Otterlo/De Hoge Veluwe

When German heiress Hélène Müller married Dutch industrialist Anton Kröller at the turn of the 20th century, their combined wealth and complementary tastes were destined to give pleasure to generations to come. She loved art and could afford to collect it; he bought up land in Gelderland and eventually created a foundation to maintain it as a national park, building a museum to house the fruits of their expensive and discriminating taste. Today you can wander through the vast forests, heath, dunes, and moors of the Hoge Veluwe National Park, Kröller's land, and see the descendants of the wild boar and deer with which he stocked the estate. Or you can visit the world-famous museum in the middle of the park, established by Hélène and containing one of the best collections of Van Goghs in the world, as well as an excellent selection of late-19th-century and modern art. Additionally, you can visit the philanthropists' own house and hunting lodge. Children can caper about the largest sculpture garden in Europe, and the whole family can pick up one of the free bikes that are available in the park and trundle off down wooded lanes. (Note that Otterlo is only one entrance of several to the Hoge Veluwe, but it is widely considered the main gateway to the park).