Introduction
Is this the first time you travel to the Netherlands? I’ve got you covered with some invaluable travel tips. Drawing from my own enriching 6-month experience of living here, I’m excited to share insights that will enhance your visit and help you immerse yourself in the beauty and culture of the Netherlands.
Always bring a rain jacket
The scenery in the Netherlands is beautiful, but the weather is not so good. It’s always windy even in summer time. So when the weather forecast says it’s 21℃, with wind blowing, it maybe only feel like only 15 ℃. And also because the landscape here is very flat, the weather is very unpredictable. It could be sunny for the last 5 mins and then start to rain all of a sudden. So don’t rely on forecasting too much, always bring a rain jacket to keep warm and comfortable.
Bring your debit card
I am very surprised to find that people in the Netherlands don’t use credit cards often. And as far as I know, the credit cards here don’t give you any cash back benefit like American credit cards do, so there is no point in using a credit card here.
And because it charges a high transaction fee, lots of shops, restaurants and even some big grocery stores don’t accept credit cards. So make sure to bring a debit card with you.
Don't expect fancy lunch here
The first time I took a KLM flight and their meal was a cold sandwich with only cheese in it, I felt very unsatisfied. Until I moved to Amsterdam and found out that sandwiches with cheese is a typical Dutch lunch, even in day cares, kids are eating those code sandwiches for lunch every day.
Dutch people eat very simple lunches, so restaurants usually provide very simple lunch menus too. If you see some fancy food pictures for a restaurant online, don’t expect they will serve them during lunch time. Usually lunch menus only have simple sandwiches, snacks like fried food. The most fancy warm food you will find on the lunch menu is usually hamburger which usually costs at least 18 euro.
Besides, lots of restaurants only serve lunch until 2pm or 3 pm. If you go in after their lunch time and before 5pm, they only serve snack food.
So if you want to try some fancy food, go at dinner time.
Be proactive at restaurants
While services are generally good and friendly here in the Netherlands, most restaurants only have very limited staff, they may not come to check on you very often, so you may need to call them if you want to order something. In addition, at most restaurants, you can seat yourself at any empty table, you don’t have to wait to be seated.
It's very English friendly
The Netherlands is probably the most English friendly country where their official language is not English. Almost 95% of the population speak English here, so it’s not an issue at all if you don’t speak Dutch when you travel to the Netherlands.
Most restaurants have English version menus, and all staff working at restaurants, grocery stores, shops etc speak good English.
It's hard to find free public bathroom
One thing it may stress you out when traveling to Netherlands is there are not many free public bathrooms anywhere. There are usually no bathroom in parks or grocery stores. And usually bathrooms in shopping centers is not free, even in train station they are not free, they cost 0.5 or 0.7 euro. But luckily most those bathroom accept credit card, so you don’t have to carry coins around.
Watch out for bikes
You probably already know, everyone rides bikes in the Netherlands! But you may not know that people here ride very fast and they may not wait for pedestrians. So watch out for bikers, don’t get hit!
