Weekend in Amsterdam with stay at Duinrell

Our Amsterdam weekend break

We have always wanted to visit the picturesque city of Amsterdam and last April we finally packed our bags and left for the Netherlands. We decided to stay at a nice holiday park with a lot of activities in a quiet area just near Amsterdam. This way, our two children, 8 and 10 years old, could also enjoy themselves and we wouldn’t be staying in a very busy city. Duinrell was therefore the perfect place to stay for our family to enjoy an amazing weekend in Holland.

How did we get to Duinrell? 

Getting from the United Kingdom to the Netherlands is pretty easy. We live nearby Newcastle from which a ferry departs to Amsterdam every day. We even got a discount of 15% thanks to Duinrell! We departed Thursday afternoon and the ferry crossing took about 15 and a half hours, but that was no problem at all. The ferry has two restaurants, a kid's club, a cinema, several bars and even live entertainment. Our cabin to spend the night in was also pretty amazing, we slept very well! We arrived at the port of Amsterdam (IJmuiden) on Friday morning, from which it was only a 45 minutes drive to Duinrell. We brought our own car with us on the ferry so we had all the freedom after our arrival.

Friday: the first day of our long weekend in and nearby Amsterdam

When we arrived at Duinrell we decided to visit the amusement park right away. Our children loved the rollercoasters such as the Kikkerachtbaan and the Dragonfly. The weather was also pretty good so we couldn’t miss out on a ride in the Splash and the Aqua Shute. Later in the afternoon we could enter our holiday home which is called a Duingalow at Duinrell. The house was extremely clean and we loved every corner of it. To be exact, we stayed in a Comfort Duingalow very close to the amusement park.

In the evening we grabbed a quick snack at the Snackbar and headed to the Tiki Pool for an evening full of fun with waterslides. We adored the one where you end in a funnel and eventually drop in the water. Can you guess which one we mean?

Saturday: our visit to the Amsterdam city centre

On Saturday morning we woke up pretty early and booked a taxi to the city centre of Amsterdam. We could have gone by our own car, but we decided that because of the crowds in the city a taxi would be a better option. At home we already listed down a few highlights that we definitely wanted to visit such as the Rijksmuseum, the Anne Frank House and of course we wanted to make a canal cruise!

We first visited the Rijksmuseum and saw beautiful paintings such as De Nachtwacht van Rembrandt van Rijn and Het Melkmeisje van Johannes Vermeer. The Anne Frank House was our next stop. Being there took our breath away and reminded us that we shouldn’t take the freedom we have right now for granted. This was also a very wise lesson for our children! After our visits to the museums we did a canal cruise and went for dinner in a nice Italian restaurant at the Rembrandtplein before heading back to our Duingalow at Duinrell.

Sunday: shopping in Amsterdam and fun at Duinrell 

Our children really wanted to visit the amusement park of Duinrell once again during our time in Holland, but we also wanted to do some shopping and discover the nice streets of Amsterdam even more. Therefore, on Sunday we woke up early again for half a day shopping in Amsterdam and half a day fun at Duinrell. We left for Amsterdam around 9 am and were back at Duinrell around 3 pm. Of course we also went on a sliding adventure in the Tiki Pool in the evening. During your weekend stay in a Duingalow you can access the Tiki Pool two times for free!

Monday: the end of our weekend away around Amsterdam

On Monday it was already time to go back to the United Kingdom. Our ferry departed later in the afternoon and therefore we still had some time left to also discover the beautiful surroundings of Duinrell. We walked through the breathtaking forest that surrounds the holiday park and even went to visit the dunes and beaches nearby. If we had some more time left we would have loved to visit the picturesque city of Wassenaar as well. In short, we absolutely loved Duinrell, Amsterdam and the Netherlands in general and would definitely come back some day!

Check out holiday park Duinrell