Vakantiepark Poort van Amsterdam

For a day enjoying great art in museums like the Van Gogh and Rijksmuseum, central Amsterdam is 25 minutes’ drive; you can happily fill the day cruising the canals, eating Dutch pancakes at a waterside café or buying unusual souvenirs in the Nine Streets boutiques. If you need some peaceful time out from the pace of the city, buy a picnic in De Hallen shopping centre and eat it in the Vondelpark – keep a look out for the green parrots while you’re there. To rediscover The Netherlands of old, drive across the Zeedijk dyke to Marken (10 minutes) for an amble around its gabled wooden cottages overlooking the Zuiderzee. With pretty brick houses painted in green, black or red, Volendam (20 minutes) makes a great day trip for its pretty fishing harbour and shops selling Dutch cheeses and traditional clogs. Sitting on the River Zaan, the heritage village of Zaanse Schans (25 minutes) has several 18th-century windmills open for tours, as well as workshops where people practise typical crafts such as painting Delft pottery or distilling jenever, the local gin.