Family-Friendly BENELUX/Germany Accomodations

I love Ieper, Belgium. The town is lovely and small, great for kids. The "old" part of the town is surrounded by a moat, and a path along the ramparts has info about the town and fortress well-marked in English. (I say "old" because the entire town was obliterated in WWI and rebuilt exactly as it was.) Staying in the town center would allow easy access to Menin Gate and Cloth Hall for a quick taste of the area's history. My husband works in Ieper and has stayed in every hotel there, but he most prefers the Ariane (www.ariane.be) which is very western in their accomodations and located near the town square. A great breakfast buffet is included. Because of the WWI history, the town caters to English tourists, and so shops and restaurants are very tourist and family friendly. Lots of chocolates, waffles and fries! Travel time by car to Brugge, 1/2 hour; Amsterdam, 2 hours; Brussels, 1 hour 15; Paris, 2 hours; Dusseldorf, 3 hours; Luxembourg, 3 hours

What region of the Netherlands will be your home base? Although it is a small country, depending on your location, certain areas of Belgium and NW Germany may be a bit too distant for easy day-tripping. The previous poster mentioned Ieper (Ypres) as a good daytrip- easy enough if you are in Freisland or Holland, difficult daytrip from the Maastricht area, though.

The family reunion will be near Apeldoorn, a few days. We will definitely stay there for a few days but the rest of our two weeks are completely flexible. A "home base" from which to day trip Belgium and a second from which to day trip Germany would be ideal. With a child and an infant, we'd like to limit our overnight accommodations to three or so different locations over the two weeks. Thanks for your suggestions!

You might want to consider an apartment for your stay which gives you and your kids a bit more freedom to be. I took my son when he was 14 months and everywhere we went we were greated with skeptisism. Thankfully my son was a very easy child (no crying, screaming, etc.) that lots of kids just do, especially when they are very tired (from too much sight-seeing) We liked the town of Haarlem, just outside of Amsterdam which offered a slightly more down-to-earth experience. RS has a number or places he recommends incudling www.joopshotel.com which offers a couple of apartments with kitchenettes.

My husband and I will be leaving in a few days for our holiday in the Netherlands and Belgium. We will be spending a few days in the Apeldoorn area, as my husbands mother was originally from this area. We also will spend some time in Maastricht, about 2 hours drive south of Apeldoorn, as well as several days in South Holland and a few days in Brugge. In looking for places to stay for us, it has been my experience that smaller towns will be less expensive, and there are many smaller B & B's or Pensions to stay in. The accomodation prices for Brugge were very reasonalble, as were Maastricht. From Brugge it is a short drive to the shore, or to other small towns to visit in that area. From Apeldoorn, it isn't far to go to get to Germany. Koln (Cologne) is a beatuifu area, as is along the Rhine towards Frankfort. The Mossel is also a great place to spend time with the castles to visit and beautiful small towns. I hope you have a very enjoyable time with your family.

Thanks for all your helpful suggestions. Our trip has evolved into a "circular drive" around the region: Haarlam/Amsterdam, Arnhem/Appledorn, Cochem/Mosel Valley, Brussels/Antwerp, Rotterdam/The Hague/Schlevenigan, Haarlam/Amsterdam. Any suggestions for Hotels in Cochem/Mosel Valley, Burssels or Antwerp, Rotterdam/The Hague/Schlevenigan would be geatly appreciated. We have Rick's books and are checking those locations as well. Thanks!