On holiday with your motorhome in and around 's-Hertogenbosch

We drive into the attractive Camperplaats Hoek close to ‘s-Hertogenbosch. The Hoek family started this rural overnight spot in 2022, right next to their house. The spacious pitches make it the perfect base for a visit to the old town of ‘s-Hertogenbosch, which is full of historic alleyways, industrial hotspots and impressive museums. And Heeswijk Castle in Heeswijk-Dinther is not far away.

"In the atlas and on traffic signs you will see the name ’s-Hertogenbosch, but in everyday life the capital of North Brabant is known as Den Bosch. You need to know that…''

The impressive St. John’s Cathedral really is a gem of Brabant gothic. Just before half past eleven we are standing in the Torenstraat, our leg muscles already having warmed up during our walk to the centre. Now we’re ready for a climb of no fewer than 218 steps. The first 60 steps take us up onto the roof. From the first to the second floor, then on to the third, the fourth and the fifth, and finally to the sixth floor, 43 metres above the ground, to enjoy a rewarding and breath-taking view.

Should we choose to visit Het Noordbrabants Museum or maybe the Design Museum Den Bosch. It’s a difficult choice, but after some deliberation we settle for the first option and stand face to face with works by Vincent van Gogh, Jan Sluijters and the Bruegel family.

As we stroll through this delightful town, we pass by the Jan de Groot bakery. Whatever they sell here must be delicious, as people are queuing up right outside the shop. We join the line and our patience is rewarded. A short while later we are staring at an original Bossche Bol, a pastry delicacy in which the main ingredients are cream and chocolate. Delicious!

The next day we decide to visit the town’s cultural hotspot. Where the railway and the River Dieze meet is where you will find the Tramkade. There is a warehouse you can skate in, silos full of street art and a crane you can sleep in. Nothing could be more absurd here, and it looks even better from a rented boat than from dry land.

It’s hard to imagine that they wanted to demolish the railway bridge that we are now walking across. The yellow steel construction spans the low-lying wetland area of this nature reserve known as the Moerputten. For more than half a kilometre, this industrial heritage forms the basis of our walk which then leads on to a boardwalk through the marshland; and all of this less than 10 kilometres from ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

We get back into our motorhome. It’s time to discover more of North Brabant. After visiting Heeswijk Castle, and what a beautiful castle it is, we follow the River Maas. We drive into Megen, an old dukedom and a delightful fortified town. Just half an hour later we park the motorhome in Grave, which some sources say is the most besieged garrison town in the Netherlands. Many battles might have been fought there, but the town seems to have survived unscathed. Beautiful buildings and national monuments stand side by side. We learn more about the sieges in the Municipal Museum, housed in the Hampoort and dating from 1688, where countless objects tell the story of the town from its beginnings to the present day.

We let our impressions of today sink in at Camperplaats De Kleine Geest, a site offering every convenience; tomorrow is another day.

After breakfast, we take a fifteen-minute drive to Ravenstein once part of the Zuiderwaterlinie (Southern Water Defence Line). This is a unique series of historic fortified towns and surrounding areas. This town was once a dukedom, it only became part of the Netherlands in 1814.

We continue our drive through the Maashorst primeval area, which is the finishing point of this holiday. Remains from the early Ice Age, prehistoric times and the Bronze Age have all been discovered here. Graves of princes, ‘pole graves’ and an urnfield take us back to ancient times, then we spot Exmoor ponies and bison during our walk through this extensive nature reserve. What an experience.