This summer we spent 3 weeks travelling around the Netherlands with the kids. We had the most amazing time away and would highly recommend The Netherlands as a place to visit with kids. It is really easy to travel within the country, there is so much to see and do and the Dutch really take time to consider families within their culture and way of life.
I could talk about travelling in the Netherlands for days so I am going to split it into 3 posts to make it easier to digest! This post is all about travel… how we got there and ways we travelled once there!
Ferry
We decided to take the ferry, as there is a direct sailing every day from Newcastle to Amsterdam. This meant a short drive either side of the sailing (less time in a car with 3 kiddos the better!) and also we could pack ALL the things! We packed the boot of our car with ALL the stuff required for 3 weeks away with kids and headed to Newcastle to catch the ferry to Amsterdam.
We were sailing with DFDS Ferries and boarded around 3pm. Check-in and boarding was really smooth, as was the drive down which was only 2.5 hours from Edinburgh. Once we had parked up we headed onboard to check out our cabin. We had booked a 5 bunk cabin which had a triple bunk bed and a double bunk. It also had its own toilet and shower. All the 5 bed cabins are on the 9th deck and all have a sea view, yay! The cabins (both ways) were comfy, clean and spacious and had all been recently renovated so felt fresh.
We set sail at 5pm and we actually found that the time flew by. There was a kids area on board both ferries with a soft play, lego tables and a TV area showing cartoons and films. The cafe was situated beside the kids area so we spent a few hours chatting and playing cards while the kids entertained themselves! The ferry also had a kids club coordinator who was in the kids area for the duration of the sailing with games, colouring and a treasure hunt around the boat.
We were lucky with smooth sailings and nice weather so we spent time outside on the deck exploring. There was an ORCA sealife area with a guide on board to help with sightings (none on our sailings unfortunately), binoculars to borrow and telescopes to keep lookout. The kids were easily entertained and before we knew it, it was bedtime!
There are a couple of restaurants on board, but for dinner (both times) we packed a picnic and ate in our cabin. We booked breakfast in the restaurant which had a really good buffet selection… all tastes were catered for. By the time we ate breakfast we had an hour or so before docking, and then it was time to go explore!
Cars and trains
The Netherlands is a fairly small country so our longest drive while there was about 2.5 hours and we managed to cover a good chunk of the length and breadth. Taking our own car was a major plus as it meant we could pack all that we needed for the 3 weeks away, it gave us freedom to wander and we had the kids own carseats with us.
Although we were driving on the right, the roads are all very well signposted and the lanes are set out well. We found driving and navigating pretty stress free!
Rather than driving into the major cities we preferred to use park and ride via train to allow us to explore the cities more easily. We found carparks close to train stations in small towns which allowed us to take trains into the bigger cities of Rotterdam and Amsterdam without having to deal with inner city traffic and parking. Kids travel anywhere on the train for only €2.50 for a day-ticket, making it afforadble while adding to the adventutre. (Although the boys were very sad to not make it on a double decker!)
Bicycle (Fiets)
Without a doubt our most favourite mode of transport within the Netherlands was bikes! The country is insanely flat making cycling really easy for even the littlest of legs. There was a large selection of cycling options available for hire including electric bikes, cargo bikes, tag-alongs and bike seats. This meant that we could hire different options depending on the length of our cycle to make sure that all legs could manage. We found all of the bike-hire was really affordable. The one thing to note is that the Dutch don’t wear helmets when cycling so we brought the kids own ones with us.
Cycling in the Netherlands felt really safe even with the kids… bikes rule here and cars and pedestrians have to give way (and do!) to the bikes. Most areas have a totally dedicated cycle lane which is separate to the road. Our 5 year olds cycled on their own bikes through the small towns and our 8 year old cycled through a city on her own bike. We downloaded a free app called Fietsknoop which covers all of the Netherlands and makes it really easy to plot routes using the cycle paths allowing us to adventure and explore some hidden gems.