Europarcs Aan de Maas

The landscape around here is spectacular, and one of the best places to explore it is De Loonse en Drunense Duinen National Park (half an hour’s drive) – this is the largest sand drift area in Europe, hence its nickname of the Brabant Sahara. Hiking, mountain biking and horse riding are all fabulous ways to see some of the scenery, or you could view it all from above on the treetop trails of Duinoord tree-climbing park. Back down at ground level, there’s a good choice of watersports and other activities over at the lake beach by Experience Island (40 minutes), or you might like to treat the kids to a day out at the magical Efteling theme park (half an hour) or an encounter with exotic beasts at Beekse Bergen zoo (40 minutes). Time for some history and culture? Both Ammersoyen Castle (15 minutes) and Loevestein Castle (half an hour) are worth a visit for a hit of medieval history, and the lovely city of ’s-Hertogenbosch (25 minutes) has excellent art galleries, historic architecture and atmospheric canals to wander along.