Amsterdam. The Netherlands’ capital. Known for its artistic heritage, elaborate canal system and narrow houses.

Home to the Van Gogh Museum and works by Rembrandt and the world’s only floating flower market. Famed for its many, MANY cycle paths. And now, less than an hour’s flight from south Essex.

I must confess, when pondering what adventures my seven-year-old son and I could get up to over a long weekend (courtesy of two school inset days) a trip to Amsterdam wasn’t somewhere that immediately sprang to mind.

Let’s face it, Amsterdam might have four times more bridges than Venice and some 2,500 boathouses, but it also has a distinctly non-PG-friendly red light district. But the lure of a few days away, without the inevitable hours spent slowly roasting in a hot car, while Google maps turns ever redder, was not to be ignored.

I wanted fun without the faff. Travel without the hassle. Culture without the queues.

London Southend airport, with its SKYLIFE lounge, security fast track and easy routes from central London was the answer.

Currently there are easyJet flights from Southend going to Amsterdam, Faro, Paris, Malaga and Mallorca (spoiler – winter flights to Geneva start in December.) With the option of booking an easyJet package holiday, a 72 hour jaunt overseas was too tempting an option.

Especially when I realised that though easyJet may be a budget airline, it didn’t mean the hotel in the package would be low-rent.

So that’s how I ended up, on a random sunny Saturday, in Amstelpark being thrashed at minigolf by my little lad. (I somehow got talked into 36 rounds! “We should try both courses really mummy.”) We enjoyed views over the city from the floor-to-ceiling window in our ninth floor room at DoubleTree by Hilton Amsterdam Central Station.

Sonny Jim discovered he had something of a penchant for Nutella pancakes (eaten at Café de Schreierstoren), while the Blue Boat Amsterdam Canal Cruises’ “Kids Cruise” gave us our culture fix and enabled us to see the sights in a relaxed way.

I’m sure many mums would agree that travelling with a youngster can be a tad stressful. But Amsterdam’s network of trains, trams, ferries and buses does a sterling job of making it easier than I had imagined (plus it’s super value for money!) When we landed in Schiphol I hadn’t prebooked any kind of transfer to the hotel. But the Intercity Direct took a mere 20 minutes to get us into the city centre, where our hotel was. Clearly signposted and easy to navigate (and cheap at 5.90 euros per adult!) it set the tone for our weekend.

The next day we braved the metro to get to Amstelpark (with its mini train rides, hedge maze, farm, pony rides and did I mention minigolf? it’s a must-visit) and the following day we darted about the city on trams (as well as our canalboat!)

Living in Leigh, I maybe have become a little blasé about how easy it is to get to London Southend, but three weeks after landing back home from our Amsterdam adventure I’m still not quite over just how accessible the airport makes Europe.

Our flight from Southend to Schiphol took just 40 minutes – almost half the time it takes me to drive from Leigh to our Colchester office!

Suffice to say I’ve now got my eye on another quick jaunt from London Southend. Apparently Paris is just an hour away.