The Amsterdamse Bos, or Amsterdam Forest, is a sprawling city park modelled after the natural landscape of an English garden. It spans a huge area of 1,000 hectares, making it three times larger than New York’s Central Park. Since its conceptualisation at the turn of the 20th century, the park has served the people of Amsterdam well, providing employment during the financial crisis and a place to relax and have fun today.

There’s always something to do at Amsterdamse Bos. You can rent a bicycle to explore the park, go kayaking on the waterways or have a picnic on the sprawling meadows. Made of a diverse range of landscapes and ecosystems, the park is filled with all kinds of wildlife and has its very own “Big Five”: the marsh harrier, the kingfisher, the Scottish highlander, the squirrel and the grass snake. Children will love the animals in the petting zoo, and you can grab some lunch at its café or sample cheese in the cheese farm.