Efteling in August, where to stay

[WTFdidwedo]

We're in the early stages of planning a trip to Efteling around August bank holiday. We're big Disney fans but we're a family a of 5 (3 DC who will be 2, 3 and 10) restricted to the school holidays because of the eldest, so prices are just extortionate. I've fixed on the idea of Efteling now after hearing great reviews but am not sure where to stay, or what crowd levels are like (quieter than Disney in Paris/Florida I assume!)

I looked at the onsite accommodation which looks great, although slightly pricier than nearby campsites, but wondered if there's enough there. If we were planning a 3 or 4 night stay, would we better looking at nearby Centerparcs/Eurocamo type places? The youngest are too young to be bothered by too much but the eldest loves swimming, zipwires and anything active really. She'd also appreciate kids' club areas as she's very sociable so thinking we may be better suited to a holiday park.

Does anyone have any recommendations, or tips?

[WTFdidwedo]

I keep zig zagging between where is bet to stay, everywhere looks like too much fun! We're now considering a middle week of July which I assume will be busier as it's he start of the Dutch holidays but gives us an slightly bigger budget for a slightly longer stay I think.

[TattiePants]

@WTFdidwedo we went to Efteling in the last week of August last year and it wasn't too busy. A lot of the Dutch, Belgian and French schools are back by then so it makes a big difference. From memory, there is a calendar on their website that tells you how busy they expect it to be.

We stayed here which was excellent and has loads of free activities for children and lots of different accommodation choices. It was just over half an hour to Efteling and Beekse Bergen. Center Parcs De Kempervenen and De Vossemeron are also less than an hour away.

[WTFdidwedo]

That's great thank you! I managed to find the food menus and they don't look too bad for theme park prices. Beekse Bergen looks like it would be great for the children, just wish August was a bit closer now!

[2catsand2kids]

We did 4 nights at Beekse Bergen and then 2 nights at the Loonsche Land hotel, it was a brilliant holiday. We took loads of food from home for Beekse Burgen but ate in the on-site restaurant once and went into nearby den Bosch for a day and had a lovely meal there. The pool, boat across the lake, play areas and safari park were brilliant at Beekse Bergen. I also really rate Efteling, it was much better than Disneyland (in my opinion). Food there is quite expensive but not ridiculously so, you can see all the menus online to get an idea of prices.

[WTFdidwedo]

Sounds great thank you. Strangely enough I stumbled upon Beekse Bergen just prior to reading your post. It does look nice, and two nights there then two nights in Loonsche Land is only £850ish for our dates which would be good. Can you recall what food prices are like by any chance? We'll be travelling from Essex so will bring breakfast and snack stuff with us, plus the two younger don't have huge appetites so hoping it wouldn't be too pricey. The one advantage Disney has is the dining plan which had been swaying us previously.

[DefConOne]

We stayed at Duinrell which is about an hour away. Just did a day trip and enjoyed it so much we are returning for a 2 night stay at Efteling tagged on to a week at Duinrell this August. I've booked the Loonsche Land hotel as there is a minimum 3 night stay for some accommodation over the weekend and we only wanted 2 nights.

Could you do a few nights somewhere like Beekse Bergan (not been but seen great reviews), or Centre Parcs then tag on a night or 2 at Efteling afterwards?