Kids ages: 9 & 7

Month of visit: March

Why is it that travel planning around the kids’ school calendars still feels daunting, no matter how often we do it? Our ultimate Spring Break challenge: “Where can we go for a week where crowds and prices are low, and weather is fair (specifically, low humidity)?” While the Netherlands was not an obvious choice for a family Spring Break, it ticked all of our boxes. First, there are frequent, low-cost nonstop international flights to Amsterdam Schiphol Airport (AMS), and from there, it is only a short drive to the countryside (45 minutes). Additional draws for us included the natural beauty and outdoor pursuits, arts and culture, history, gastronomy, and sustainability focus. While the weather was still brisk in mid-March and it was too early for tulip season, we quickly became enchanted with the Netherlands lifestyle and culture, especially in the countryside, and left eager to return — albeit in slightly warmer months.

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DAY 1-3 | THE VELUWE

After an easy arrival and customs experience at Schiphol, we picked up our rental car and embarked on a pleasant 1-hour drive to the Veluwe. Our base for this leg of the journey was Het Roode Koper, a Relais and Chateaux property. This historic boutique hotel is family-owned and kid-friendly, and is set in the forest with direct access to thousands of acres of protected woodlands and trails for hiking, cycling, and horseback riding. Renowned in the region for its dining, the gastronomic restaurant at the hotel boasts a Michelin star.

On arrival, we were warmly welcomed by the GM, Maurice. As breakfast had just closed and lunch service had not yet begun, Maurice promptly whisked the kids away to the kitchen, offering that they could request whatever they wanted to eat from the chef, who had just arrived for the day. This was just the start of the incredible, warm hospitality we experienced here and throughout our journey.

We stayed in a traditional thatched-roof Family Villa (Manegehuis) with a King bedroom, a children’s bunk room (x 4 beds), an upstairs loft with dining area, shared outdoor dining area, and outdoor play area with trampoline and swing set. This was a wonderful setup for families — the only downside was there was only one bathroom (however, other larger villas are available).

Highlights here included daily family adventures exploring the woods, the kids being invited to make their own pizza in the kitchen (complete with child-sized chef’s hats and aprons), family-friendly multi-course dinners tailored to our individual preferences (after pre-dinner consults with the chef), and the kids playing under “The Great Green” (what they named the massive tree-turned-outdoor-playroom) while parents sipped glasses of champagne fireside. There was also a lovely outdoor pool, terrace, and panoramic restaurant/bar (open seasonally) that tempted us to return in late summer months.

With the second-largest collection of Van Gogh works in the world, the Kröller-Müller Museum in the De Hoge Veluwe National Park is a must-see hidden gem. This family-friendly museum provides children with a complimentary dice game (including in English) that can be reused in any museum, has a vast sculpture park with hiking trails, and a family-friendly cafe with kids meals and digital easels where budding artists and practice their craft. There are also bikes throughout the park free for visitors to use.

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DAY 3-5 | FRIESLAND

Reluctant to bid farewell to the Veluwe, we continued east to Friesland, where we arrived at another historic, family-owned countryside hotel: Lauswolt. This luxury golf and spa resort with a Michelin-starred restaurant De Heeren van Harinxma, and Bib Gourmand-rated Bistro Nijeholt, is a national institution that has played host to royals and celebrities.

We opted to stay in interconnecting rooms in the modern wing with terraces that overlooked the woods where nests of rare white storks sit atop tall wooden poles around the hotel grounds as part of European conservation efforts.

Highlights here included family dinners at the bistrot, family walks into town where the kids played for hours at the local playground and wandered the parkland adjacent to the hotel, and alternating between (slightly chilly for us) swims in the indoor pool and warm-up visits to the sauna. Of the on-site dining options, we preferred the family-friendly bistrot as the gourmet restaurant was unfortunately overbooked and understaffed the night we dined there, and the menu was somewhat limited.

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DAY 5-8 | AMSTERDAM

After two relaxing and restorative stays in the countryside, we headed to Amsterdam for the last leg of our journey. We chose Hotel Okura Amsterdam as our hotel base because of its extensive family-friendly amenities (interconnecting family suites, generous kids welcome amenities, family-friendly indoor pools and hot tubs, kids menus in restaurants and room service) and Michelin-starred dining (including a 2-star restaurant and 1-star restaurant).

While here, we spent most of our waking hours exploring the city. The hotel is located about a 15-20 minute walk from most of the city’s attractions but bikes, taxis, and public transit options are readily available.

Highlights in Amsterdam included the family-friendly museum visits to Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum), dinner at Michelin 2-star restaurant Ciel Bleu, lunch at The Conservatorium, and family swimming in the afternoons at the Okura hotel pool.

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GOOD TO KNOW

English is prevalent in the Netherlands and commonly spoken throughout the country, not just in the cities. The infrastructure for public transportation and biking is well-developed throughout the country. Roads are well-maintained and well-marked, making it very easy to get around by rental car. Many museums offer free kids’ activities and programming — check online or inquire at the customer service desk. Advance bookings for museum tickets (especially in Amsterdam) is strongly recommended due to demand. Watch out for bikers in Amsterdam, whether on foot or driving. The only other Americans we encountered in the Netherlands on our travels were in Amsterdam (some of whom were, sadly, behaving quite disrespectfully to the local culture); people in the countryside frequently expressed surprise that we were staying outside the cities. The value here is considerably higher (and costs considerably lower) than what we have experienced in our recent travels in Western Europe, and many luxury countryside hotels offer reasonably-priced cottages or villa accommodations for families and groups for those looking for the comforts of a hotel with the space of a residence-style stay.