Efteling

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Is Efteling Europe's greatest theme park? The Dutch certainly think so. Their 'Disneyland' pulls in more than four million visitors annually and offers a great selection of enchanting fairy-tale themed entertainment, talking trees and water shows but also some of the craziest rollercoasters you're likely to ride, including the 360-degree screamer 'Baron', and in-the-dark sensory-overload 'Vogel Kock'.

Efteling is near the unassuming town of Kaatsheuvel. Buses 300 and 301 stop at Efteling between Tilburg (€3, 20 minutes) and Den Bosch (€4.90, 40 minutes), running several times an hour.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • The famous stained glass windows of Sint Janskerk ( saint John Church )of Gouda abound in political symbolism, reproducing figures and events of the time, and use biblical events to refer to the conflict between Spanish Catholics and Dutch Protestants that led to the Dutch Uprising of 1572.

    Sint Janskerk

    29.28 MILES

    Impressive for both its size and its magnificent stained-glass windows, Sint Janskerk had chequered beginnings: previous incarnations of the building…

  • Kinderdijk

    Kinderdijk

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    One of the Dutch sites on Unesco's World Heritage List, this stretch of the Alblasserwaard polder encompasses two canals, 19 traditional windmills, a…

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    Ringed by grassy medieval rampart-banks, the charming citadel-village of Woudrichem became famed as the set for popular TV drama Dokter Tinus. Its small…

  • St Janskathedraal

    St Janskathedraal

    13.24 MILES

    One of the finest churches in the Netherlands, this cathedral took from 1336 to 1550 to complete. The interior has late-Gothic stained-glass windows, an…

  • Philips Museum

    Philips Museum

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    From Keith Richards' tape-recorder to a wide-screen projector that once won an Oscar, this engaging museum tells the extraordinary story of the light-bulb…

  • Turnhout Begijnhof

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  • Heusden

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  • Jheronimus Bosch Art Center

    Jheronimus Bosch Art Center

    13.39 MILES

    Housed in the grand, century-old St Jacob's Church, this remarkable museum has reproductions of all 29 known Bosch paintings, brought to life by an…

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Nearby attractions

1. Draaiend Huis

4.45 MILES

Slowly turning around the Hasselt Rotonde, this lonely 'house' is actually a controversial artwork by architectural-sculptor John Körmeling.

2. Textile Museum

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Winner of the Netherlands' 2017 'museum of the year' award, this innovative place celebrates, and continues the production of, original textiles – an…

3. De Pont Museum

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With regularly changing exhibitions, this expansive contemporary art space occupies the site of a former wool-spinning factory. Even if the museum is…

4. Heusden

8.88 MILES

Picture-postcard little Heusden features antique tile-roofed houses, post-mills, minibridge and lovely inner yacht-harbour all wrapped in a fortified…

5. Stedelijk Museum Breda

10.46 MILES

Breda's main museum tells the city's remarkable history through paintings and artefacts, but to make sense of it you'll need to request the explanatory…

6. Valkenberg

10.48 MILES

With mature trees and fountains playing in its central pond, this lovely park forms Breda's green heart and is packed with sunworshippers on summer…

7. Begijnhof

10.56 MILES

Delightfully calm and pretty, if a little grander than many of the better-known beguinages of Belgium and Holland, these almshouses for unmarried or…

8. Breda Castle

10.63 MILES

Off limits to visitors but visible from across its canal-ringed island, Breda's castle dates to at least 1300. It was expanded by the Nassaus in the 15th…