GOING DUTCH - a month in the Netherlands

When I was MUCH younger, I worked for a few months in The Hague, and had to visit clients in various parts of the Netherlands. This gave me the initial longing to visit the country when I had more time available.  So, now retired, my wife and I decided that a visit in Tulip Time ought to be a great idea!

We decided to take the van via Harwich to The Hook of Holland – the club sorted out the (discounted) bookings for us – and then to have three sites for our stay.  First, ten days in Lisse (near the famous Keukenhof Gardens) at a little “working farm” site called  Hof van Eeden   (See www.dehofvaneeden.nl)    The site borders a lake & canal, has good facilities (including fresh-baked bread every morning and the biggest shower-cubicle I’ve ever seen!) and was an excellent base for us.  A word of advice to light-sleepers though – early morning Schipol-bound aircraft will wake you.

We were able not only to see the colourful bulb-fields of the “Bloemenbollenstreek” but also to visit many picturesque towns & villages in Holland province such as the traditional fishing-village of Marken – complete with clog-maker – and the old harbour  town of Volendam. The “cheese cities” of Gouda and Edam were also lovely to stroll around. There are so many reed-fringed waterways and, of course, the ubiquitous windmills.  We went to ride the steam train at the little town of Goes.

Then we moved north, on the wonderfully-maintained Dutch roads, for a week on a site in rural Friesland. “Het Koningsdiep” is a terrific countryside site at a working stables near the town of Drachten. It has great sanitary facilities and year-round promotional pricing deals.  The Netherlands branch of the Eriba Owners club were holding their Spring Rally there for a few days. Made me feel like a GIANT with my normal-sized British van!  

Site details at www.campinghetkoningsdiep.nl.

By chance, the coronation of the new King Willem-Alexander was held while we were there – much Orange on display, street-processions and “local colour”!     

We visited Sloten the tiny but perfect ‘smallest town in Friesland’ and boated around “the Venice of the north” – Giethoorn -  where almost every house is on an island connected to ‘mainland’ only by a bridge. Moving-in must be an absolute nightmare!   Harlingen is an attractive port with a real ‘buzz’, and to the east were megaliths and stone-age monuments and a vast museum about the “Beaker People”.

For our final week we then travelled south again to stay near Apeldoorn. (See www.vinkenkamp.nl)     Another great, well-run site – but try to make sure you get a pitch with 10amp supply!    Unfortunately the weather turned bad and we had a cold, wet time of it. We did however take the regular passenger train into Arnhem to visit the Airborne Museum (very well done!), dropped in at the weird Dickens Museum in Bronkhorst,  and we also rode the nearby VSM steam trains at the next village of Beekbergen.

Overall impressions?   How friendly and kind the Dutch people are to us Brits. How they nearly all speak some English. How well-maintained and prosperous the Netherlands seems – even in these tough economic times.  How you can find preserved steam railways anywhere if you do a bit of research!  And how you don’t need hills and valleys to have a wonderful countryside setting.