Laren is a small, well-kept village in Het Gooi, roughly halfway between Amersfoort and Amsterdam. The main reason to visit is the Singer Laren museum, which has an excellent collection of sculpture and painting and hosts ambitious temporary exhibitions — past shows have covered Camille Claudel and Auguste Rodin. The museum garden, full of sculptures and old trees, is a lovely place to sit with a coffee.
The village itself is pleasant for a stroll, with a tree-lined main street, a handful of good restaurants across from the museum, and the Brink — a historic common at the centre of the old village.