Adriennels

We are planning a three week trip to Europe this June with our three kids, ages 17, 15 and 10. We will arrive and spend the first 4 days in Paris and then we are off to the Netherlands for 4 days to visit friends. After that we have 4-6 days that I need to plan before we need to arrive in London on Saturday, June 23 for a wedding the following day. We will be in England for a week before we leave.

One child likes museums, the other likes biking and outdoor stuff and the little one is pretty cooperative no matter what we do.

Every place I research sounds great and I am having a hard time making a decision! I am considering:
- more time in the Netherlands, visiting some smaller towns. We will be visiting friends in Appledoorn and hopefully spend at least one day with or without them in Amsterdam
- Belgium - Bruges and Ghent, bike around
- visiting Strasbourg and small villages around there
- Black Forest area of Germany - my great-grandmother comes from a little village near Villingen-Schwenningen and I wanted to see it
- Romantic Road - maybe this is too far away to get back to London easily
- a HolidayCentre or other camping resort - we did this in Italy a few years ago and it was a lot of fun. We could take day trips from there, if there are any good recommendations.

Help! Too many choices!
Thanks.

Cowboy1968

More time in NL or Flanders sounds good.
Especially since the train connections are very good and you can see a lot during a day trip based in Apeldoorn.

The Black Forest is a "bit" out of the way, though the Stuttgart region can keep you quite busy (e.g. Mercedes or Porsche museums).
Stuttgart, Villingen-Schwenningen and Strasbourg are close together, so you could "do" all in one trip.
Fortunately, there is hardly one airport in Europe from where you could not fly nonstop to London.

The Romantic Road would be way too much for my taste and a relatively short time to play with. You would spend more time on public transport or in the car than actually doing something. Esp. when your boys are more active and don't like to be stuck in a car or train for hours each day.

If you think about holiday resorts, you should check out the Center Parcs. Most are located in NL or BE (several in very short distance to Apeldoorn) and they offer tons of activities for all ages and skills. So you can either spend time with your kids or keep them busy on their own. The main attraction are the huge domes with tropical pool landscapes. Very family-friendly.

Cowboy1968

P.S.
Didn't mean to suggest Flanders as a day trip from Apeldoorn. If you opt for BE you should locate yourself somewhere in Flanders.

Vttraveler

I would try not to move around too much more which would mean spending more time in the Netherlands and/or Belgium. Amsterdam certainly deserves more than one day.

One place you all might enjoy is the Kroeller Muller museum in the Netherlands. It has an excellent museum in the middle of a nature park with bicycles. See my trip report from last fall (day 5).
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...etherlands.cfm

There is also lots to do/see in Brussels and smaller nearby cities. Again, see my trip report.

longhorn55

My vote is for Germany. We lived in Stuttgart for a few years and I think you would find a lot to see and do in the area for 4 to 5 days. You've got the auto and art museums in Stuttgart; you've got castles and scenery in Heidelberg; you've got the walled city of Rothenberg o.d. Tauber; and you've got your family history in Villigen-Schwennigen.

While the Netherlands are nice enough, since you already there for 4 days, it might be nice to experience something different.