Camping Alkenhaer

Dutch hols are made for bike rides: bring your wheels or hire on site for outings to local villages (Veenhuizen and Dwingeloo are fine choices), or to pedal your way around the Drents-Friese Wold National Park, a few minutes away. Many kilometres of walking trails cross the 6,000-hectare park too if you’d prefer to do your exploring on foot – the sand dunes here are particularly scenic. For more fresh air, take a trip to the Fochteloërveen nature reserve (15 minutes’ drive) – climb the lookout tower for birdwatching and some ace views over the surrounds. Not all the local landscapes are native though: the residents of the Taman Indonesia animal park (half an hour’s drive) are from the more exotic end of the spectrum. Rides galore for small sorts await at the Duinen Zathe amusement park (five minutes’ drive); for something on a larger scale plot a course to Drouwenerzand theme park (35 minutes). And if anyone’s showing signs of bad behaviour, a cautionary trip to the National Prison Museum (20 minutes) might be just the ticket for curbing that naughty streak.