Take a Miffy-Themed Mini-Break to Holland This Spring Submitted By: Highlight PR Monday, 14 February 2011

Take a Miffy-themed Mini-Break to Holland this Spring Submitted by: Highlight PR Monday, 14 February 2011

Families with young children wanting a European mini break should head to Holland this Spring, as three new Miffy-themed destinations (http://www.miffy.com) are certain to delight fans of Dick Bruna’s classic white bunny. i. New Miffy play area at Keukenhof The first ever Miffy-themed play area launches at one of the most popular destinations in Holland: the world famous Keukenhof Gardens (http://www.keukenhof.nl), open to the public from 24 March to 20 May 2011, easily reachable by regular shuttle buses direct from Schipol airport (20 mins), or via a day’s excursion from Amsterdam. Filled with more than seven million Spring flowers in bloom, Keukenhof offers a stunning day out, and is the most photographed place in the world. The park, which covers 32 hectares with 15km of footpaths, is geared up for families, with an organised treasure hunt to learn about the different flowers in the park, a large playground, a jungle gym and a petting zoo. The new Miffy children’s play area will add to this offering, providing a dedicated area for younger children aged 2 to 4 years. It includes swings, slides and climbing frame, all featuring Dick Bruna’s iconic illustrations of Miffy and her friends. (Please see Editor’s notes re admission, getting there etc.) ii. Family friendly museum opens new Miffy exhibition Located 40 minutes by train from either Schipol airport or Amsterdam, the dick bruna huis (http://www.dickbrunahuis.com) in the medieval city of Utrecht (http://www.utrechtyourway.com), is the family friendly museum dedicated to all things Miffy, and the work of her creator Dick Bruna. The museum contains a permanent display of Bruna’s life’s work, personal memorabilia, a reading room where visitors can listen to Miffy stories in different languages, an interactive play area for young children, and a large shop containing Miffy merchandise. To celebrate the museum’s 5th anniversary in 2011, a new exhibition miffy in fashion opens on 1 April, running until the end of the year. A mini catwalk forms the centrepiece of this exhibition, on which will ‘walk’ 10 miniature Miffy models, each dressed in a unique outfit created by a group of hand picked international fashion designers, including British husband and wife duo, Clements Ribeiro. The display promises to delight, surprise and demonstrate Miffy’s enduring appeal and status as a global style icon. iii. New Miffy-themed mobile homes at Keycamp parc Keycamp (http://www.keycamp.co.uk/about/miffy.html) is launching Miffy-themed mobile homes in three of its parcs, one of which is at the Duinrell parc in Holland – a particularly family-friendly parc next to a theme park and a tropical waterpark. (open from 2 April – 29 October 2011). Ideal for Miffy fans on a family break, the mobile home is bunny-themed throughout, and totally geared up for customers with babies and toddlers. As well as Miffy-themed toys, DVDs, games, furniture, child-sized Miffy cutlery and plates, there is also a Miffy baby room with changer, baby bath, high

Page 1 chair, bottle warmer and portable play pen. The accommodation also includes an outside deck that has an added safety gate, while the fenced garden includes a Miffy playhouse. A Miffy all-terrain buggy and toddler truck are provided to make it easy to explore the parc surroundings with young children. While fantastic for little ones, the Miffy mobile also caters for parents and older children, as this luxury accommodation has three bedrooms, flat screen monitor and DVD player, IPod dock and a Fatboy® headdemock hammock. Two nights from 24 May will cost just for a family of two adults and up to four children staying in a Miffy theme three-bedroom Vista mobile home with decking at Duinrell parc will cost £173, including a return Dover to Calais ferry crossing. Seven nights from 3 September (for the same number of people in the same accommodation at Duinrell) will cost £615, including a return Dover to Calais ferry crossing. Just 4 hours drive from Calais the parc is easily accessible from the UK. Fly-drive packages can be arranged through Keycamp at a supplement. Miffy mobile homes are also available at Château de Drancourt in Picardy and Club Farret in the Languedoc region. ENDS Editor’s Notes: •Miffy was first created by Dick Bruna in 1955. The storybooks are now translated into almost 50 languages and have sold over 85 million copies worldwide. www.miffy.com •Dick Bruna, 83 years old, still works every day in his studio in Utrecht. He has published over 120 picture books for children. •The press launch for miffy in fashion is on Thursday, 31 March, at the dick bruna huis, Utrecht. See below for contact details. •The dick bruna huis sells Miffy merchandise. There is also a Miffy Shop in Amsterdam: De Winkel van Nijntje, Address: Scheldestraat 61, 1078 GH Amsterdam. Open: Mon 13.00 – 18.00Tue to Fri 10.00 – 18.00 Sat 10.00 to 17.00 VISITOR INFORMATION: 1. Keukenhof Gardens: Open 24 March to 20 May 2011 Park open daily from 08:00 – 19:30 (Ticket office is open till 18:00). Tickets cost € 14, 50 for Adults and € 7, 00 for Children (4-11 years). Tickets can be purchased at the ticket office or online through the website http://www.keukenhof.nl Getting to Keukenhof: shuttle buses (8 per hour) operate from Schipol direct to Keukenhof (journey time 20 minutes). From Amsterdam: catch a direct train from Amsterdam Centraal to Schipol and then take the shuttle bus to Keukenhof (total journey time 1 hour), or book a day’s excursion to Keukenhof, via Amsterdam tour operators/ main tourist office.

Page 2 2. dick bruna huis, Utrecht Museum open from Tuesday to Sunday (closed on Mondays) from 10:00 - 17:00. Closed on: 1 January / 30 April / 25 December Entry fee is € 9 Adults (18-64 years), € 4 Children (aged 13-17) and free for children under 13. Tickets can be purchased at the ticket office of the Centraal Museum and these tickets also give access to the Centraal Museum. For more information visit: www.centraalmuseum.nl. Getting there: direct trains run to Utrecht either from Schipol airport (40 minutes) or from Amsterdam Centraal (30 minutes). For where to stay in Utrecht and more information about the city, visit http://www.utrechtyourway.com 3. Duinrell Parc, Wassenaar: Keycamp’s Duinrell parc is situated in Wassenaar, just 4 hours drive from Calais. To book, or for further information, call Keycamp on 0844 406 0319 or visit www.keycamp.co.uk. There are regular flights from all main UK airports to Schipol, Amsterdam. Airlines include: British Airways, KLM, and Easyjet. ------ For more press information, high res images, or to arrange a press visit/attend the press launch of miffy in fashion (31 March) please contact: Highlight PR (http://www.highlightpr.co.uk) on 01225 444268 Alison Vellacott [email protected] Kate Woodward [email protected] www.twitter.com/highlightpr

Page 3

Distributed via Press Release Wire (https://pressreleases.responsesource.com/) on behalf of Highlight PR