Are you traveling to the Netherlands? Be sure to give this blog a read to be fully up to speed on traveling to the Netherlands.
No credit cards
Many shops (except for very touristy locations) do not accept credit cards. Most stores only accept debit cards or cash. This is because debit cards are the norm in the Netherlands, and they are very debt adverse. So, if you do not own a debit cards, make sure that you carry cash. If you are able to pay with credit card, don’t be surprised if they charge an extra fee. Many Dutch merchants will do this because accepting credit card transactions will come at an extra cost to them. So, they charge a small fee to the customer.
Tap water is drinkable
You can drink out of every tap (except if indicated otherwise) without any problems. Throughout big cities there are also free tap waterpoints installed, where you can fill up your drinking bottle with free clean tap water.
Pack for every weather option
In the Netherlands, it rains up to 192 days a year. The Dutch therefore also have more than 40 words for different types of rain. The weather in the Netherlands is very unpredictable, which is why we recommend packing for multiple types of weather. It could have been a beautiful summer day and the next day be pouring rain all day. Temperatures in summer can vary from 17 to 35 degrees Celsius / 62 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. So, check the weather forecast carefully before booking your holiday!
Sirens
Every first Monday of the month, at 12.00 (PM) you’ll hear the public sirens sound for about 2 minutes. No need to worry this is only for testing if they still work. Not to be confused with sirens from ambulances, fire trucks of police, if they sound, it most definitely is an emergency.
Emergency number
The emergency number in the Netherlands is 112. The non-emergency number for the police (politie in Dutch) is 0900 8844. Find more practical information here.
Use 9292 for public transport
Even though it is not very cheap to travel with public transport in the Netherlands, it is very well organized. If you want to know which buses, trains, trams or metros to take, make sure you download the app 9292. Just fill in your departure point and destination and it’ll tell you to which stop to go, how much it costs and how long it takes. It almost always gives multiple options to get there and is much more accurate than Google Maps.
Beware of the bike lanes
If you’ve been doing research on your trip to the Netherlands, you’ve probably seen this warning already. But it’s still important to mention, don’t stand on bike lanes, you will be almost run over. The bike lanes are recognizable by their red colour most of the time. Sometimes they are the colour of the street they are on, be sure to always look left and right before you cross. Other than that, bikes in most cities will only be on bike lanes and will follow the same traffic rules as cars.
Travel to more cities than Amsterdam
They beauty of the Netherlands is: it’s a very small country. This means that most of the big cities are just a 1–2-hour train ride away. Be sure to visit smaller cities / towns like Alkmaar or go to Rotterdam the second biggest city in the Netherlands.
Click here to see all of our tours in the Netherlands!
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