenaline filled but with the option of having some chilled days by the pool.
I've looked at euro camp but because I don't know any of the areas I don't know what would be best for us.
Also with ferries etc not too sure where to start.
On a budget too of maybe 2k all in.

Hope someone can help...?

OP posts:
mightybuzz · 29/08/2019 15:06

Terschelling, Texel etc. Rent a car, go on ferry to the island(s) from Harlingen. You can go seal watching on a boat, fishing, camping, rent bycicles. They are islands though so some sand!

Efteling is really nice too (other side of the country!) Duinrell is quite small as I remember!

Honestly the Netherlands are small so if you rent a car you can do a lot. Driving from Schiphol Airport to the Efteling is only 1.5 hours.

Boomboomboomboom · 29/08/2019 15:07

Eurotunnel, Center Parcs - Kempervennen Holland or De Vosserman Belgium (they are only 22 mins apart in the car). If you go for a comfort premium (basic but clean) you'll probably be able to get a week with lots of activities for your £2k including cycle hire, water skiing, snow boarding/skiing, water park, bowling etc

Boomboomboomboom · 29/08/2019 15:07

And yes to Efteling!

Kvec1507 · 29/08/2019 15:30

Thanks for your replies I'll take a look.
Is efteling just a theme park? That's all that seems to come up on Google...?

OP posts:
mightybuzz · 29/08/2019 15:36

It’s a themepark yes. It is a nice one, if you are into themeparks!

Kvec1507 · 29/08/2019 16:01

Definitely yes!!

OP posts:
mightybuzz · 29/08/2019 20:08

I was there today, my DS is only 18 months but he loved it Smile it’s fairy tale themed and has very beautiful grounds (very green)

TattiePants · 30/08/2019 17:07

@mightybuzz we might have passed you as we were in Efteling yesterday too!

@Kvec1507 The Netherlands and Belgium are fabulous, we don’t want to go home tomorrow! We spent last week at Center Parcs in Belgium (actually 3 different ones as they are all close to each other and you can use the facilities in each). We then went to TerSpegelt in The Netherlands for the last week. The kids have done swimming, cycling, zip wire, bmx track, adventure golf, kayaking (we took our own) and loads more. There are loads of different accommodation options and most of the activities are included (unlike CPs). It’s also close to Efteling and Beekse Bergen safari park for day trips. My DCs are 8 and 13 and it was perfect for them.

mightybuzz · 30/08/2019 17:11

@TattiePants how funny, it was a lovely day for it wasn’t it!

Kvec1507 · 30/08/2019 20:51

Terspegelt looks amazing!
Did you drive and ferry?
Looks like it would suit us perfectly.

OP posts:
TattiePants · 30/08/2019 21:22

I hate boats so we drive / tunnel. We live in the NE so the UK part of the driving is actually the longest. It’s about 3 hours from Calais but would be much closer to Rotterdam if you are near that route. We were originally going to camp and some of the pitches have their own private bathrooms. The safari tents look great and there are some tents over the lake. I was a bit nervous about being on such a large site but it was excellent and the DCs are already asking to come back.

Kvec1507 · 30/08/2019 22:03

The accommodation does look really good and the prices are brilliant.
Hubby is looking into routes as that bit confuses me lol. We live in London so whichever way we'll have a bit of a drive first but it would be an adventure.
Thanks for the recommendation it's a definitely maybe for us.

OP posts:
ZipityFlippity · 31/08/2019 00:02

We love Holland and have been to center parcs (de eemhof) and Duinrell and loved both. Though I wouldn't want to camp at Duinrell; it seemed very crammed together. We were in a lodge which was lovely.
Travel wise, we are in N London and drive to Harwich and get the overnight Stena ferry to Hook of Holland. You book a cabin and it's so easy, drive on, go to bed and get woken up in Holland. On the way back we have taken the day ferry on the same route or driven through Belgium with overnight stop over to sightsee and then to Dunkirk and got the ferry to Dover.

mackerella · 01/09/2019 10:41

We've been to the Netherlands every year for the last 5 years (kids are now 6 and 8) because we love it so much! We've never been camping there, but have stayed in bungalows in holidays parks, some of which also have campsites. The company we've used every year is called Landal Greenparks, and they have a whole chain of sites across the Netherlands and other countries. Some of them are ex-Center Parcs sites, so have great swimming facilities as well (we went to Het Vennenbos this year, but we've also been to Coldenhove and Twenhaarsveld). Many of the sites also have a leisure centre attached, where you can do tennis, basketball, etc. And we always hire bikes and use them to explore the surrounding area - the Dutch cycle network is amazing! A budget of £2k is very generous: we usually spend about £400 on a bungalow for the week, £300 on travel, and a few hundred pound more on food, activities, etc. It's a fraction of the price that Center Parcs in the UK would be, even in the school holidays! And if you're camping, obviously that would be even cheaper.

We live in the East of England, so we've usually got the ferry from Harwich overnight, as Zipity says. It's a brilliant way to travel - the kids are always very excited about having a cabin to explore, and you arrive at about 7am the next morning, so you can arrive at your site by 9am (NL is very small, so you're never more than a couple of hours' drive from Hook of Holland!). I think it's usually about £300 for a return single car ticket with family cabin, but this varies according to the time of year. The cabins sell out very quickly, so we had to go via the Eurotunnel this year instead. That's also ok, but involves much more driving (for us, anyway).

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