Gorillas in Your Midst

The Netherlands is a small country: East to west is about 100 miles, and north to south about 200 miles. Much of the population is centered in Amsterdam and several cities on its western and southern outskirts, including Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht, collectively known as the Randstad. Most tourists stay within this general area, which includes the smaller historic towns of Delft and Gouda.

Delft, a quintessential Dutch town about 35 miles southwest of Amsterdam, is just inland from The Hague and close to Gouda. The only downside is that it's often crowded with tourists, especially during summer. Lodging choices include Bridges House Hotel (011-31-15-212-4036, www.bridges-house.com), Hotel Vermeer (011-31-15-212-6466, www.zalwinhotelgroep.nl) and Hotel Leeuwenbrug (011-31-15-214-7741, www.leeuwenbrug.nl).

If you want to go farther afield, consider Arnhem, about 50 miles southeast of Amsterdam. Called the "Garden City on the Rhine," it's the location of the World War II battle depicted in the movie "A Bridge Too Far" and is just outside of De Hoge Veluwe National Park, a 130,000-acre nature preserve. The Kroller-Muller Museum, with its extensive van Gogh collection, is inside the park. Hotel Landgoed Groot Warnsborn (011-31-26-445-5751, www.grootwarnsborn.nl), starting at $148 a night, is a historic hotel in the woods near the park.

Info: Netherlands Board of Tourism, 212-557-3500, www.holland.com/us.

Are there any travel groups that organize vacations for families and their dogs?

Jeffrey Kaneff

Gaithersburg

Blue Sky Dogs (212-531-3647, www.blueskydogsny.com) arranges weekend trips for you and your pets. A weekend in the Catskills on July 23-25, for example, starts at $385 per person double including one dog. Camp Dogwood (312-458-9549, www.campdogwood.com) operates weeklong camps for dogs and their owners in Michigan and Illinois.

Resources to help you plan a trip with your pet include DogGone, a 16-page bimonthly newsletter of "pure dog travel information." A $25 subscription also allows access to its database of 33,500 dog-friendly places to stay. Info: 970-586-9166, www.doggonefun.com. A Web-based firm is TravelDog (www.traveldog.com), which charges $4.95 for a trial one-month membership.

Animal Fair, a "lifestyle magazine for animal lovers," includes articles about traveling with pets; an eight-issue subscription costs $19.95. Books that may be helpful include "Pets on the Go: A Definitive Pet Accommodation and Vacation Guide" by Dawn and Robert Habgood (Dawbert Press). A free Internet resource of pet friendly hotels is www.petswelcome.com.