The fun begins when we meet at St Pancras in time to catch the late morning Eurostar to Rotterdam. Here we change for a direct train to Tilburg, our base for five nights.

A day to relish as we head to the south west of The Netherlands via Rotterdam to the amazing dykes, dams and sluices (keeping the sea at bay) that were constructed following the infamous 1953 floods. Now the area has been developed for resettlement and tourism, and our day will include an excellent and very different railway.

A “circular” rail tour today as we head north to Utrecht – take the “museum line” to the brilliant National Railway Museum, where there is a lot more than just railway interest. There is the “Great Discovery”, the “Steel Monsters” – an atmospheric ride into the history of The Netherlands - and the “Fire Test”!! Plenty of time here before we head, by train and tram to Den Haag and take a tram trip to Madurodam. Here is one of the country’s premier attractions. Railways, towns, ports, windmills, clogs and cheesy bits are all portrayed in miniature (and totally out of scale!). This is also the perfect place for an early evening meal before returning to Tilburg.

Without a doubt the steam/railway/carnival atmosphere of the holiday begins with N.S. travel to the forest north of Utrecht and a place called Apeldoorn. Here is the V.S.M., who are holding their annual steam gala. Vintage cars and buses, twelve (minimum) steam loco’s in action operating to the most intensive schedule over 15 miles of standard gauge railway. No words can adequately describe this truly superb event – you won’t want the day to end.

Today we will head for the “hills”, for there are some! in The Netherland’s deep south – Limburg. Here we find the major tourist attraction in the area – steam, vintage railcars and even a branch line into Germany. The ZLSM operates from Simpelveld, and has main line “connections”, so this will be a “proper” rail day out.

Sadly, it’s homeward bound and a nice, easy, start to begin the journey. We retrace our route via Rotterdam to connect with the Eurostar back into London by mid-afternoon.