European Road Trip Days 1-3: Leicester – Harwich – Efteling
When planning our 25 day European Road Trip to Croatia, the first stop was always going to be Efteling theme park. Susie had fond memories of visiting Efteling as a child and it is somewhere that we had wanted to visit with our kids for a long time.
We had booked a holiday to the Netherlands in Easter 2020, including a visit to Efteling, but that was scuppered by the Covid Pandemic.
We set off at the start of the school holidays on a Wednesday evening, straight after work, in early July. Leaving home in Leicestershire with our three youngest children aged 13 and 9 year old twins we were all excited to begin the adventure (our eldest daughter would be flying to Croatia to meet up with us later in the summer).
Click on the post below to read about our 2024 summer adventure.
- Travelling to Holland
- Efteling facts
- Accommodation
- Efteling Theme Park
- How to get to Efteling
- Is Efteling worth visiting?
- Top tips for Efteling
- About Us
Travelling to Holland
We had booked an overnight ferry from Harwich to the Hook of Holland, starting the trip with a 3 hour drive to the port. With no hold-ups and little traffic we made good progress and arrived in Harwich around 8pm.
England were playing Holland in the semi-final of the Euros on the day of travel and we had to watch the first half of the match on the iPad while waiting to embark at the dock.
Once we made it on board we were just in time to watch the last 10 minutes of the game in the bar which was exciting with England scoring the winner in the 90th minute. With about 75% of the other passengers and crew being Dutch it was a good atmosphere and experience for the kids.
We had booked a five berth cabin which had a porthole window and an en-suite shower and WC. This was clean and comfortable and we all had a really good night’s sleep – being lulled to sleep by the gentle swaying of the ship and the low hum of the engine.
We set an alarm and got up early so that we could get ready and have breakfast in the restaurant, which we had pre-booked, before the ferry docked at 8am.
We had not travelled to Europe by ferry for several years, as we prefer the Channel Tunnel crossing which we’ve found to be much quicker and convenient than the Dover – Calais ferry. One of our children has also suffered from travel sickness in the car, in planes and on ferries in the past and we were worried about the 12 hour crossing. Thankfully we had smooth-sailing for the entire journey and no bouts of sea-sickness.
The crossing was with Stena Line and we were really impressed with the cabin, food and overall experience. We all got a good sleep and were surprised how relaxing the overnight ferry was. We will definitely consider this again for future European road trips (and have since took the overnight ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo for a half term holiday).
After a tasty, hot breakfast we were soon in the car disembarking and on the road for the 60 mile drive to Efteling.
Efteling facts
- Fairy-tale themed park. Has a 15 acre forest where Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson inspired fairy tales are depicted in displays with buildings, statues and animatronics.
- Opened in 1952 – one of the oldest theme parks in the world.
- Has rides for all ages including a steam train, carousel, rapids and roller coasters.
- Has 5 million visitors a year. The third most visited theme park in Europe (after Disney Land Paris and Europa Park Germany).
- The wider site includes an 18 hole golf course, two hotels, a holiday village and a theatre.
Accommodation
There are a number of different accommodation options on site and we had booked a family room at the Loonsche Land hotel which included breakfast.
The room was comfortable, modern and clean and had one double bed, one single bed with single bunk beds above. The twins had been excited to sleep in the bunk beds ever since we booked the hotel – and they got a great night’s sleep after a full day in the park.
Once we had parked in the hotel car park and checked-in, we walked the short distance (1km) to the park entrance.
Efteling Theme Park
Staying at the resort meant that we could enter the park early and we made our way straight to the rides. There are a mix of large roller coasters and more gentle rides for younger children.
With the Leicestershire school holidays starting earlier than most of the country we found that the queues for the rides weren’t too long (much quicker than at Alton Towers or similar parks in the UK).
We had snacks with us and also bought some Dutch chimney cakes in the morning and then had lunch at a pancake restaurant on site.
In the afternoon we watched the live action show which was really good. A bit like the car stunt show at Disneyland Paris or the Western Cowboy show at the old American Adventure.
