Family holidays in Netherlands.

I have booked to fly to Amersterdam in July for 12 days, with my wife, my daughter (16 yrs) and my son (10 yrs). We will probably book into a camp-site and stay in a mobile-home for a week. Any ideas, as we will be using public transport and have not travelled very much, apart from England and Ireland. Thanks. Liam.

The train network is excellent - it would probably be worthwhile buying this pass [broken link removed] - as it will cover all four of you on off-peak times. When I had one (a few years ago) this meant trains after 9am - or any trains during July and August.

One not so obvious, but very good attraction is the Kroller Muller museum http://www.kmm.nl/ in the Hoge Veluwe national park www.hogeveluwe.nl It's a great museum in a lovely park and you should definetly make use of the white bicycle scheme.

Do you know where you will be staying ?

As we arrive on Wednesday evening, we have two nights before we book into what will probably be Duinrell camp-site for 7 nights and then we have another 3 nights to decide on. It would be nice to vary things, once it is not too expensive.

Hi Liamo

I'm an Irish expat living in The Netherlands - good choice for holiday and July usually promises good weather! Holland is an great destination for camping (is a national tradition!) and the public transport service is excellent. After Amsterdam you might consider heading to Freisland in the North which is absolutely beautiful and has many campsites. A gorgeous little town is Hindeloopen [broken link removed] .I think this site is in Dutch but if you google you might find something in English. Gelderland (the province where I live!) in the East is also a great destination for camping and you could take some trips on the Rhine even into Germany for a day if you wanted! If you want me to send you some information/campsites please let me know or PM me. Tot ziens! Lou34

Give Centerparcs a thought. They run parks of cottages/villas arranged around a huge glass dome housing tropical swimming pools. It is a great destination for people with kids. We went many times with my parents when I was that age and enjoyed it a lot. You could go there for a week instead of the campsite or for three days afterward to relax. There are many Centerparcs all over the Netherlands. If you look for special offers on their website, you can get some very good deals.

Hi Liamo

got your PM - train service in Holland is excellent so no worries there...very frequent and usually on time! It is an incredibly easy country to travel around. I am going to put a bit of thought into it and send you some recommendations and links in English by PM.

Lou34

If you would like to experience Holland, I would advise against Duinrell, it really is a resort type campsite. It could be anwyhere. As said by another poster, Geldrrland and Friesland are really picturesque and I would much rather camp there than in Den Haag, Amsterdam or Rotterdam. Other places could include Zeeland ( if you like a beach type holiday) or Limburg ( the South Eastern tip of the Netherlands, which is not as flat, usually has the best weather in summer and has got Maastricht, a really nice city to shop and eat in)

Thanks very much to you all for advice. I am getting a much clearer picture about how things might work out. We had thought of Duinrell precisely for that reason, because we are afraid that we might not be able to find things that will entertain the children as cheaply as that will. So it would be so much of one type of holiday and then a few days of what we the parents prefer.

Hello Lou,
My husband and I, in our late 60's are going to Amsterdam in September, for a weeek. Could you advise us 'what are the must see things' there. Also some nice resturants, and some reasonably priced ones, near centre. We are staying in NH Grand Krasnapolsky in the centre.
We are going to see Andre Rieus on the Saturday night.
I would appreciate your help. Many thanks Browtal