Destinations,  Europe,  slider,  The Netherlands

De Friese Wouden: Recreatiecentrum De Wâldsang in Bakkeveen

After many campervan trips, we decided to buy a caravan last year. In the beginning, I wasn’t so sure about the decision, but if I look back now, we really used our caravan a lot. Not only for our trip to Slovenia, but also for discovering The Netherlands “one weekend at a time”. We spent one of those weekends in De Friese Wouden, Friesland. I already wrote a post about what to do in De Friese Wouden, so today’s post it’s about our stay at Recreatiecentrum De Wâldsang in Bakkeveen.

Bakkeveen

Recreatiecentrum De Wâldsang is located in Bakkeveen. Halfway between Leeuwarden and Groningen and only 15km from Drachten. Bakkeveen is a very charming village of about 2000 inhabitants. It’s popular for the “dodo festival” and flea markets, but also for the nature around it. In Bakkeveen, you can find forest, heath and even dunes. There are a lot of walking and cycling paths as well, making the area popular among nature lovers and families. In the summer, there’s even an outdoor heated swimming pool (in the Netherlands, the summer is not that hot) and the entry is for free if you are staying at De Wâldsang.

De Slotplaats
De Slotplaats

Location

We arrived at Recreatiecentrum De Wâldsang in the late afternoon and we used the last couple of hours of light to explore the surroundings of the camping. The camping is well-located, in the middle of the nature. From our camping field, we could exit the camping and take one of the walks in the nature area De Slotplaats.  The camping is also just a few minutes walking distance to the centre of Bakkeveen and right next to the tourist information. The Dunes and Duurswouder Heide are 15 minutes by bike from the camping.

The path to De Slotplaats
The path to De Slotplaats
Bike path to Duurswouder Heide
Bike path to Duurswouder Heide
Duurswouder Heide
Duurswouder Heide

Camping pitches: auto-free & private toilet

From our stay at De Wâlsang, I love three things: the fact that our camping field was ¨auto-free”, the playground in the middle of the camping field and having our own toilet (pitch nr45). I have been in few campings where you are asked to park your car outside the field and, frankly, I love the idea. The children could play without worrying about cars and they were constantly running from the caravan to the playground and back.

We had a camping pitch with our own toilet: the little building next to the pitch. Inside, there was a shower, a toilet, a sink and even heating! I must admit that having your own toilet is a luxury, but with the kids, it makes camping really easy. I don´t mind having to share the toilet building, but I hate having to take everything with me from the caravan to the toilet buildings. Here, I put our towels, shower gel, toothbrushes and so on in our toilet when we arrived, and I picked them up when we were leaving. And as the toilet building was just in front of our caravan, I showered the kids, rolled them in a towel and brought them into the caravan in order to dress them. So fine!! In the pictures below, you can see the outside and inside of the building.

Our caravan and our private toilet building
Our caravan and our private toilet building
The inside of our private toilet building
The inside of our private toilet building

Accommodations

If you want some extra comfort, you can rent one of the accommodations at De Wâldsang. You can choose between chalets (some of them with a sundeck and views over the fishing pond), lodges, bungalow tents and hiker’s cabin. All of them have “real” beds and kitchen. Have a look here.

chalet with a view to the fishing pod

Facilities

There are a restaurant and a snack bar if you don´t feel like cooking. Next to them, there’s a big outside playground and in a couple of months, there will be an indoor playground too. You can rent bikes and canoes. You can start a canoe tour directly at De Wâldsang, how cool is that? During the school holidays, there’re activities for the children and you can enter Bakkeveen’s outdoor swimming pool for free. And last but not least, the wifi is also for free.

Outdoor playground
Outdoor playground

children's farm
children’s farm

You will find Camping De Wâldsang in Foarwurker Wei 2, 9243 JZ Bakkeveen.

We were invited to discover De Friese Wouden as part of a press trip. All opinions are my own.

7 Comments

  • California Globetrotter

    We talked about buying a camper van/caravan kind of thing and becoming digital nomads, but that didn’t last long! This camping place looks family friendly for sure! Thanks for linking up with #TheWeeklyPostcard!

    • shere

      Looking at how much you road trip, probably a motorhome would be great for you! You can leave on the Friday and be back on Monday… Best part of a caravan is that we always have it ready to leave, so we can spontaneously go somewhere

  • Sara

    This looks like a peaceful place to spend a weekend away! I’m glad that you feel like the caravan was worth it. I think that’s one of those hard things to know if it will add enough value to be worth it. The bike path and the bridges look like they would make for lovely rides. #TheWeeklyPostcard

  • Anda

    A camper van seems like a great choice for a family with children, Shere. I wish I had this possibility when our son was growing up. It makes your life, as a mother, so much easier. The best part of owning one is that it gives you complete independence on where and when to travel. You don’t have to bother with reservations, or worry if they have any rooms available. It’s also much cheaper. The only downside of owning one is having a garage or a storage place for it. Where do you keep yours when you don’t use it? #TheWeeklyPostcard

  • Rhonda Albom

    That campsite does look wonderful. Having your own separate toilet right next to the caravan would be very convenient. The facilities look much better than most.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *