We love our house because of its location: very central in the Netherlands, quiet on the edge of a village, with the beautiful historic city center of 's-Hertogenbosch within cycling distance.
In the immediate vicinity is a lake (the Groote Wielenplas) with a beach where you can swim during hot summer days or walk around it at other times.
In the middle of the Netherlands; Most attractions are reachable within a 1.5-hour drive. Germany and Belgium can also be reached within 1 hour. Day trips to Bruges, Cologne are perfectly possible from our home.
There's plenty of nature in the area too: Loonse and Drunense dunes (20 minutes' drive), Hoge Veluwe National Park (an hour), De Biesbosch (40 minutes). And do you want cities or the beach; all easily accessible in about an hour's drive.
Actually, there is plenty to see and experience for young and old in the vicinity of our house. Active, cultural, culinary and so on.
In Rosmalen there is a train station that makes traveling in the Netherlands easy. The bus leaves at a 2-minute walk to 's-Hertogenbosch. But public transport is expensive in the Netherlands and a car is easier.
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www.efteling.com
https://www.bezoekdenbosch.nl/en
https://ijzerenman.nl/klimbos
The rough guide:
Martin Dunford (The Rough Guide) says:
Choose Den Bosch over Amsterdam: 'Luckily for us, there's a lot more to the Netherlands than in Amsterdam, and much of it remains relatively undiscovered for travellers from the UK. With this in mind, you might want to consider a trip to 's-Hertogenbosch – a city so unpronounceable that even locals abbreviate it to Den Bosch.
Located in the Catholic province of Brabant, it has a reputation among Dutch people for its Southern European spirit – called "Burgundian" – which means it's a fun place where locals love to eat, drink, and live life to the fullest. If that sounds like an ideal place for a weekend getaway, it is, and especially now, when the city's most important museum is honouring Brabant's most famous artist, Vincent van Gogh, in a new exhibition. But first the city. Den Bosch is typically Dutch in many ways: intersected by canals, cut into cubes with facades and with a triangular market square as its centerpiece.
However, the massive Gothic St. John's Cathedral is anything but typical, with its Catholic colors nailed to the mast with a venerated statuette of Our Lady of Den Bosch in a chapel at the entrance, and several other medieval features that have survived the 16th century. century of protestant rage. The organ is one of the largest in the country and you can climb to the top of the tower for the chimes and fantastic views of the city. Do this first and plan your route from the air.
The most popular activity to do in Den Bosch is a canal cruise, or De Binnendieze – a somewhat creepy affair on a small open boat that takes you through and under streets and buildings. As you cruise through narrow tunnels and under bridges and arches, you realize how much of the canal system is invisible from the street. Afterwards, sit by the water at nearby Bolwerk – a bar and restaurant in one of the medieval bastions, with a large terrace on the canal.
On to the exhibition, a five-minute walk away in the Noordbrabants Museum. Titled Van Gogh's Inner Circle, it's an immersive collection of drawings, paintings, photographs, and documents collected in part to debunk the notion that Vincent was a tortured fellow who spent most of his life alone. He certainly had problems, but as the exhibition shows, people were extremely important to him, and some relationships lasted throughout his life, with the most famous being his special bond with younger brother Theo.
There are early sketches and portraits of members of Vincent's family, many of nearby Nuenen and photographs of his neighbour Margot Begemann, with whom he had a doomed love affair. You can also see a version of his famous The Potato Eaters, his Still Life with Bible next to the actual Bible of his preacher father, and portraits of Vincent and brother Theo hang next to each other.
The exhibition inevitably ends on a sad note, with all the condolences Theo received after Vincent's untimely death, but it's a great show, and in fact just the first of several possible stops on a van Gogh route through Brabant. You could visit his hometown of Zundert, and some of the places where he lived with his family, but if you're only going to one place, head to Nuenen, just outside of Eindhoven, where there's a museum dedicated to the artist.
Nuenen itself is an affluent place and home to one of the country's best restaurants, Soenil Bahadoer's exquisite two-Michelin-starred De Lindehof. Hard to get in but worth every penny.
If you choose to stay in Den Bosch, you won't go hungry – in keeping with its Burgundian reputation, it's packed with bars and restaurants. For coffee, locals swear by the java at Drab in the cool Uilenberg district; for a beer, try Café Bar le Duc, just down the street. It's a real Dutch "brown café" that's always busy - the place for a lunchtime bouncer (ham and eggs). They also brew their own beer, Kolleke.
Bossche bol
For something a little more substantial, try the small Korte Putstraat, which is packed with eateries, or head to Tante Pietje, where there's a thoroughly Burgundian vibe alongside hearty Dutch food, including steaks, ribs, and more. Finally, save room for a "Bossche bol" – a dark chocolate-covered cake filled with whipped cream most famously tasted at the Jan de Groot bakeries near the train station. Get some on the way home. They make leaving Den Bosch a lot more bearable.'
A 30-minute drive from Eindhoven Airport (low cost) and 60 minutes from Rotterdam/The Hague airport (low cost) and Schiphol Amsterdam or 75 minutes from Dusseldorf Airport.
A car is certainly easy, but public transport is also well organized. A bus stop is around the corner. And there is a railway station in Rosmalen.
Our place is a good option to explore the Netherlands, but also to discover Belgium or part of Germany.