Let's Explore Netherlands

Netherlands Travel Guide, Transportation, Accommodations, Food, Dishes, Hidden Attractions, and much more...

Netherlands at a glance

The Netherlands will forever be a home away from home. I spent many summers in a small village, just outside of Amsterdam. Biking along the dams and exploring the tiny country that truly has a lot to offer are just a few simple memories that come to mind. The Netherlands is bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, by Germany to the east, and by Belgium to the south. While small, it is one of the most densely populated counties in Europe and part of a flat, low coastal region. Like many other European nations, the Netherlands has a strong historical foundation and even offers its own attractions for the dark tourist as it was a nation invaded by German Nazis during World War II and was once home to Anne Frank.

Netherlands Do's

Respect a Dutch person’s personal space. Many values their physical and personal privacy.
In a shop or restaurant, people are expected to help themselves as much as possible before asking a service provider. Always show service providers the same level of respect you would show your friends. Many Dutch frowns upon those who display a sense of superiority.
The Dutch enjoy a good joke, so feel free to use humor when appropriate and if you’re comfortable doing so.
Engage in deep conversations with your Dutch counterpart if possible. People are generally open to converse about most topics. The Dutch enjoy discussing and rationally debating topics.

Netherlands Dont's

Avoid displaying intolerance towards ethnic minorities or alternative lifestyles. This will likely lead to disapproval from your Dutch counterpart as many have a strong sense of tolerance.
Do not criticize the Dutch royal family without a strong justification. For many, the monarchy is considered to be the heart of the country.
Try not to make pretentious or boastful comments that give the impression that you see yourself as superior to others. Your Dutch counterpart is unlikely to appreciate this.

Netherlands Quick Facts

ATM

ATMs are widely available. Credit cards are accepted in most hotels, but not all restaurants, cafes, and shops. Non-European credit cards are quite often rejected. ATMs, aka cash machines, can be found outside most banks and at airports and most train stations. Credit cards such as Visa and MasterCard/Eurocard are widely accepted, as well as cards from the Plus and Cirrus networks. Using an ATM can be the cheapest way to exchange your money from home, but check with your home bank for service charges before you leave.

Netherlands Fun Guides

Transportation in Netherlands

By Taxi

Usually booked by phone – officially you’re not supposed to wave them down on the street – taxis also wait for outside train stations and hotels and cost roughly €12 to €15 for 5km. Even short trips in town can get expensive quickly.

By Bus

Cheaper and slower than trains but useful for remote villages not serviced by rail. Buses are used for regional transport rather than for long distances, which are better traveled by train. They provide a vital service, especially in parts of the north and east, where trains are less frequent or nonexistent. The fares are zone-based. You can usually buy a ticket on board from the driver (aka a single-use, disposable OV-chipkaart; €2 to €5 for modest distances), but most people pay with a credit-loaded OV-chipkaart.

By Bicycle

Short- and long-distance bike routes lace the country and you are often pedaling through beautiful areas. All but the smallest train stations have bike-rental shops, as does every town and city. The Netherlands is extremely bike-friendly and a fiets (bicycle) is the way to go. Many people have the trip of a lifetime using nothing but pedal power. Most modes of transport, such as trains and buses, are friendly to cyclists and their bikes. Dedicated bike routes go virtually everywhere. Most locals who want to get to Vieques and Culebra take the ferry from Fajardo. It lasts about two hours and will get you there safely. However, it’s packed on long weekends and popular holidays, and service can be spotty. You can also take a car on the ferry, but the ferry service for cars is much more infrequent and less reliable.

By Rental Car

Good for visiting regions with minimal public transport. Drive on the right.

By Train

Service is fast, distances short, and trains frequently; buy an OV-chipkaart to get cheaper tickets and use on other forms of public transport too.