The show was like a mix between the Power Rangers and Game of Thrones. Horse riding, knights with super powered weapons, acrobatics, sword fighting, fire-breathing dragons and a good verses evil storyline kept everybody entertained.
At the time of booking the theme park we also booked tickets to the evening show, CARO, in the theatre.
Although we had expected the performance to be in Dutch, we were pleasantly surprised that it was all in English. The set production and acting was really good and it was a lovely way to round off the first full day of our road trip.
Breakfast in the hotel was great and just what we needed before another day on the park. It was a continental buffet with croissants, fresh bread, cold meats and cheese, cereal yoghurts and fruit.
Our favourite part of the breakfast was the mini boxes of chocolate sprinkles which the Dutch spread on their toast. We got through several boxes of these!
The second day at the park was very wet – it rained heavily all day. We walked to the park after breakfast and made the most of the lack of other tourists going on several rides without queuing.
Once we had been on the rapids three times, without having to get off, and a few roller coasters, we were soaked through.
After a hot drink to warm up, we went on some of the many indoor rides including the carousels and Elves and Fairy dark ride Droomvlucht.
Click here for more photos of our trip on our Instagram page.
With the weather not improving and being absolutely drenched, we decided to make a move mid-afternoon and headed back to the hotel to collect the car and start the next stage of our journey – driving east towards Prague.
Travelling the length of Germany to the Czech border we stopped for a night near Cologne and a night close to Bamberg. We didn’t manage to fully dry all of our clothes until we were in Prague three days later!
How to get to Efteling
We visited Efteling by car as the first stop on our European adventure. However, there are several other options if you wanted to visit for a weekend or as part of a longer holiday nearby.
Driving – we took the ferry from Harwich to the Hook of Holland. We then had a 60 mile drive to the theme park resort.
Efteling is approximately 170 miles drive from Calais and slightly closer to Dunkirk if planning to take the Channel Tunnel or ferry crossings.
There are also other ferry crossings to the Netherlands between Hull and Rotterdam and Newcastle and Amsterdam.
Flying – Amsterdam Schiphol Airport is approximately 70 miles away.
Camping – There are a number of camp sites within easy distance of Efteling including Beekse Bergen which is just over ten miles away.
Eurocamp have many sites in the Netherlands which would make a great base for visiting Efteling and exploring other parts of the country.
Is Efteling worth visiting?
We had a fantastic time at Efteling, despite the wet weather on the second day. There are a good range of fast roller coasters, gentle carousels and everything in between to keep the whole family entertained.
The queues were short, the site was clean and the staff friendly. Although we always try and learn a few local words and phrases, everyone could speak English.
The entertainment at the live action show (which was included in the ticket price) and the theatre show (which was an extra cost) were both really good and provided a welcome rest after walking all day around the park.
There is a water fountain display in the evening on the large lake close to the entrance (think the Belaggio fountains in Las Vegas with a Dutch twist).
We would definitely recommend staying at the Loonsche Land hotel if staying overnight – there is enough to keep the family occupied for two full days.
Top tips for Efteling
- Take plenty of snacks and some drinks with you (we took a rucksack full of supplies).
- Make use of the free drinking water taps to fill up bottles.
- Download the free Efteling mobile app which has a map of the site and queuing times for the rides.
- Check the times of the shows and watch these while enjoying the time sat down having a rest.
- Don’t miss the fountain displays on the lake.
- Hire a wooden cart / stroller for toddlers which cost 5 Euros a day.
- Read the Efteling FAQs before travelling here
2024 Summer Road Trip
In July 2024 we drove from Leicester to Trogir, Croatia for our family holiday. After months of planning we finally set off for a 25 day adventure which would take us to ten countries, over thirteen border crossings, six capital cities and a total of 3,500 miles driving.
Efteling was the first stop on the adventure. Click on the post below to read how we decided on our route and the planning that went into trip –
About Us
After the shock of finding out that we were expecting twins in 2015, one of the first things that we realised was that …we’re gonna need a bigger car!
We’re a family of six with two girls and two boys now aged 17, 14 and 9 year old twins.
Follow our blog and social media posts for inspiration, ideas, tips and hacks for non-package family holidays and as we prepare for our next adventure.
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