Hi
My husband, myself and our 14 yr old daughter are contemplating a long weekend somewhere in Northern France, Belgium, Holland or similar, this summer late July/early August. 3 nights/ 4 days probably
Thinking of Eurostar possibly with the car. Daughter is not so keen on a city break. We enjoy gentle walks/being out in nature, kayaking/horse riding etc with maybe an occasional museum/bit of culture for us oldies. Husband has sore back so nothing too strenuous.
Are there any particularly scenic areas somewhere relatively easily accessible for Eurostar?
pretty self catering properties usually work well for us but also happy to contemplate hotel

Eurostar to Brussels and the rest of the trip by car seeing Flemish Brabant (the province where Brussels is located). Lots of castles, gardens, villages, some breweries. Walks in the Sonian Forest. Cycling. If you choose to do the city, perhaps a tram ride on no 44 from Montgomery to Tervuren to see the African museum and walk around the parklands out there.

Lavandula

Ooh. Thank you. Sounds great.

Was going to suggest The Hague, because that gives you at least 2 great museums (amongst which Mauritshuis), it has a beach (Zuiderstrand is the better one) and gorgeous dunes for walking, starting right inside the city: if you start behind The Hague Centraal, you can walk to the coast at Meijendel all through forests and posh parks.

Travel times by train for excursions:
The Hague - Delft: 20 minutes
The Hague Rotterdam: 30 minutes (there's also a Light Rail connection)
The Hague - Leiden: 20 minutes
The Hague - Amsterdam: 45 minutes

Beach and dunes between Scheveningen and Kijkduin are really beautiful. Busy in your period though, because it's the school holidays, so start booking a nice place kind of now. There are even beach houses you can rent at Zuiderstrand.

The Hague is a very green city, lots of parks and green spaces (Palace Gardens, Voorhout, Haagse Bos). It's stylish in a patrician way, because it is the seat of government and the royal court is there, so it's a city of palaces, most of which you can visit. As an experience, do have tea in the lobby at Des Indes. It doesn't get more The Hague than that.

Should you go to The Hague, do visit Panorama Mesdag for a unique sensory experience from the 19th century.

Sounds lovely. Thank you

Is there a particular reason you want Eurostar access? Train travel in general across the region is great in general - but not every train is a Eurostar....

Eurostar followed by any train that connects easily is good.
or wondering if Eurostar with the car enables us to go somewhere a bit more rural/remote.

Of course a car can get you to remote places. Even more importantly, once you are in a more remote area, a car can get you around from place to place quickly and efficiently.

I visited La Thierache in Northern France, a micro-region of about 60 villages with fortified churches. A unique architectural ensemble. With a car it was easy to hop from village to village. You can also do that by bicycle. But by public transit, it's not possible to tour this area.

In my simple thinking Eurostar is simply another type of train. I’m still not sure why Eurostar is even part of the consideration. it sounds like your’re asking for train accessible destinations,

If you are not going to cities then definitely take your car - assuming you live in the UK and are driving your own car. The car service is Le Shuttle from Folkestone to Calais, Eurostar is passenger service only.
From Calais there are lots of options, go to Belgium, the Ardennen. Or in France follow the coast to Honfleur, Deauville.

You've got a long weekend with quite some travel in it already. In NL you won't get rural and remote, unless you drive a considerable distance East or North.
In Belgium it's different, and you might want to do the Ardennes from Bruxelles or follow Lavandula' s excellent suggestions.

All of the main stations -- Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam -- are the hub of many of the local lines so it is super easy to find an interesting small destination and quickly take another train. For example, at Paris-Nord you can take a commuter train to Auvers-sur-Oise and discover where Van Gogh spent the last month or two of his life, some of the sites he painted and even see his very modest grave along with his brother Theo.

Was trying to make the point that we aren’t coming from the UK by ferry. We will use Eurostar or Le shuttle. Because we don’t have many days, I was hoping for relative quick and easy journeys/not great distances/. Happy to catch connecting trains but thinking the car is the way to enable us to go a bit more rural.

In that case, just take Le Shuttle to Calais and follow the RN1 along the coast. There are lots of little towns like Wissant or Ambleteuse nearby and plenty of beach towns on the way to Le Touquet. I personally would recommend Saint Valéry-sur-Somme which is absolutely lovely. You can watch the seals or take the little steam train along the coast.

sounds lovely. Thank you. Think we’re gonna go for this plan.

I made a photo report about it last year: Saint Valery-sur-Somme by steam train | Any Port in a Storm (proboards.com)