Best Dishes in Netherlands

The Netherlands is not known for its cuisine, but you should try at least some of the traditional Dutch food. Dutch cuisine is formed from the cooking traditions and practices of the Netherlands. The country’s cuisine is shaped by its location in the fertile North Sea river delta of the European Plain, giving rise to fishing, farming (for crops and domesticated animals), and trading over the sea, its former colonial empire, and the spice trade. Traditionally, Dutch cuisine is simple and straightforward, with many vegetables and little meat: breakfast and lunch are typically bread with toppings like cheese, while dinner is meat and potatoes, supplemented with seasonal vegetables. The diet contains many dairy products and was relatively high in carbohydrates and fat, reflecting the dietary needs of the laborers whose culture molded the country. Without many refinements, it is best described as rustic, though many holidays are celebrated with special foods.

Erwtensoep – Essentially a meal in itself, erwtensoep is a thick pea soup. You make it using dried split green peas and other vegetables such as celery, onions, leeks, carrots, and potatoes. You then add slices of smoked sausage just before serving; which is usually with a piece of rye bread (roggebrood) topped with smoked bacon (katenspek), cheese, and butter.
Pannenkoeken – Pannenkoeken have remained a staple of local cuisine in the Netherlands for centuries, and it’s not hard to see why. These hearty Dutch pancakes can be topped with sweet or savory ingredients; such as bacon, salmon, apple, cheese, chocolate, powdered sugar, and stroop (a treacly Dutch syrup). Pannenkoeken is made from a simple batter of eggs, milk, flour (traditionally buckwheat flour), and a pinch of salt. They are then cooked quickly over a pan on high heat and flipped until golden.
Bami Goreng – This stir-fried egg noodle dish blends together garlic, onion, vegetables, meat, egg, and chili to offer a spicy kick. Other Indonesian specialties to look out for in the Netherlands are rendang (meat in coconut milk and mixed spices), rijsttafel (rice served with small dishes of spiced meat and vegetables), and a spiced layer cake called spekkoek.

Best Accommodations in Netherlands

Can you already imagine sitting in the morning sun with a view of the water or a beautiful castle garden? Wake up in the middle of nature, romantically on a small boat or with the entire family in a tree hut. Make your city trip even more special with an overnight stay in a designer hotel, former penitentiary, or your own city residence.

The Netherlands follows the international star rating system, from basic one-star hotels to uber-luxurious five-star options. Hotels with more than 20 rooms are considered large by Dutch standards. You can find many Western and European chains in the Netherlands, but the country has some favorite homegrown brands as well.

Van der Valk is the largest hospitality chain in the country, with more than 60 branches in the Netherlands, and is known for its reliably clean, basic, and affordable rooms. A more upscale popular chain is Golden Tulip Hotels, which was founded in the Netherlands in 1962 when six independent hotels merged. Some of the nicest properties in the country are canal houses, usually historic homes overlooking a canal. The houses are typically narrow, tall, and deep, with doors usually reachable only by stairs. The country has a number of properties in quirky, unique settings, but the two most iconic are windmills and houseboats.

Netherlands Top Tourist Attractions

Efteling is a fantasy-themed amusement park in Kaatsheuvel, the Netherlands. The attractions reflect elements from ancient myths and legends, fairy tales, fables, and folklore. The park was opened on May 31, 1952. It evolved from a nature park with a playground and a Fairytale Forest into a full-sized theme park.

Madurodam is a miniature park and tourist attraction in the Scheveningen district of The Hague in the Netherlands. It is home to a range of 1:25 scale model replicas of famous Dutch landmarks, historical cities, and large developments.

The Van Gogh Museum is a Dutch art museum dedicated to the works of Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries in the Museum Square in Amsterdam South, close to the Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksmuseum, and the Concertgebouw.

Netherlands Hidden Gems

The Torture Museum in Amsterdam, reveals the dark history of a time when justice was meted out by sticks and spikes. It is composed of a few darkly lit corridors and prints displaying tortures throughout the past. These prints are explained in a variety of languages for all types of visitors.

