worldtravellermagazine.com 43NETHERLANDSThe author Maggie O’Farrell falls under the spell
of a fairytale theme park, family-friendly cycle
trails and a moated townW
e are in the middle of breakfast when Red Riding Hood
turns up. She skips — yes, skips — to the table, swinging
her basket, and trills: “How are you today?”
My youngest daughter stares, astonished, croissant in
hand. She examines this vision, from the buckled shoes to the red cape,
then she looks across the room to where a knight in full armour is engaging
a table of children in a sword display.
Such is life at Efteling, the Netherlands’ enormous fairytale
extravaganza, 100km south of Amsterdam, where fantasy is to be imbibed
with your daily bread. If, like me, the words ‘theme park’ make you shudder
or, when paired with the word ‘Disney’, bring you out in hives, you might
find this place more palatable.
You won’t find any kitsch, bowdlerised renderings of folk tales. No
singing rabbits or anthropomorphised deer. No overly gendered or cutesy
messages are rammed home. Efteling is, instead, refreshingly loyal to its
traditional storytelling roots.
This isn’t to say that there isn’t a commercial side: there is and, good
grief, it’s huge. The sun is out when we arrive and people are stolidly
queueing for 45 minutes for the rides. There are river-rapid boats that circle
you round and round while spraying you with water; rollercoasters thatThis page and
following pages:
Fairy tale houses and
adventure rides
await at Efteling