North Brabant is the southern Dutch province that families come for one headline reason and stay for several more. The headline is Efteling, a fairytale theme park older than Disneyland and arguably more charming, where the rides and storybook woods land equally well with a wide-eyed four-year-old and an unimpressable teenager. But the province rewards the days on either side of the park too. This is the flat, green, bike-mad Netherlands, where cycling with young children is genuinely easy and safe, and where the cities of Eindhoven and Tilburg fold in interactive museums and lively squares for when the weather turns.

Nature stays close and gentle. De Biesbosch National Park, a maze of rivers and willow forest, opens up for boat trips, cycle paths, and beaver-spotting, the kind of low-key wildlife outing that suits small children without demanding much of them. The accommodation leans toward holiday parks and countryside lodges with playgrounds and pools, plus boutique hotels and farm stays for families who want more character. North Brabant is not trying to be dramatic, and that is the appeal: it pairs one of Europe's best theme parks with flat, easy, safe surroundings, which makes it one of the lowest-stress places on the continent to take children who are still small.