LONELY PLANET'S OFFICIAL ITINERARY INFORMATION
Itinerary: Family Forays
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The Netherlands is made for family holidays – beaches, parks, cycling (with no hills!), museums, it’s all here to entertain parents and their prodigies.
Aside from canal tours and bike rides, Amsterdam is filled with family attractions. The likes of the Scheepvaartmuseum, with its tall-ship replicas, and Tropenmuseum, featuring a separate children’s section, will spark the imagination of both young and old, while excess energy can be spent running wild in Vondelpark or TunFun, a large underground playground.
Close to the capital, the windmills and boat rides of Zaanse Schans will surely delight, as will the sand dunes and pristine beaches of the Kennemerduinen Nature Reserve.
Gelderland has a legion of zoological parks, including Harderwijk’s aquatic park, Dolfinarium, Apeldoorn’s primarily primate zoo, Apenhaul, and Arnhem’s well laid-out Burger’s Zoo. The cute seals and interactive nature displays of Texel’s Ecomare and Pieterburen’s Zeehondencreche never fail to please.
De Efteling, with scary rides aplenty, is the ‘Dutch Disneyland’, while a miniaturised Netherlands at Madurodam may be far more sedate, but no less entertaining. Maastricht’s underground caves are perfect for the entire family, as is the Waterland Neeltje Jans in the heart of the Delta Project.
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