Amazing Holiday (Duinrell Amusement Park (Netherlands))

Member Name: cherryJ

Product:	Duinrell Amusement Park (Netherlands)
Date:	02/11/08 (545 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Plenty to do, great value, lots of fun!

Disadvantages: If you want lots and lots of thrill rides,maybe not for you

We have just returned from a 2 week holiday to Duinrell and had an amazing time!
Myself (26) and my boyfriend (25) booked through Keycamp and flew from Liverpool to Amsterdam.

Getting there

We flew from Liverpool to Amsterdam Schiphol with Easyjet. Managed to get some special offer seats for £9.99 - with taxes etc it worked out at about £50 return per person. The flight was just under an hour and couldn't have been any better really!
From Schiphol, we caught a train to Leiden - the train station is actually in the airport so really easy to find. The train to Leiden cost 5 euros per person and took about 15 minutes. At Leiden we caught a taxi from the rank outside, asked the guy to take us to Duinrell. He dropped us right outside the Keycamp reception which was very handy! The taxi journey took about 15 minutes and cost 29 euros.
It's also possible to catch a bus from Leiden for about 6 euros for 2 people. However it drops you about a 10 minute walk from Duinrell and if you are not sure where you are headed, a taxi may be a better choice - especially if you have suitcases!
Alternatively, on the way back to the airport we caught a bus to Den Haag and then got the train from Den Haag to Schiphol.
It's probably simpler to just hop a taxi from Leiden on your way to Duinrell, then when you are more familiar with the area and the buses, use public transport to get to the airport on the way home.

Duinrell

Duinrell itself was brilliant! There's the amusement park, the waterpark and the Kikkertown.
Firstly the amusement park. It's absolutely brilliant for children, although plenty of fun to be had for adults as well! There's loads of novel and unique attractions that you won't find anywhere else! Such as cannon boats which pull you up a ramp backwards and then let go, you go shooting off the end and splash into the water! The park is much more laid back than places like Alton Towers. Some rides are even unmanned and you are left to your own devices!
In terms of "fast" rides, there is not a huge selection but still enough to enjoy. There's Splash which is a sort of log flume, but the 'splash' at the bottom is much bigger than usual! Waterspin is where you all sit in a line and then get twisted and swung all over the place. The Mad Mill lives up to its name,and is a version of a pirate ship except it also involves spinning round....The Kikkercoaster looks like it may just be for kids, but is actually enjoyable and goes quite fast! And the toboggan is fun, its about the only thing that had a queue but didn't take too long to get to the front.
There are a few places to eat in the park, mainly fast food but not expensive.
The waterpark - called the TikiPool - is brilliant! If you are staying onsite then you get 2 hours entrance per day for free between 10am - 2pm. If you want to go outside these hours its 3 euros 50 cents for 2 hours - absolute bargain! There are loads of slides: Cyclone and Tornado are brilliant - start of as a tube slide and then shoot you out into a huge funnel, you spin round and round and then fall out of the bottom! Moonlight and Starfright are tube slides in the dark, great fun! Bits and Flits are SUPERFAST - one of them is almost vertical at the start! Family Slide and Superslide - don't be fooled by the name, family slide starts off nice and slow but by the end you are going pretty fast! And the "death" slide which is a vertical drop into a deep pool. There;s also a wave pool and a Lazy River, and a children's section so plenty to do.
There's a snack bar overlooking the pool which you access from the pool area so dont have to get changed to go into.
Also part of the Tiki Pool is the TikiSauna. Originally we thought this was just the steam rooms that are next to the wave pool. However we were wrong! You go up the spiral staircase at the entrance to access the sauna. It costs 5 euros for 4 hours and comprises a jacuzzi, steam room, 2 saunas, and an outdoor plunge pool. There's a routine up on the wall for you to follow, if you repeat the circuit 3 times then you will be relaxed like you have never been before !! One thing to note - no swimwear is allowed in the sauna, i.e. you have to be naked. At first we felt a bit self-conscious but you soon relax especially when you realise no-one else is bothered!
Finally the Kikkertown, this comprises the Supermarket, Irish Pub, Jazz Frog brasserie, Jungle Buffet and Snack bar. The Irish pub is great, they have mini bowling which is miniature bowling alleys, great fun. There's also table football and air hockey games. At the weekends when we were there they had entertainment such as kids discos, karaoke and a casino night. The other parts of the kikkertown, I have covered below.




Wassenaar
Wassenaar is a great little town, the town centre is literally across the road from Duinrell. There is one main street which I think is called Laangstraat which has an array of small shops, snack places, restaurants etc...
Bagel Alley is a great place for lunch or a drink, the Oranjerie is also nice.
HEMA is a kind of department store that sells all kinds, including food and also has a very cheap cafe.
There is a market on Tuesdays which is in the market square by the library (not the main street as we thought!). It is mainly food and fruit/veg stalls, but worth a wander round.
There are about 3 or 4 banks all together at the top of the Laangstraat. The ING doesn't have a foreign exchange, the ABN does. However the rates are really rubbish! So take plenty of Euros with you.

