Our favorite family trips through Europe — from biking in the Netherlands to exploring Italy’s ancient ruins and charming small towns.
The Dutch are experts in water management. Over 55% of the Netherlands sits below sea level. Exacting measurements are made in Amsterdam where the normal sea level is called Normaal Amsterdams Peil. Most of the land that sits under sea level was created by the Dutch. They drained water through a system of polders, canals and windmill-driven …
We went back to Utrecht with a kid-friendly itinerary. Back in September for Open Monuments Weekend we spent most of our visit hauling the kids around to things we wanted to see. This time we planned an itinerary just for the kiddos. We took the train, changing from the Sprinter to the Intercity in Gouda …
This was one of the stranger things we have gone to see while here in the Netherlands. It is only 20 min away from us though so we figured we needed to go check it out. Artist James Turrell designed the Celestial Vault to showcase the sky just off the North Sea. It is essentially …
Today we saw every famous thing the Netherlands has to offer, in one afternoon, in 1/25th scale, 20 min away from our house. I know it sounds weird but it was a lovely outing! The kids loved it. We thought we would be at Madurodam an hour tops, but we could have stayed all day. Madurodam …
We loved our last trip to Maastricht! There was so much we did not have time for on our last visit. So when Jeff had another work obligation in the province of South Limburg we made a weekend out of it. We spent most of Saturday in Valkenburg, arriving at the TownHouse Hotel in Maastricht just …
I cannot believe it is time for another Me & Mine linkup. It seems like I was just searching for a family picture for September. I’ve been a bit more intentional about asking people to take family photos while we are traveling this month, knowing this deadline would be approaching. Without further ado, here is October’s …
This morning we headed out to check out the Rotterdam Zoo. Although we can drive there, and probably will in the future, today we biked to the Delft train station and took the #40 bus (the local bus organization is called: RET). The bus takes about 30min and drops you off less than a block …
Open Monuments Weekend is our new favorite weekend. I’ve already marked it on the calendar for next year! It is a wonderful way for our family to pop into attractions and not feel guilty doing “just the overview” tour. Our kids often will not tolerate more than that. We saw a little bit of a bunch …
Sunday morning we all woke up a little bit sluggish. The cold weather has come in and the cool evenings are leaving us a bit drained. Jeff rescued the morning and made French Toast. We were sitting around the breakfast table chatting when it dawned on me that we only have 150 weekends in country, so …
Its Open Monuments Weekend, which means that about 4000 monuments all over the Netherlands are open to the public for free. Some of the places can be visited year round for a fee and others are private and only viewable for this one weekend. My aunt had just sent me this great article from EuroChepo’s Budget …