This miniature take on the Kremlin is one Dutch man’s retirement project. Ger Leegwater, a retired sheet metal worker, began building this colorful installation in 1990, just outside the town of Winkel in the Dutch province of North Holland. Leegwater is not an architect, he’s just an enthusiast. While the bulbous domes and bright colors of his project invite comparison to the Russian Kremlin, this is not quite a replica. Instead, inspired by classical and Russian Orthodox architecture, Leegwater began using his newly-acquired free time to coax sheet metal and recycled materials into something he was excited about.

In the small Netherlands’ town of Oudewater there is a historic weigh-house, not unlike a number of similar buildings around the Netherlands, except this one is known primarily for weighing witches. A weigh-house was a common feature of medieval townships, used as a central site where people could come to weigh their crops and livestock. They were generally publicly run, used to levy tax amounts on goods as well. As witch hunts became a popular hysteria, they also became the perfect spots to subject the accused to a witchcraft test. Witches were thought to be light enough to float on water, and a common test of, uh, witchitude, was to put the accused on the weigh house scale and see the results. They were generally rigged and countless innocents burned or drowned thanks to the superstitious test.

Netherlands Daily Costs

Budget: Less than $125

Accommodation:

Hotel or Hostel (single): $33
Double-occupancy room: $66

Food

Meals for one day: $16

Afternoon tea: $7.30

Transportation

Taxis, local buses, train: $10
Intercity: $17

Taxi ride: $12
Single-day transit pass: $3.17
Transit pass to Amsterdam airport: $4.14
Ride of the tram: $3.90
Renting a bike: $18

Entertainment

Entrance tickets & shows: $7.10

1-hour canal cruise: $12
Tickets to the Houseboat Museum for 2: $7.30
Anne Frank House entry for 2: $21

Tips & Handouts

Guides & service providers: $1.69
Scams, robberies, & mishaps: $91

Alcohol

Drinks for one day: $7.13

Water

Bottled water for one day: $2.37

Mid-range: $125-245

Accommodation

Hotel or rental home (single): $83
Double-occupancy room: $245

Food

Meals for one day: $37

Afternoon tea: $7.30

Transportation

Taxis or Car rental: $27
Intercity: $43

Taxi ride: $12
Single-day transit pass: $3.17
Transit pass to Amsterdam airport: $4.14
Ride of the tram: $3.90
Renting a bike: $18

Entertainment

Entrance tickets & shows: $17

1-hour canal cruise: $12
Tickets to the Houseboat Museum for 2: $7.30
Anne Frank House entry for 2: $21

Tips & Handouts

Guides & service providers: $4.30
Scams, robberies, & mishaps: $91

Alcohol

Drinks for one day: $17

Water

Bottled water for one day: $5.43

High-end (Luxury): More than $245

Accommodation

Resort or hotel (single): $211
Double-occupancy room: $421

Food

Meals for one day: $82

Afternoon tea: $7.30

Transportation

Car Rentals or private driver: $75
Intercity: $105

Taxi ride: $12
Single-day transit pass: $3.17
Transit pass to Amsterdam airport: $4.14
Ride of the tram: $3.90
Renting a bike: $18

Entertainment

Entrance tickets & shows: $38

1-hour canal cruise: $12
Tickets to the Houseboat Museum for 2: $7.30
Anne Frank House entry for 2: $21

Tips & Handouts

Guides & service providers: $11
Scams, robberies, & mishaps: $91

Alcohol

Drinks for one day: $35

Water

Bottled water for one day: $10

Netherlands Money-Saving Tips

Travel during the offseason – During the offseason, hotels and flights are often cheaper and the crowds are not as dense.
Explore free things to do – With the abundance of history beautifully displayed in a number of museums, there are a lot of free entrance fees and other free activities offered in many of the larger cities.
Take public transportation – With an extensive transportation system, getting around via bus or train is very reliable. Thanks to a slow progression toward a more modern-look, bicycling can also be very efficient.
Consider buying city-passes – City-passes can be great. They usually let you visit a number of attractions for free and/or use the transit system for a fixed number of days.