Other things to do

There is a beach in Wassenaar which is signposted from Duinrell (look for "Wassenaarslag" or something similar)
It is possible to walk to the beach which is what we did - it takes about 50 minutes ( or 2.5 hours if you try and take a "short cut"....my advice is stick to the main road and don't follow the red posts into the sand dunes!!) It was really windy when we visited the beach and quite cold but there were still a few brave people taking a dip in the water! There are a few snack bars which were closed, and a really nice restaurant which was open. It's definitely worth popping into the restaurant for a cup of tea and a bite to eat.

Getting to Amsterdam is quite easy, but can be expensive. There's no direct bus, and no train from Wassenaar so the best option is to get the bus to Leiden which costs about 6 euros return for 2 people. Then the train from Leiden to Amsterdam costs 14 euros return per person. So its about 17 euros per person to get to Amsterdam, works out about £11/12 and takes about 40/50 minutes.
However! If you go on a weekend, there is a bus that comes into Duinrell and takes you to Amsterdam.A day ticket costs 10 euros and covers 2 adults and up to 3 children. The only drawback is that is doesn't drop you in the centre. It drops you in the outskirts, and you have to hop on another bus to the centre, then get the ferry across to Centraal station. No extra costs, but it just takes a bit of time.
All of the above refers to out of season - if you go in June - Aug then no problem as there are buses that go straight from Duinrell to the centre.

In Amsterdam itself there are plenty of things to do. The Anne Frank house is definitely worth a visit. The queue looks long but goes really quickly. The entrance fee is about 7 euros.
Also worth a visit is the "Artis" which is around by the Jewish quarter I think. It's a zoo, aquarium, planetarium, and museum all in one and is really good, especially if you have children, they will love it! It's not particularly cheap, about 17 euros for adults, but plenty of stuff included for the price. You could easily spend a good few hours or even a whole day here.


Also I would definitely recommend a visit to Rotterdam. Its much less touristy than Amsterdam, not as busy and easier/cheaper to get to. There's a bus that goes from down the road from Duinrell to Den Haag, then hop on the train from Den Haag to Rotterdam. Takes about 40 minutes and costs about 10 euros per person. Rotterdam is the place to go for shopping - there are endless shopping streets and shopping centres/malls. Don't miss V&D which is a huge department store spanning about 6 levels, it sells absolutely everything, and you could easily pass a good few hours just in here! There's absolutely hordes of places to eat, all the usual fast food, loads of Chinese restaurants, Japanese restaurants, italian....We didn't stay late enough to sample the nightlife but there were plenty of bars and clubs and it seemed like it would be quite a lively place at night.


Accommodation

We stayed in Keycamp's Supernova 29 mobile home which sleeps 7 - so for the 2 of us there was plenty of space! There was a double bedroom, a twin bedroom with bunk, a shower, a toilet, a kitchen and lounge. For 7 people it would probably get a bit crowded, but for 2-4 people it's ideal. You have to take your own sheets towels and pillowcases (or can rent them from keycamp for about £14) but you get all the other essentials such as kettle, pans, cutlery etc...Oh yes, you need to bring your own toilet paper as well!
We found the caravan really comfy and cosy and it felt like home after no time at all!

Food / Eating out

The facilities in the caravan made it really easy to prepare our own food which was a nice change! There is a large refrigerator and also a freezer so plenty of storage space for food.
The Duinrell supermarket on site is large and well stocked. We had read reviews saying that it was overpriced but we found it to be very reasonable. Compared with the supermarkets in wasenaar, it is more expensive, but for convenience it is well worth a visit. It is open till late as well which was very handy when we first arrived.
C1000 in Wassenaar is probably the best supermarket, has a wide range of products and is very cheap. To find it, you turn left off the main shopping street and then left again, and it's on the second main road.
Aldi is very cheap, a bit harder to find. If you find the town map which is down the side of HEMA I think, then look for Dominos pizza and Subway - Aldi is opposite these.
There are plenty of places to eat out, in Duinrell itself and in Wasenaar.
In Duinrell there is the Jungle Buffet, the Bistro, the snack bar and the Pizzeria.
We only went to the Jungle Buffet, it cost 19.95 euros per person which we thought was slightly overpriced. The food was nice, but there wasn't a huge selection.
In Wassenaar, there are plenty restaurants to choose from.
Don't miss the "Mie-Li" Chinese restaurant. We ended up going there twice, it was that nice! I definitely recommend the Chinese Fondue - you get a huge wok of boiling water on your table and a platter of raw meat, fish and vegetables which you then cook yourself and eat with a choice of 5 sauces. Delicious!
The banquets were about the same price in euros as they are in pounds here - i.e. quite a bit cheaper.
Also worth a visit is the pancake house right next door to Duinrell. They have an unbelievable choice of savoury and sweet pancakes as well as some traditional Dutch dishes. I can also recommend the Amaretto Chocomel Hot chocolate!



Weather

The weather wasn't that great during our stay (last 2 weeks of September) We had one nice weekend when it was really sunny and hot. However we also had a few days of heavy rain. The majority of mornings, we woke up to rain but it usually cleared up by lunchtime, leaving a clear and fresh afternoon.
The weather didn't really affect us that much though. The amusement park seemed to open no matter what the weather was like, and of course the Tiki Pool isn't affected at all by the weather. It does get really cold at night though. Our caravan had heaters which warmed us up nicely, but I would recommend you take nice warm pyjamas and not summer ones like I did!


Overall we had an absolutely brilliant time, and if you are considering Duinrell for a holiday then go for it!

Summary: Fancy a great holiday, a bit different from the norm?