The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
DUTCH RESORT IS A HIDDEN GEM
Plucking up the courage to take his young family on their first foreign holiday, James Douglas travelled to the Netherlands to experience life away from the main tourist traps
It has been a feast followed by a famine. After a month-long honeymoon to North America in 2012, the arrival of our daughter and son led to us not even getting on a plane since flying home from Canada, let alone leaving the country (unless you consider four nights in Berwick a foreign trip). We agreed it was time to put this right.
After some research we came across the Landal chain of holiday villages, which are primarily located in the Netherlands and Belgium. Waterparc Veluwemeer is one of their newest parks, located in Flevoland, around an hour’s journey from Amsterdam. Flevoland did not even exist until the 20th century, being formed by the reclamation of the Zuiderzee in the 1950s and 1960s. Compared to the likes of Amsterdam and The Hague, it is not considered one of the tourism hotspots of Holland, but as we were to discover, there was more than enough for a family to enjoy.
Despite some trepidation, the flight with KLM to Schiphol went very smoothly indeed. However, the car hire pick up was slightly more tricky. Firstly, the journey from arrivals to the “on airport” car hire collection point felt like we had walked as far as Belgium. Secondly, we were upgraded to a higher category of car, but this meant I had to negotiate the busy motorways of Amsterdam in an unfamiliar automatic car, which was slightly hair-raising.
After those minor hiccups, it was lovely to be welcomed with chocolates and candy at the park. Our cottage had three bedrooms, which meant it was an ideal size for us, and was perfectly well equipped for a small family, with a kitchen, three bathrooms and our own covered veranda. I must be honest and say we did not make use of the sauna and sunbed which were also available in our accommodation.
The park is dissected by beautiful inland waterways, which some guests chose to go fishing on. One surprise of our visit was the variety of local birdlife, which was capped by the sight of a stork nearby to our cottage.
For rainy days, there is a small soft play area and a good-sized swimming pool, complete with a smaller pool for babies and toddlers. A wide