Useful Websites & Apps

Hotel booking – Booking.com via InteleTravel
Tours & activities – Viator or Shore Excursions Group
Ferry tickets & schedule – Stenaline
Bus Schedule – GVB
Translation – Google

10 Cool Facts About The Netherlands

Don’t call the Netherlands ‘Holland’ To clarify, the Netherlands consists of 12 provinces, and Holland is an area that is made up of two provinces; North-Holland (Noord-Holland) and South-Holland (Zuid-Holland). Historically, Holland was the area that contributed the most to the Dutch kingdom’s economy and wealth; thus becoming a common name to indicate the entire country, although used incorrectly. That was until January 2020 when the Dutch government officially dropped its country’s nickname, ‘Holland’, referring to itself as The Netherlands, in an effort to rebrand its ‘international image’.
The Netherlands is the sixth happiest country in the world The Netherlands ranks as the world’s sixth happiest country, according to the 2020 World Happiness Report. The annual study ranks 156 countries, taking into account factors such as healthy life expectancy, freedom, trust, corruption, and social support. And it appears that the jovial Dutch have plenty to be thankful for, scoring high levels of social and institutional trust, as well as social connection.
The Dutch are the healthiest in the world when it comes to diet The Dutch are also one of the healthiest when it comes to diet and nutrition. In the Oxfam Food Index of 125 countries, they rank number one for having the most plentiful, nutritious, healthy, and affordable food.
The Dutch invented the first stock market in the world . Amazingly, the first stock market in the world was invented by Dutch legislators and businessmen back in 1602. This was done as a means of funding the Dutch East India Company and its long trade-based voyages from the Netherlands. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange was also created in the same year, and many consider this to be the oldest ‘modern’ exchange in the world. The Dutch were also the first to develop Fairtrade certification, launching the Max Havelaar certificate in the 1980s.
The Netherlands has the highest English-proficiency in the world According to the EF English Proficiency Index, the Dutch are top of the class in English, narrowly beating Denmark and Sweden. Between 90 and 93% of the population can speak English as a second language.
Tulips aren’t actually native to the Netherlands The colorful tulip was actually imported from Turkey in the 16th century, yet it has played a vital role in Dutch culture ever since. In the 1630s, ‘Tulip Mania’ gripped the Netherlands, and prices rose until bulbs cost as much as houses.
Gin was invented by the Dutch and introduced to the Brits Gin (or jenever) was actually invented in the Netherlands in the 16th century and reportedly became popular in Great Britain after William of Orange (King William III) occupied the English, Scottish, and Irish thrones with his wife Mary. The term ‘Dutch courage’ allegedly derives from when gin was used by the Brits and the Dutch to gain bravery by getting intoxicated during the Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648).
The Dutch king flies for KLM Willem-Alexander is known to have a passion for flying. But in 2017, he shocked the media by revealing that he had been working as a co-pilot for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines for more than two decades.
There are over 1,000 windmills in the Netherlands There are over 1,000 windmills in the Netherlands, many of which are open to visitors throughout the year. Some windmills, such as the 19 at the Kinderdijk UNESCO World Heritage Site, are still being used to drain water from the land. Others, such as Molen de Valk in Leiden, meanwhile, are used to grind grain into flour.
There are more bicycles in the Netherlands than people There are over 22 million bicycles in the country and only 17 million residents. This includes the clever bakfiets which combine a bike with a large container at the front to transport children, pets, and shopping. Some sources claim that the Dutch cycle an average distance of 1.8km per day and use bicycles for more than a quarter of all trips.

Travel Insurance

When planning for your trip to The Netherlands, don’t forget about travel insurance! You never know what might happen and it’s better to be safe than sorry.