Review: Our 2nd Epic Little Clogs Holiday!

The McWilliam family sent us this review of their 2^nd Little Clogs holiday. Another multi-centre trip visiting no less than 5 of our featured parks and hotels, and this time including a stay in Belgium too! We have loved helping them put this together and it’s great to see how much they saw of the local areas too. They said:

“After a fabulous holiday booked through Little Clogs last year, we decided to return to the Netherlands again in 2024. We were a little apprehensive in case it couldn’t match our last trip, but we needn’t have worried – there were so many new places to explore, that we still feel we have only scratched the surface of everything that the Netherlands has to offer!  I thought I’d share some of our adventures here in case they are helpful for other families.

This year we based ourselves at three Landal resorts – Domain de Schatberg, Miggelenberg and Landgoed ‘t Loo. Multi-destination breaks work well for our family as we love to see more than one area while we’re away, but any of these places would also make a great stand-alone holiday.

First stop though was a night at the Plopsaland Hotel to break the journey from Calais. The kids loved the theatre-themed hotel – not to mention the comprehensive breakfast and dinner buffets!  There was more than enough to keep all three of them (aged from six to twelve) happy at the Plopsaland theme park itself as well. It was ideal in particular for our six-year-old as there were several rollercoasters the right level for him, which he absolutely loved.

After a quick detour to the beautiful Dutch coast, we were then off to Domain de Schatberg.  It’s larger and more built up than other Landal resorts we’ve stayed at (and shares its facilities with other accommodation providers on the same site), so it also had a more bustling atmosphere.  The kids particularly enjoyed the indoor and outdoor pools though – they were very excited to see that they both boasted water slides!  But the resort also made a great base for exploring the local area, including:

Toverland– magical theme park with lots of attractions for the whole family.  Our six-year-old especially loved the bobsleigh ride and the older two enjoyed the larger rollercoasters.  I have to admit though that my favourite was having lunch in a Hobbit house!

Irrland– fantastic adventure play park, which I know is very popular with Little Clogs customers!  Everything from bouncy water pillows and huge playgrounds (often themed – one looks like a Roman aqueduct for example) to a disco plane and indoor areas filled with building blocks.  There are lots of splash pools and water slides as well, so don’t forget swimwear for the kids if it’s warm. Set in beautiful spacious grounds with loads of picnic spots, it’s definitely a full-day trip.  Not to be missed if you have children aged 12 or under!

Arcen Castle Gardens– we hadn’t heard much about these gardens before visiting, but were so glad we went as it made for a really lovely day out.  One minute you’re walking through a bamboo forest and the next exploring a Mediterranean garden or admiring sculptures. There’s lots to keep the kids happy, including a fantastic mini golf course (set in the mountain garden amongst waterfalls and caves!), a petting area and a lake-front adventure playground. Plus there are several cafes so always somewhere to stop for a bite to eat or an ice cream.

After leaving Domain de Schatberg, our next stop was Miggelenberg, set in the beautiful Veluwe region.  We all loved this well-kept resort with its fantastic adventure playground and fun swimming pool.

We managed to tear the kids away for a few day trips though, including:

Hoge Veluwe National Park– we hired bikes from Miggelenberg to explore, and appreciated that they offered a good selection of different options, including parent/child tandems. Once in the National Park, we enjoyed cycling through the changing scenery of forest and grassland.  We found that the visitor centre (with cafe, playground and exhibition) made a good destination to aim for.

Netherlands Open Air Museum– a child-friendly way to build some Dutch history and culture into your trip!  This beautiful park features windmills, old farmhouses and lots of other buildings, all gathered from across the Netherlands and re-assembled here. There’s a large playground and several places to eat, including a poffertjes stall and an ice cream parlour.  It’s quite large so allow plenty of time (although luckily trams circle the park to save your legs).

Apenheul– this was a real highlight of our holiday for all three kids.  A large primate park, Apenheul allows the majority to roam free so visitors can walk alongside them.  Combined with some fantastic playgrounds and yummy ice cream, this made for the perfect day out for three boys!

We then continued to Landgoed ‘t Loo where we took Laura’s advice and had booked a house on the lake front.  The kids loved being in the centre of the action and being able to quickly pop down to the resort centre and lake-front playground.  This had a really lovely community atmosphere, with the kids all playing and events such as marshmallow-toasting or live music.  The boys enjoyed taking full advantage of the resort’s indoor swimming pool and Lego wall as well, and we hired a family go-kart one day to tour the site in style!

We also took the opportunity to visit a couple of local small towns during our stay – Elburg and Hattem.  We hired bikes to cycle to Elburg and took the resort’s free land train to Hattem another day.  Both are beautiful and very compact little towns, perfect for an afternoon stroll and an ice cream.  We especially loved Hattem as it had a quieter and slightly quainter feel than Elburg.  And a perfect place for a photo with a windmill if you haven’t managed to spot one elsewhere on your holiday!

Finally, we couldn’t resist building in an extra night on the way back home to stop at Efteling.  All three kids have talked about it constantly since our visit last year, so I don’t think they would have forgiven us if we had visited the Netherlands without going!  We decided that one day was enough to re-visit our favourite attractions, so booked a one-day package with GuestHouse Hotel Kaatsheuvel. Efteling was as magical as we remembered, and the kids are already talking about “next time we go”.

Next morning we squeezed in a quick trip to the sand dunes in the Loonse and Drunense Duinen National Park to stretch our legs before the journey home, followed by lunch at Marvilla Parks Kaatsheuvel (the brasserie and play area here was a great tip from Little Clogs for a child-friendly meal).

Thank you Little Clogs for helping us plan another fantastic holiday.  We just can’t get over how many amazing attractions and days out there are for families.  We’ve been recommending the Netherlands (and Little Clogs) to all our friends! “

For more info about the places where the McWilliams family stayed, or to book, please see the links below or drop us a line: