Netherlands for three months with two young children...any suggestions?

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Hi,

As far as cities, Utrecht and Delft are nice, hit the town on market days and wander the canals and back streets.

Holland is so small you can get anywhere in three hours or less for the most part, so you can turn anywhere into a day trip or weekend getaway. The beach is always tops, especially with kids. Zandvoort is great. Haarlem is a beautiful town. Don't worry about Amsterdam. People worry too much about it. It's a great city to see. Go to Vondel Park, wander the canals, see a few museums.

For week long journeys, the skies the limit. I'd highly suggest places in Belgium for weekends, Paris, and the Rhineland in Germany. Get a good guidebook. Rick Steves' are excellent, but also Let's Go Western Europe will be helpfull as well. Don't forget, one way flights are pretty cheap now for many Euro airlines. Generally speaking, you can get anywhere in Europe these days for under $150 or much less.

Jason

Wow....what an opportunity! As Jason notes, distances are so short there, you can be anywhere in a few hours by train (while discount airlines may be excellent for week-long trips, your location in Almelo may make trains more efficient for shorter journeys.) As an example, the distance from Hobbs to Roswell is about the same as the distance from Almelo to Koln, Germany, site of a most wonderful cathedral. For weekends, Utrecht, Amsterdam, Koln, Brussels, Bruges, Paris, and Berlin are all within reach by fast trains. For family camping, the southern part of the Netherlands is very popular (there are even some hills there!) For long weekends or longer, take advantage of booking ahead on discount airlines (check whichbudget.com and flylc.com.) As Jason says, the sky's the limit.

I've never been there, but here's a suggestion. You are so close to so many of the WWII cemeteries that you really should visit at least one. Find out before you go if you have any relatives buried there, or if any friends do. Then make a point to visit that grave and take flowers and take pictures. That would mean a lot to those back in the states. My uncle went to his uncle's grave at Henri-Chappelle, and it started a wonderful chain of events.

I'm sure your 4 year old would love Madurodam in den Haag. Seeing the models of famous landmarks might give you an idea of where else you might like to go in the Netherlands.

You should check into a visit to Legoland. It's in Denmark. It might need to be a weekend trip, but I bet it would be fun.