In the Papers

My Holidays abroad have generally consisted of what I think is the quick route… by aeroplane.

Then of course you have to drive to the airport, the two hour check in, the flight, through passport control and frustration waiting for your baggage at the other end, finally drive to your hotel before queuing up for your hotel room key. Is it worth it?..

The prospect of driving from Sheffield to Rijnsburg in Holland had sown seeds of doubts in my mind.

Many people drive much further a field for their holidays but having only one week was I cutting into my holiday by driving too far? It was a doubt I soon realised wasn't justified.

So I headed off to Dover for an overnight stay before catching one of the morning P&O ferries to Calais. The frequent service and quality brand name there seemed no alternative to choosing P&O and their Club Class service, no sooner had I enjoyed the welcome champagne I was well on my way to the destination of around one hour.

I was astonished at how easy the car journey was from the port of Calais, through France, Belgium and into Holland. The roads were well signposted, uncluttered and remarkably easy to drive. The journey of some 220 miles took around four hours or so of very steady driving and that included staying for a lunch break at one of the motorway services.

This holiday was with Eurocamp at Koningshof Recreation Centre staying in one of Eurocamp's modern and well equipped Verona holiday homes. Eurocamp staff are there to make sure of a warm welcome and explain all the benefits of the surrounding area that will make your stay a success.

On site are an indoor solar heated swimming pool, solarium, fishing pond, tennis, a play area with roundabout, swings, see-saw, climbing frame and of course cycle hire. A restaurant, supermarket, laundry and tavern, whose prices were very reasonable, ensure you don't have to travel out of an evening.

The local resorts of Katwijk aan Zee and Noordwijk aan Zee, both a short drive of about 3 miles away from the Eurocamp Koningshof site have vast sandy clean beaches and popular shopping areas. Katwijk also has a tourist market with some interesting stalls well worth a visit.

It seemed that most of the local population had taken to their bikes and peddled down to the beaches at the weekend. Here they spend the day either in one of hundreds of little beach huts and Katwijk or behind the bright orange and yellow windbreaks at Noordwijk all stretch endlessly along the sands.

Conveniently Rijnsburg town has banks, post offices, delicatessen and cash points. So for those self-catering days this is where to stock up on food and it's only a short drive from the site.

Excellent train services run from nearby Voorhout, about a 20 to 30 minute walk from the Eurocamp site, with Amsterdam having a regular service. If you decide to drive there's no charge for the car park next to the station.

The city has so much to see, canal trips are a big big favourite for tourists, so are all the museums and nightlife around the canals.

Having been on short trips to the capital before and with so much to see, the surface had only been scratched and the Anne Frank House was the one not be left out this time.

Queues start early and at first signs the length may be off putting, but the wait didn't turn out to be too long and well worth it. Anne's short life and her diary have been well documented but being there, seeing the secret rooms in the house, reading the diaries and her drawing on the walls along with film from the archives are very moving.

You see many dry eyes going into the museum  but there are very few dry eyes as visitors leave.

The Royal Palace over shadows Dam Square and used for only official occasions by her Majesty the Queen. Performers dressed as statures, colourfully painted pose for tourist pictures… providing you drop a few euros into their collecting tins, if you don't then their backs will be turned and that picture opportunity missed.

The Waterloo Plein open-air market has some great bargains to be had. This is the place to buy leather jackets and shoes. Lots of 60's fashions, trendy colourful, hippie.

You'll also find the junk interesting and a crowd puller.

Holland, noted for its canals, tulips, windmills and BIKES, you just have to hire one and get pedal pushing. So much different from home… no hills, very flat, very easy, cyclists have their own traffic lights and lanes.

Best of all bikes are cheap to hire around 7 euros for the day or 35 a week. If you have your own cycles then take them with you, you may well regret it if you don't.

Excursions are also available from Eurocamp one takes in a clog and cheese factory, a windmill village, Amsterdam then on the quant coastal village of Volerndam just what I was looking for.

Some of the older and tiny houses seem more at home in Lilliput as they are dwarfed by more recent buildings and souvenir shops. The tourist buses have great difficulty making their way through the village.  

This excursion was value for money and didn't take a chunk out of the wallet and that makes a change.

July is Rebrandt Festival time in Leiden, celebrating the renowned painter.

Townsfolk love dressing up and performing short plays of rural life during this time in the town.

It's colourful spectacle is not to be missed. My favourite character was the beggar, rattling his tin to anyone who passed, he certainly made his lager money up that day.

There are a variety of shops here, cafes by the waterside and of course canal trips, but that's what you would expect in a picturesque Dutch town.

Eurocamp has plenty for families and for couples. They have also opened destinations to Croatia, Corsica and Sardinia with fly drive options.