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It’s hard to explain how much I love this type of holiday and even though my children are no longer babies or toddlers these holiday parks are still ideal for their ages (6 and 7).
Last week we were at Vakantie Park De Twee Bruggen which is close to the German border in the Dutch Achterhoek region. I’ve been to many of the places we feature but hadn’t ventured this far east. I’m so glad we did. De Twee Bruggen is a beautiful 5 star holiday park, very high quality and suitable for all ages.
It feels like a very authentic part of the Netherlands where you get the real Dutch experience. The area is awash with farmers’ fields, grazing cows and traditional windmills. There was a working windmill close to the park entrance and my daughter was excited to discover that this is where the flour in her pancake had come from!
De Twee Bruggen has indoor pools, outdoor pools, 4 waterslides, LOADS of play areas (I think I counted 20!) including a huge main sandy one with zip wire, a water/sand area, beach volleyball and a separate fenced off area for younger children. There is also a gym (which I was grateful for as it was too hot to go for a run and the gym was air conditioned), a sports area, BMX and scooter pump track, bowling, mini golf and some little animal pastures.
My 7 year old daughter had lots of fun on the pump track on her scooter and enjoyed working on her tricks. We didn’t use the kids club, but there was a different programme of activities each day for all ages and one evening there was an organised beach volleyball game going on for teenagers.
The on-site restaurant “De Schoppe” serves excellent food and has a lovely atmosphere. My children said they had the best pancakes of their life there! The outdoor bar terrace is really nicely done and the chairs have sheepskin covers.
It all has a very stylish yet relaxed country club feel to it. I felt it had the perfect balance of relaxation and activity as the park organised plenty of daily activities which you could join in with if you wanted. On our last night we got pizzas from the takeaway (you can also get these delivered if you order via the app) and walked past the bar terrace where there was a live band and also some street food vans which looked to be doing a roaring trade!
We stayed in a Eurocamp Aspect but there is a large selection of different accommodation types including chalets, bungalows, massive lodge tents with views over the corn fields and the grazing goats, and large grassy camping pitches! The Aspect was very spacious with a full length partially covered terrace area and it had aircon which was very welcome as it was around 30 degrees the whole time we were there.
The Aspects are on huge grassy pitches with an open central area where the children played together, had water fights and mine got into playing Kubb, a really popular garden game over in the Netherlands!
De Twee Bruggen has a nice balance of accommodation and camping pitches and has some excellent toilet blocks with free washing machines. I love this sort of holiday for all the open air play and village feel where the children can run around and make friends easily.
The park is extremely well maintained, the buildings are clad with wood and there are flowers everywhere. The reception building feels like you’ve walked into a luxury hotel and it has its own little tourist information area behind with ideas for days out, walking and cycling routes and beautiful photos. With views of the countryside around the park it felt like a really idyllic place to stay.
There are lots of brilliant days out close to the park including Movie Park theme park in Germany which is under an hour away. This is what we did though:
We visited the local town of Winterswijk (7.5km away) where we experienced market day with its fresh fish and poffertjes stalls and we found a gorgeous little cheese shop with so many different types of cheeses to choose from! Winterswijk also has some amazing ice cream parlours which have to be experienced!
Closer to the park is the picturesque village of Bredevoort with its cobbly streets, medieval buildings, cosy eateries, little book shops, church and windmill. We hired bikes one day and cycled there, but it is just a 30 minute walk otherwise.
De Twee Bruggen is also a short walk or cycle from a recreational lake and beach called Slingeplas which is nice if you fancy a change from the pool or for a little exploring and play in the play areas.
The Netherlands is certainly full of surprises. We often talk about the gorgeous beaches, islands, woodlands and deserts. But did you know there are vineyards?! We discovered the Hesselink vineyards on our final day and stopped for a drink, sampling their rose which was really nice. We bought a few bottles to bring home with us. The vineyards aren’t huge and there is a nice walk along the stream too. The vineyards are just a 10 minute drive from the park.
We travelled via the tunnel and from De Twee Bruggen it is an easy drive back to Calais. We broke up the journey stopping at Brasserie Het Genieten in Kaatsheuvel for lunch, a play and a wander into the dunes. I highly recommend this spot as it has direct access to the Loonse en Drunense sand dunes and a large play area. It’s 30 minutes from Beekse Bergen and 10 minutes from Efteling so good for a day out from there too.
For more information about De Twee Bruggen please drop us a line or see links below.
Laura x
DE TWEE BRUGGEN Contact Us
