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HI All,

Have this year graduated from a huge Kampa tent to our very first, but very old (28 years to be exact) motorhome who we have christened "Daisy" !  Want to head across the Channel this summer, but not go too far, so are thinking of doing a small tour of Holland, with a quick dip into Germany (for the sake of my 12 year old who has just started learning German !)  We are obviously new to mothorhoming, although planning a few trips in this country first to get the hang of it.  What I am wondering is why Holland doesn't come up much on these forums.  There seem to be loads of what look like really nice campsites, but not many reviews on this website.  Has anyone toured Holland ?  Any tips for a pair of newbies with kids aged 12 and 10 ? In particular, good areas to visit.

Many thanks.

AliGreen

Ali

Without wanting to start a debate on why people go to various countries its obvious from the bulk of posts here that France is a very popular destination and is the most frequently discussed. However we do have quite a few posts on Holland and a few less on Germany. We have been to Holland and Germany many times now and they are both excellent countries for visiting and camping. I have several Blogs on my website covering visits to both countries that might be of interest. Will you be wanting to use campsites or aires/stellplatz with your motorhome? I am not so familiar with the latter but there are others on here that are. It might be an idea to have a think about where you would like to visit which makes it easier for people here to give advice. It will depend on how far you wish to travel but perhaps Koln in Germay might be worth thinking about. Perhaps what you want to avoid is the German industrial belt around Essen/Dortmund. It will also depend whether you want to use campsites That a 12 year old might want to use the facilities like swimming pools etc.

David

Thanks David - I was a little vague wasn't I ?  We mainly want to concentrate on Holland, hopefully taking in some Dunes, a chance to train it into Amsterdam and maybe a visit to Arnhem (I have found some information on the later on this site).  As far as Germany is concerned - really just a quick dip across the border to a nice site with activities for kids, as you suggest.  Not worried so much about site-seeing in Germany.

We are not quite ready to go off-grid just yet, so will be looking for campsites (I have Camping Cheques guide book, so are going with that for starters).  Would love to look at your blog too - can you let me know how I get to it ?

Many thanks for replying so quickly.

Alison

Sorry David - found your homepage.  My laptop wouldn't open it to start with (darn security !), but got it now.  Many thanks

Alison

Just a thought, but if you really are thinking of a "quick dip into Germany ("for the sake of my 12 year old who has just started learning German" !)  then you might be interested to know that many of the Dutch campsites will be full of German holidaymakers, and he will be spoilt for choice of the opportunity to practice his German. In fact in my experience, Dutch and German campers are some of the most prolific out there, and there are usually many on any sites we've been to, in France too.

I used to live in Holland (Leiden) and worked in Noordvijk. Nice campsites in Noordvijk-aan-zee and along that coast.  Lots of Germans!  And it is on the North Sea coast, wild and windy most of the year...

fc

Hi Ina,

Thanks for this - really helpful.  So I am guessing that the weather is pretty much as changeable as the UK - in a motorhome, we can probably cope with this - is it better in the South, would you say ? 

I had looked at ACSI, but noted that the discount was available only in low season and with kids, that isn't often possible.  However, I am learning that low season can differ in Europe, so might give it a go.  If we are travelling end August 18/8 to 1/9, do you think we would need to book ahead or just go with the flow - I am used to booking everything to the last detail, so not sure how I'll cope with that, but my husband loves to work that way !  The 2 main areas we definitely want to see are Amsterdam and Arnhem, so any recommendations around those areas would be greatly appreciated.  Also, thought we might take a look at the Efteling Park, although there seem to be mixed reviews about that one.......

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to reply - really helpful.

Alison

P.S. Have tried to get a picture of our motorhome Daisy as my Avatar, but can't seem to work it out - derrrr !

I posted a review of a nice little Dutch site at Lelystad and gave details in it of what your children might like using that as a base for two or three days