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Oosterbeek as a base for a few days?

Posted by (Vermont, USA) on

I am in the very preliminary stages of roughing out a trip for next summer, late June to early July, around 12 nights total. I am planning for a group of 13 or 14 people, so my priority is nailing down our lodgings in the next few weeks.

I am tentatively thinking to spend about 4 nights in Amsterdam when we land, then another 4 or 5 nights in a more rural area, and then wind up our trip with a few nights in Delft. We will not have cars for this trip.

My digging around is telling me that the area around Arnhem might be a great fit for the middle portion of our trip. We are a very outdoors-y group and are wanting to bike ride, walk, explore the national parks, maybe visit the open air museum in Arnhem or do some of the water activities around Giesbeek.

Booking.com is coming up with a pretty good lodging option in Oosterbeek. It looks pretty easy to get to Arnhem if we want more restaurant choices. We are a group that loves small-town stays, and we're pretty good at keeping ourselves happy without a lot of "destination sites," so it's OK (preferable) if it's pretty quiet.

Would Oosterbeek be a good choice for us for this portion of our trip? Other suggestions? I've looked at a couple of other places, including Otterlo, but the lodging options aren't great for our big group.

Thank you for any input!

Posted by
4 posts

I’ve been trying to answer, but the problem is: I don’t know Oosterbeek myself either. But from what you’re saying it seems like a good idea. You say you’ve got a good accommodation, like being outdoors and I guess you’ve got the bikes sorted? Well then, if the distance to Oosterbeek station is ok, I don’t see a problem. But like I said, I do not know the place or the surroundings. And outdoors in the Netherlands may not be the same as in Vermont. As in that it’s very crowded here, compared to Vermont. Regards, Michel

Posted by
221 posts

Sorry, have not been to Oosterbeek but we did enjoy Hoge Veluwe and the Kroller-Muller Museum and the Arnhem open air museum in that area.

Posted by
12 posts

A source of brutal fighting during Operation Market Garden in 1944. If you have any history geeks some good exploring for that aspect of local history.

Posted by
886 posts

Thank you both for your input!

PlannerMom, did you use public transport to move around the area or did you have a car?

Posted by
886 posts

Thank you, TravelVeteran. We may indeed have some folks with interest in exploring those sites.

Posted by
221 posts

We used public transport with the help of the 9292 app. We stayed in Ede, within walking distance of the train/bus station. One day we took the train to Arnhem and then a bus to the Open Air Museum. The other day we took a bus to Otterlo and then a passenger van with a handwritten 106 (or 108) was the "bus" into the park and museum. It was not a big van and wouldn't seat your whole group, but the transfer spot was within walking distance of the park entrance, where free white bikes were available to borrow and ride through the park. They are very basic, pedal backwards to stop bikes. You might prefer to rent bikes and enter the park at a different entrance?

Posted by
886 posts

Thanks for the details, PlannerMom! Sounds like we will have no trouble using public transport and bikes to move around the area. Also, we tend to divide and conquer with many of our activities, so we wouldn’t likely be showing up most places as a single large group.

Thank you, this was very helpful!

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