COVID-19 is here to stay for a while until a vaccine is properly developed and available for distribution for all mankind. The Dutch government has taken new steps starting 1 July 2020 towards the 'new normal' on how all of us can go on with our lives and learn to live with COVID-19.
There is no travel restriction within the Netherlands and a lot of leisure places such as cinema, cafes, terraces are now open with restrictions of 1.5m social distancing rule. Many of us will avoid taking public transports such as bus / train / plane and stick to the comfort of our vehicle for safety reasons. We can now travel to neighbouring countries such as Belgium, Germany and more countries in the EU region too. The options for this solution would be day trips, stand alone holiday nature homes, caravan or campers.
For a small family up to 4 persons, caravans or campers are ideals. You have the benefits of having your personal space, toilet and freedon to drive whichever direction that suits you this summer.
There are two companies in Nederweert where you can look at Rentac and Reema Caravans. caravans rental rates startas at €740 per week.
For stand alone nature houses, I love these websites from natuurhiusje.nl and specialvillas.nl as it allows you to filter the available options by stand alone houses for a contacless holiday.
Our family is a little claustrophobic, so caravans and campers are not an option for us. I also don't posses impressive driving skills that I would be confident on driving the big wagon around. A stand alone holiday nature home is not going to be fun as we only have one child. Our options are left with day trips! I would not drive over one hour for day trips which left us with the region of South Liburg, border of Beligum, Germany and some cities in North Brabant.
I love the landscape towards the southern part of the Netherlands where the hill starts. The Zuid Limburg website provides informations on nature, musesums, zoos, castles and fortresses around this region.
Last Saturday we drove to Genk, in Belgium (about 45mins by car from Weert). A small city with a decent shopping centre (Shopping 1) and a small castle - Borkrijk. While on the other side of the border, in Germany there are several towns where its the centre for shopping for their surrounding region. Heinsberg is not too far from Weert and with a big Tesco-like supermarket, big shoe-warehouse type of shop and small cafes. Nothing fancy but there you can find lots of variety of products from what you usually find in a Dutch store for a relatively lower price. If you have more ideas on where to explore around the borders of Beligum / Gerrmany, do leave some tips below.
Recently I have a new-found hobby of learning to surf the city streets with long board. We gound a great shop in Genk called Yeti Boards. We insisted of buying the board from the store since I am a newbie so I can get a proper advise and try on the board in person rather than buying it online. The store owner is super helpful and knowledgeable! I am super pleased with my board and looking forward to ace the streets with this new longboard this summer!
I hope that all of you would have a great summer holiday of 2020 and stay safe!