Enjoy a natural holiday at the Ruwinkel Estate holiday park! What began as camping at the old "Klein Ruwinkel" farm in 1970 is now the perfect place to spend a weekend, midweek, or week in the Gelderse Vallei countryside. With three country houses, 30 chalets, and 87 holiday homes, Ruwinkel Estate is a small-scale holiday park.
Located in the heart of the Netherlands, between the Utrechtse Heuvelrug National Park and the Hoge Veluwe National Park, you can walk straight into the forest across from the estate, and authentic farm life is never far away. For centuries, the Klein Ruwinkel farm and its grounds served as a farming business. This ended in 1969 when 25-year-old entrepreneur Willem van den Heuvel purchased the farm. They moved in with his wife and their four-year-old son.
The idea of "camping on the farm" was born quite quickly. The young family built and renovated much of the property themselves, including the former cowshed, which became the canteen. With much love and dedication, the meadows and fields were planted with trees and shrubs and prepared for tents and caravans. In 1970, the time had come: Gezinscamping Klein Ruwinkel (Little Ruwinkel Family Campsite). Within a few years, all the permanent pitches were occupied, and by 1974, the campsite was full.
1986 marked the start of a rather ambitious project for a campsite: the construction of an indoor swimming pool. After its completion in 1987, we wanted to welcome guests year-round. This marked the start of construction on our bungalows.
It was the pre-internet era: to reach guests, you had to advertise nationally. To maximize occupancy of these bungalows, we partnered with the rental organization Creatief Vakantieparken in Groningen. They handled the reservations and national advertising.
In 1996, Creatief Vakantieparken was acquired by Gran Dorado. Later, the former branch of Creatief Vakantieparken was sold to the relatively new Landal Greenparks.
Times have changed: Guests are searching for their holidays online, and people want more variety again. We believe there are already enough holiday parks in the Netherlands, and we no longer support the fact that our parent company, the chain, continues to develop new parks in environmentally sensitive areas.
After years of successful collaboration with Landal Greenparks, we felt it was high time in 2015 to establish our own identity, but just as importantly, to make our own decisions. Not a mega-park with 500 homes and a massive swimming pool and little personal attention, but an ideal base for relaxing and taking fun day trips in the Gelderse Vallei: nature, culture, and farmland, and a place where personal attention is paramount.
A complete holiday park with many facilities, such as a swimming pool, tennis court, mini golf, bike rental, and great restaurants!
In 2025, we celebrated our 50th anniversary! We, and our entire team, are proud of this. Want to get to know our current team a little better? Click here.
