De Rimboe en De Woeste Hoogte

History buffs will find plenty to entice hereabouts, starting 15 minutes’ drive away at Museonder – a museum of geology that’s entirely below ground – before moving on to decades-spanning architecture among the mills, farms and museum buildings of Netherlands Open Air Museum (20 minutes), World War II stories at Airbornemuseum Hartenstein (30 minutes), and stately piles at Middachten Castle (30 minutes) and Castle Doorwerth (35 minutes). Those who like to mix their history with a bit of art should opt instead for viewings of the Van Goghs, Monets, Seurats, Picassos and Mondriaans at the Kröller-Müller art and sculpture museum 20 minutes from base, as well as visits to the Jachthuis Sint Hubertus country residence museum (also 20 minutes), which was once home to collectors Helene Kröller-Müller and her husband, Anton Kröller. Historical viewings can continue on city days in Apeldoorn (25 minutes) and Arnhem (30 minutes), with the CODA Museum and the spectacular Het Loo palace in the former, a host of museums and grand houses in the latter, and a healthy dose of shopping in both. Prefer to keep things natural? Visit the free-roaming monkeys at Apenheul primate park (15 minutes) or wander about the conservation-focused Burgers’ Zoo (20 minutes), then travel onwards to western Europe’s largest (and stunningly scenic) sand drift, Kootwijkerzand (25 minutes).