Netherlands advice - any Dutch people around?

[GenieGenealogy]

We have done the Mediterranean beach holiday thing the last couple of years and want something different next year. I have been researching the Netherlands, DH and I have been to Amsterdam and loved it, keen to explore more of the country. We quite fancy the countryside area between Utrecht, Appeldoorn and Arnhem as it gives various options for things to do and see. I think - please correct me if this is a rubbish area to be looking at. I have come across a small town called Harderwijk which looks perfect but again, no personal experience.

We want a relaxing family holiday with older teens - kayaking, cycling, the odd castle or interesting museum, nice scenery, possibility of taking the train into Amsterdam one day maybe. Are there other areas we should be looking at too? And what's the best site for self-catering accommodation in the Netherlands, we don't really want to be on a Center Parcs style holiday park.

utrecht is a nice city, near there you have kasteel de haar which is worth visiting and can hire kayaks, paddle boards, boats. Also you could be based there and easily take the train to the other large cities for day trips.
Near Arnhem there is the hoge veluwe park and openlucht museum which I would recommend.

hardewijk is a small town on the beach. It is nice and you can drive to other places but probably not the most exciting place.

If you want some beach days you could also go to the islands at the top, Texel is the biggest and easily accessible. Drive there and then hire an electric bike to get around the island.

Leiden has interesting things to do, the Hague some interesting museums, also I've like Haarlem but that would depend on your teens interests.

I agree with the above poster, visit Texel, Terschelling, etc. You can go by ferry.
It’s an easy country to drive around in general. Great roads, nice towns all over.

Ijmuiden (just outside Amsterdam) has a fantastic beach with sand dunes.
You can hire those land windsurfing thingies. And there's a really great fried fish van and some nice beach bars.

Look at Landal parks for accomodation, good facilities but not Centre parcs. Good for older children. We stayed in one near Gouda. There’s so much to see in Neth, we’re going to have to go back for a second trip. It was great!

Landal and Roompot.com definitely. Love Utrecht and Leiden. I love Zeeland personally - beaches, lovely villages, lots of seafood. but it's a bit far from Amsterdam. Goes, Zierikzee, Neelltje Jans park, Middleburg etc.

I visited Terschelling decades ago. It was a bit like north Norfolk. But lovely in a windswept way.

I love The Hague. Small and easy on foot or trams. Museums and markets and lovely beer gardens.

We loved Utrect with the kids. We there recently on the way to hof van saksen, not far from Groningen. Its is a holiday park but they do it a lot better than centerparks. We had a lake beach house, hired bikes and went off site, went to the water park and the kids just loved is The company is called landals and there are a few dotted about so might be able to find one in the geographical area you want to go. Go on little clogs holidays for inspiration.
We also went to efteling which was lovely if you want to squeeze in an amazing theme park.

We spent many a half term break at Landal Hoog Vaals - handy for Maastricht and Valkenburg and Monschau for a longer trip out. Drielandenpunkt where you can stand in 3 countries at once and the highest point in the Netherlands. Steam trains and castles. NL is much underrated as a holiday destination.

Brilliant, lots of ideas to start looking at. I am more than happy to holiday in places where there are not lots of other British tourists...

Being Dutch myself, I would advise indeed Limburg as region as it has Mergelgrotten (caves of special soft stone), nice hills so also nice routes to bike or drive. Furthermore, near Arnhem, more forest. Both easy to combine with a day to Germany f.e. I like Keulen in Germany for a day trip or Dusseldorf.

Furthermore I prefer Rotterdam over Utrecht and Den Haag for its atmosphere, although Leiden and Gouda are great! If your kids are interested in nature, I would definitely recommend Naturalis in Leiden. I think it is better than the nature history Museum in London.

Furthermore, more to the south of the Netherlands, there is Brabant with its rich history inyertwin d with abelgium. S Hertogenbosch and Breda are lovely cities to visit, Eindhoven is more industrial.

We were there for 10 days and I think putting aside the ferry, came across 2 British families the whole time we were there.

Thanks for all advice, we have been looking at holiday parks and think we're settled on one near Veenendaal - nice accommodation and centrally placed for lots of things we'd like to do.