A rollercoaster of a time in Efteling - one of the worlds oldest theme parks

The 37 metre drop on the Baron 1898 at Efteling. 

Rollercoasters with 14 inversions, 40m vertical drops, even the roof of a casino in Las Vegas. I’ve done my fair share of theme parks.

But I know I’m in for the rollercoaster ride of my life when I’m told to remove my flip-flops.

I sit barefoot and vulnerable, my toes dangling in the air, as the carriage rattles up the tracks. We are slowly, menacingly, hauled up the steep incline.

At the top, we dangle, hanging suspended over the vertical drop.

We roar as the carriage is released but, before we can even register the thrill of the vertical drop, we dip and dive through the tracks, turning upside down and sideways as we manoeuvre loops and inversions.

Welcome to Baron 1898, the mother of all rollercoasters at Efteling theme park. My Birkenstocks wouldn’t have stood a chance.

The 37 metre drop on the Baron 1898 at Efteling. 

No matter where we holiday, there’s always a day that we seek out rollercoasters.

There’s something unique, though, about our latest discovery.

Efteling, an hour from Amsterdam, has all the high-octane thrill rides. Our watches log soaring heart rates as we roar our way through Python’s multiple inversions or VogelRok, the black dark coaster.

Eftlingen's Python rollercoaster

Yet, minutes later, we are relaxing on a meandering boat cruise through the park’s waterways or strolling through the fairytale forest, Efteling’s tribute to classics, from The Princess and the Pea to Little Red Riding Hood.

Old-style carousels and chairoplanes lie just beyond the woods.

There’s a different pace here.

The scale of the theme park — built in the 1950s, it predates even Disney — helps.

Divided into five different realms, there’s space for the thrill-seeking coasters but also an abundance of picnic areas and calming green zones for a little downtime.

Spurting water fountains are built at just the right height for little feet to dart through; elsewhere, water-filled buckets with levers are another means for little bodies to cool down.

In such a vast space, it never feels full and, while queues can creep up for the heavy-hitting rides like Baron, the app is accurate, meaning you can plan ahead.

A new thrill ride is also planned for 2029: The Missie Luminar will be the theme park’s first suspended launch coaster.

We stay at the Grand Hotel, right in the centre of the theme park. Art deco in design — a book dedicated to the cinematography of The Grand Budapest Hotel sits at reception — the colourways are deep and luxurious greens, wines, and golds.

The whimsical lobby at Efteling Grand Hotel

Our room keys are downloaded on our phones, yet the shelves behind reception are decorated with bold brass ornate keys, in keeping with the vintage timeline.

A self-playing piano in the reception plays music from the era.

It’s the Roaring 20s, right in the middle of a theme park, and the perfect base to decamp to after a morning of rollercoasters.

The swimming pool downstairs is the icing on the cake.

This manages to straddle the relaxed vibe of a spa with saunas, steam rooms, and water jets for frazzled parents while the pool itself, with depths safe for all ages, offers cooling downtime for kids.

The glamorous art deco theme runs throughout.

Clever design means the family bedrooms have built-in bunk beds, so space is never an issue.

Bunks at Efteling Grand Hotel

There’s self check-in, so once you’ve registered your car reg on the app, you gain entry to the car park, your bags are collected, and you are free to roam the theme park until room access is granted at 3pm. It’s seamless.

Breakfast is provided at Brasserie 7: Granola, cereals, yogurt, bacon, eggs. We eat dinner there one night and the food is a highlight, with prices reasonable by Irish standards.

For older kids, there’s a three-course option for €25, while for adults steak with chimichurri sauce, for example, is €25.

But it was the ‘magic ingredients’, whispered to us conspiratorially by staff, that had us enthralled.

Gunpowder, that tasted a lot like chilli flakes, was served with the tomato soup.

Fairies’ tears — a dash of citrus — accompanied the salad.

The hotel stay also gives early-entry access to the park, so you can ride the rollercoasters from 9.30am, half an hour before it opens to the public.

For families who need more time out, accommodation is also available in a nearby woodland area, 10 minutes from the park.

From the thrill-seeking rides to relaxing boats and steam trains, there is also a fun middle ground.

The water rides, Piñata and De Vliegende Hollander, leave us soaked and laughing.

The Danse Macabre ride sees us spin and tilt to the music in a mash-up of waltzers and a ghost train.

There are also rocking boats, and a ‘Nest’ play area for younger children. There’s something for everyone here.

The Max and Moritz ride is one of our favourites. It races us along a track and, just when we think it’s over, the music speeds up, along with our carriage.

Perfect, we decide, for visitors who would rather ride the rollercoasters with their shoes on.

12 Hours in Amsterdam

Three kids, 12 hours in Amsterdam. It turns out the capital is less than an hour from Efteling, so it makes sense to give them a taste of the famous city.

But how do you give a snapshot in 12 hours, and without the overwhelm that can come with the bright lights of a city? A cruise through the canals just wouldn’t hold their attention. And bus tours aren’t generally child-focused.

So we sought out something a little different: A rickshaw tour of Amsterdam. Our first stop was Anne Frank’s house. Tickets can be hard to secure, so six weeks prior we had logged onto the website to secure entry the moment tickets became available. It was a stark 90-minute walk through the dark annex the teenager had hidden in for two years, and an awakening for my own young adolescents.

We stepped outside and Bobby, from I Am Bike Tour, was waiting by the canal for us, his sunflower-decorated pedicab an intoxicating glow of vibrant yellow.

Vickie's daughters enjoy a sunflower-studded rickshaw tour of Amsterdam with Bobby from I am Bike.

He had the same bright energy.

For two hours, we manoeuvred along the streets of Amsterdam, weaving through bikes, pedestrians, and cars. At major landmarks, Bobby pulled over to talk us through the history of the city. There were the 16th-century buildings that had seen the foundations of the spice trade. He showed us monograms on buildings that would distinguish companies for an illiterate population. We stopped at Rembrandt’s museum to reflect on a city steeped in art, later the flower market to see — and smell — the tulips. There was the fun stuff too; the little shop that Bobby swears sells the best pastries, just for the kids. Our tour became an insider’s guide to the city, an authentic side to Amsterdam that no pre-recorded canal trip or rehearsed bus tour could ever capture.

And there were other opportunities for day trips from Efteling.

Back when she could barely even talk, my youngest had an imaginary friend. This was no run-of-the-mill pretend ally. Ruby chose a panda bear, and she called her ‘Rhino Dorcy’.

Later, a cuddly panda bear assumed the identity of this pretend friend and the obsession with pandas was real.

It just so happens that the only zoo in the Netherlands that has real panda bears is in Ouwehands, just an hour’s drive from Efteling. A Pandasia compound has been built to house the three bears; we watched them lethargically chew on bamboo, slowly amble to the door to look outside, Rhino Dorcy watching their every move.

Another 30 minutes from the theme park is a unique town, Baarle Nassau. On the Belgian-Dutch border, there are 30 enclaves throughout this otherwise insignificant village. One moment you’re in the Netherlands, the next you’re in Belgium. Little white crosses mark the borders; at one point, the girls jump on a swing that takes them to different countries as they flit back and forth. Efteling might be the destination but its rollercoasters are the launchpad for new adventures.

Escape Notes

A premium deluxe room (standard room) at Efteling Grand Hotel costs from €585 for a family of four (two adults and two children aged between four and 12), including breakfast and two-day access to the park.

• efteling.com/en/grand-hotel
• Vickie was a guest of Efteling