2020 was due to be our 10th consecutive trip to The Netherlands. Unfortunately, world events and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has put a stop to that. Rather than dwell on what might have been, I thought I’d take the opportunity to look back at our previous trips to The Netherlands.

This is part 7, looking at the last leg of our 2014 camping trip in August. You can find part 1 here, looking at 1989-2011, part 2 here, looking at 2012, part 3 here, looking at 2013 and part 4 here, looking at June 2014.

This was the last leg of our August 2014 camping trip, staying at Duinrell. The first leg we stayed at Camping Geversduin, which we really enjoyed. The second leg we stayed at Camping Bakkum, which we didn’t enjoy quite as much.

Duinrell

After our stay at the two campsites in Castricum, we decided to the end the trip with a short stay at Duinrell. Now, as you’ll know if you’ve read this blog before, we’ve stayed at Duinrell many times, though this was the only time we’ve camped there.

Rather than repeat myself, I’ll just concentrate on our experience camping. If you want to know more about Duinrell in general, you can read about it in this post or browse the many posts covering our stays there.

We’d booked a 100m² comfort site basic pitch with electricity and water. If I remember correctly, we were staying in the Lindenveld field, though I’m not 100% sure. The pitch was a decent size and in reasonably good condition. As with most of Duinrell, it was surrounded by trees, so it felt sheltered and quite cosy.

While the field was at full capacity, it didn’t feel overly busy. There was a pretty good atmosphere, with lots of kids out playing and riding around. As with the rest of Duinrell, cars are permitted everywhere, so you do have to keep an eye out for them.

Similarly, the loos and washing facilities were never too busy and were pretty close by. These were clean and in good condition too. I believe Duinrell now offer pitches with their own washing facilities. I think I’d be tempted to go for those if we ever go back.

Our field was a reasonable distance away from the plaza and attractions, which we preferred. They have fields that are closer to the action, which might suit some people, but we’d rather have a bit of peace. It did mean it was a bit of a walk if you wanted to go to the shops, but on the bike, it took no time. I quite enjoyed riding over there in the morning to pick up croissants for breakfast.

We were only at Duinrell for 3 days, so we spent most of our time on site, only venturing as far as Wassenaar. The weather was a little mixed, so we didn’t fancy going to the beach. We mainly kept ourselves busy using the attractions on site and going to the swimming pool as usual.

We also made use of the shops and restaurants on site. While it can be fun doing some cooking while camping, it can also be nice to have a break and eat out instead! We don’t quite have the setup to make cooking straightforward. Some of the other campers seem to have full kitchen setups, including full size fridges, impressive!

Soon, we reached the end of our stay at Duinrell and the end of our Netherlands camping trip. We packed up the car (something of a challenge) and started the drive back to Calais to catch the ferry. Although we’ve not done it again since, we really enjoyed our camping trip in The Netherlands.

As with much of Europe, there’s lots of really good campsites in The Netherlands. We tend to favour the bigger campsites, with facilities on site, though we have friends who favour the smaller, more wild/natural campsites, who love it also. I’d like to camp in The Netherlands again one day and maybe even tour just with the bikes. Though I’ve got some convincing to do with family on that one!

That’s the end of this set of Netherlands 20 posts, looking back at the years before I started this blog and documenting our trips. We’d return to The Netherlands in 2015, staying for a week in The Hague, before spending another week at Duinrell. In 2016 and subsequent years, we’d follow the same pattern, spending a week in Vlissingen before going to Duinrell. In 2017, it was Utrecht. 2018 was Bovenkarspel and 2019 was Hulshorst.

In 2020, we were due to be staying at Vakantiepark Koningshof and Duinrell, but it wasn’t meant to be. Hopefully, things will be mostly back to normal in 2021, as we’re due to be returning to The Netherlands.

There will be another trip to Duinrell with friends and family and we’ll arrange a week somewhere else too. Not sure where yet, maybe somewhere we’ve been before, like Delft or somewhere new like Groningen. Right now though, normality and going on holiday seems like a long way away!

Back to part 6 – August 2014 (Camping Bakkum)