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In August we (Laura and family) enjoyed a fun week at Landal Het Vennenbos as part of a bit of a Netherlands/Belgium road trip including visiting our family in Gent and a few days at a Feather Down Farm near the Belgian Coast.
Landal Het Vennenbos used to be a European Center Parcs and has a lovely woodland setting (that’s the “bos” part of Het Vennenbos) and there are lots of little ponds and mini lakes dotted about the park (the “vennen” part!). The main park plaza houses the subtropical pool, shop, bowling, indoor play and several places to eat. The accommodation is the original Center Parcs bungalows which are arranged in different zones across the park. You can drive to your accommodation to unload and then you park your car in a central parking area near the entrance, making the park feel peaceful and safe. This park certainly has a familiar Center Parcs feel to it but on a smaller, more low-key scale.
What is perhaps different from our experience of Center Parcs in the UK (apart from the price tag!) is that the emphasis here is very much on exploring the local area as well as the facilities on the park. Landal Het Vennenbos is great for this as it is close to many attractions and places to visit for day trips, as well as having lovely cycle routes on the doorstep.
The bungalows at Het Vennenbos were all renewed between 2017 and 2019 but some of the 6 person ones had an additional refurb this year and these ones can be preselected at the time of booking for a small supplement of €44. We decided to book one of these as we also thought the extra room would be handy; the kids are at an age now (9 and 10) where they prefer to not share a bedroom if possible!
We loved the décor of our bungalow. It felt very modern and stylish with teal-coloured walls, open box shelving and a mustard coloured chair which quickly became the most coveted seat in the lounge. The lounge had a nice “sunken” seated area which made it feel very cosy.
The modern, white kitchen had everything we needed including a dishwasher, fridge freezer, microwave and hobs, and it had a nice, open feel with huge windows looking out onto the woodland trails.
The 2 twin bedrooms were on the first floor (the stairs up to the first floor had a stairgate at the top and also at the bottom for younger children) with the main bedroom and the bathroom, as well as a separate toilet and a storage room, located on the ground floor. The beds were really comfortable and we enjoyed the powerful shower and spacious bathroom. Although we were out and about a lot during the day we all loved the cosy lounge area on an evening, and it was great to have a good sized tv too with BBC 1 and BBC 2 available. The lounge opened out onto a patio with table and chairs overlooking a wide-open woodland area at the back of the bungalow and leading down to one of the little ponds. We enjoyed sitting out here, relaxing with a coffee or a glass of wine while the ducks and geese kept us company!
We didn’t have physical keys and instead had a digital key on both our phones which was also to be used for entering the swimming pool. This was handy, not having to remember where you put your key all the time!
The location of our accommodation was excellent, just a few minutes’ walk to the main park plaza, over a couple of little bridges and past the sports area. The playground with zip wire was also at the end of our road and the laundrette was a 5 minute walk away.
We absolutely loved the subtropical pool and went every day, at least once! There is so much to do there and it’s great for all ages. It seemed like there were lots of hidden corners and fun zones and we kept discovering different parts during our stay. We split our time between the rapids, the waterslides, the wave pool, the newer area for younger children, and the large jacuzzi pool (this one is so warm you never want to get out!). The rapids are great and are actually pretty fast! (I think it depends which side of them you start on though as we were in a slower current the first time but then whooshed down the other times!) Watch out for the little bump at the end!
The newest area is perfect for ages 12 and under, we’d say, and my kids loved the Hurricone slide which my daughter said was like a mini version of the Bombo at Hof van Saksen. There are a few small slides as well as a tipping bucket.
On our first day the kids really wanted to go on the mini Land Rovers. My daughter, who is 10, was just about small enough to ride next to her brother but I would say these are aimed more at the younger end. It was €16 for a 30-minute session, which was long enough. Just down from the mini golf area there is an area in the woods called the Land Rover Safari where children can drive their Land Rovers up and down the tracks and through the woodland. These are electric and go pretty slowly (but fast enough to be fun!). Grown-ups get a key with a button to press which can stop the vehicle at any time.
We also rented a pedalo one day which cost €14 for 55 minutes and enjoyed an evening playing mini golf (€6.50 per person for 18 holes). There are some free activities at Landal Het Vennenbos, such as foot golf, hut building, the sports arena, and unlimited use of the indoor play and pool complex is of course included, but most carry a small extra charge (we found this to be much lower than similar activities at a UK Center Parcs). such as €9 for archery, €9 for the laser game and for the craft and cooking activities there is a small charge to cover materials used.
In terms of catering, we ended up cooking in our bungalow most evenings, but we did enjoy a pizza and several ice-creams in the park plaza during our stay. We didn’t use the buffet restaurant, but this always looked to be very popular! We used the park supermarket every day too for convenience but did our main supermarket shops at Jumbo in Eersel.
Given that we were only there for a week and the kids wanted to be in the pool all the time, we managed to fit in quite a few day trips too! The first one was canoeing for 8km down the Dommel river. We drove to the rental centre, 20 minutes away, and were then picked up by a bus for the short drive to the river where we collected our canoes and were given instructions. An adult and child went in each canoe and we made our way down the river, past farmland, woodlands and the odd cow! This took about 2 hours.
We also drove 30 minutes to the beautiful, ancient town of Oirschot with its traditional Dutch buildings, monuments, brewery and market square. We had lunch at a lovely restaurant called de Zwaan, on the main market square. We love that in the Netherlands you never have to travel far to find some pretty, quaint towns and villages and Oirschot is a great example of this.
Landal Het Vennenbos is within easy reach of lots of attractions, being 45 minutes from Efteling and Toverland theme parks and 30 minutes from Beekse Bergen. We didn’t make it to Efteling and Toverland on this trip but did pop over to Beekse Bergen! I met Jane here and we caught up with our contacts at Beekse Bergen, while the others went around the Safari Park.
We also visited Irrland, the larger-than-life adventure play park, just over the border in Germany. This is an incredible place with lots of slides! (some coming out of huge model aeroplanes), trampolines, an indoor corn pool (I came home with pockets full of dry corn!) and lots of water fun to be had too- the kids loved the rafts, and the waterslides which were new since our last visit a few years ago. Irrland is huge and we only scratched the surface on our trip. Such a bargain too at €12 per person!
Finally, we fitted in a couple of hours at TerSpegelt having coffee with the Director there, a tour around the building works (they’re building a brand-new central building which will house the new supermarket, pub, bowling and craft area) and a swim in the lake. TerSpegelt is only 10 minutes’ drive from Het Vennenbos and for those wanting a swim in the lake or use of the park facilities it’s possible to visit as a day guest.
Looking back, we certainly fitted a lot into our week! It was a perfect mix of enjoying the activities and woodland setting of Het Vennenbos, and exploring the many fantastic places to visit nearby. For families who love the Center Parcs concept but want something more affordable, Landal Het Vennenbos is a brilliant option!
Driving from our family just outside of Gent took us less than 2 hours and was an easy drive. Had we been coming from Calais it would have taken about 3 hours, or from Amsterdam airport or Rotterdam ferry ports 1h40. The closest airport to Het Vennenbos is Eindhoven, 25 minutes away.
For more info about Landal Het Vennenbos, or to book, please see below or drop us a line:
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