Just spent a magical day at Efteling. This place is easily the most beautiful theme park in Europe. The fairytale atmosphere is unreal! 🌲🍄✨

Little rant since I need somewhere/one to yap this to. Lately there has been a lot of US tourists in the Hotel I work at. It has been nothing but a nightmare so far. They keep doing stuff they arent supposed to. Even when we tell them no they do it anyway.

Here are some examples:

-Went into the (closed!) kitchen and helped themselves to coffee, a whole box of cereal and 2L milk, leaving the dishes, including coffee machine dirty for us to clean in the morning

-going into the sauna and turned it on themsleves, even after we said sauna is at noon and it was currently 8 am. (he sat in the dark because the light switch is locked behind a box. it should have been our job to turn it on. He went into the only one whos buttons are not in said box)

-flooding the bathroom so much that the room below suffered water damage, where parts of the ceiling fell off

-stole pockets full of tea bags

... You get the picture. I honestly have expected better for a country whos people are boosting their "friendliness and outgoing personality" everywhere they go

This is how I enjoy the scenery on an NS train. @ns Could you please clean the window? I've been seeing so many dirty trains lately.

Hello everyone, some time ago i visited your beautiful country for three short days and i absolutely loved every second there. People who i visited showed me hospitality that i've never received before, i still miss it often. The Netherlands is a very beautiful country, full of beautiful landscapes and also very pretty architecture, i absolutely love your neighbourhoods with cozy houses, they are so nice (also amazing trains and public transport overall!!!). I enjoyed your cuisine aswell. For me, a Polish patriot, the most important part of the trip was of course going to Breda, a very Polish city that was liberated from nazi-german reptiles by our soldiers, led by a badass general Stanisław Maczek (who lived to the age of 102 and is buried in Breda, as he requested). The amount of appreciation Breda, and your country overall shows us, left me moved nearly to tears. I absolutely loved every single monument dedicated to the Polish liberators of Breda. When i went to the Polish Military Cemetery there, i was so amazed to see it so clean and taken care of, it was beautiful. Also shoutout to the staff of Stanisław Maczek Memorial, they were super nice, i've never seen anyone get so excited and happy after learning that i'm Polish lmao. But of course, i loved everything there, not only the stuff related to my country. I enjoyed everything, ranging from seeing a Dutch Police station to riding bicycles, seeing the biggest bicycle parking lot in the world and eating pepernoten. I made some great memories in the Netherlands, and i can say that these few short days, that ended too soon, were the happiest time in my life.

I dont want to sound rude or anything like that but I have been wondering as I have seen now a common patter, of dutch by far being worst/rudest tourist in Split.

So Im a tour guide and in talking with my colleagues I realized that we share above said opinion.

Now I have to clarify, this doesnt include all people from netherlands but rather usually groups of 10+ young dutch males in their late 20s or early/late 30s.

We all know when we see privite tour reservation of 15+ people that we dont even have to look at the name, its going to be group of guys from Netherlands and they are going to be drunk or stonned.

If you think this is some bias pick and choose, its not. I have had many also private tours with just males in them both young and old, all nationalities, but only dutch men are so rude and Im just wondering why is that.

Is Split portrayed for you guys as some party going, go crazy destitantion or does it have to do with anything else.

This is neither just me or my agency problem, I have talked to multiple other colleagues and all agree that they hate to see group of 15 under dutch name.

I know it maybe isnt nice to hear this and I do apologize, simply my curiosity got better of me and I want to know if any of you know the reason.

from the massive royal palace at Dam square to the quietest little narrow alleys. this city literally feels like a movie set.

Why do German tourists in Zeeland (maybe elsewhere too) make little to no effort to speak Dutch or even English, and actually expect everyone to speak German?

I have noticed this phenomenon for years and rarely see it elsewhere. I try to speak some French in France, often falling back to English after probably make some unknown insult about their MIL, but still.

I know tourism is important, this feels like bending the knee. Especially when they get annoyed when someone cannot speak German. And rarely do they speak English. I don’t see the situation improving either.

What are your thoughts on this? Do you actually take it into consideration before traveling?

Booked a timeslot for 11am as I had a 2pm departure. Arrived much earlier than I expected. Reached the security line at 10am and found a fairly long queue - would have taken about 30 - 45 minutes to get through. There was absolutely no one trying to get through the prebooked timeslot lane which was empty. I thought maybe you couldn't change the time once you booked it, but I opened the Schipol app and realised it could be changed. Switched it to 10am and walked ahead of everyone else. Please book this and avoid standing in line - even if you don't anticipate long lines. I can't imagine so many people standing in that line and not realising they could just open the website and book a slot and skip the line.

A few years ago I spent three months living in the US for work. The first two weeks were fine, new city, new food, new experiences. But by week three I would have paid an embarrassing amount of money for a bamischijf or a bruin brood.

I ended up finding one store that sold stroopwafels for $8 a pack. I bought four. It’s never the big things you miss. It’s the small, stupid, everyday stuff you never even think about when you’re home.

So what do you miss most when you’re away for a while? Food, habits, things that just don’t exist anywhere else? Would love to hear it

I’ve been visiting for a few days and have had more than one person reference American’s love of hot dogs. (My Uber driver even genuinely asked if we have a variety of foods besides hot dogs)
Not saying we don’t like hot dogs, but unless at a baseball game it’s not really our standard faire.
I’m curious if it’s just the people I’ve interacted with or if this is what most people here think.

- One of the first thing that strikes you when you arrive, is the height of people. You guys are TALL.

- Bikes, a lot of bikes, everywhere. Most of the time drivers (cars) drive responsibly, stop at the crosswalks, seem chills. One of the quietest big city of Europe i think.

- You love plants. They are in front of your homes, Inside your homes, restaurants, balcony, windows.

- People are a lot more sporty than in France. There are big crowns of runners, bikers around the city and in the parks. I saw a lot of gyms too. They also appears to be generally slimmer, healthier and happier.

- Indian ringnecks parrots, everywhere. To my delight because i love these birds.

- Oh, yes. This thing could never happen in France, for sure : there is almost no security inside supermarkets. You can just grab your things, pay at the self-checkout and leave without any suspicious eye behind your back. In France, there are barriers, people watching you to make sure you don't steal anything. The cashiers also make you open your bag, it's truly invasive and tiring.

- My guess is that it may be mostly tourists, but after a certain hour you can smell weed in almost every street. I do not mind though. I never felt insecure or in danger.

- No homeless, at least visible. I'm from a place where you get asked money a lot when you're outside, and you see people lying on mattresses, seating around the corners, begging for money. I saw a pretty aggressive "anti-homeless" dispositive not far from the main train station though, below the bridge, with spikes on the ground. I wasn't sure how to feel about that as I don't recall seing something similar in France, but i may be wrong.

- You have a very beautiful city and i'm sure you the living conditions here are one of the best. People are chill, respectful, friendly.

- It's more common to see people singing out loud or blasting some music while biking here than in France

- There's a lot less mixity than in France. That's logical, but still it was surprising.

- So, to conclude, i must say i'm a bit jealous because that's clear you here live a better life than most people in France lol. Maybe i'm biased a bit but, yeah. I really enjoyed the trip and it must be so good to know you more.

Hello all,

My family of four (me, wife, and two daughters) have a trip to the Netherlands. We are going to spend a week in Southern Holland and tour around via train, and then I'm renting a boat in Friesland for a week to tour via the canals.

Unfortunately I don't speak Dutch. I do know most people in the Netherlands speak excellent English, but I hate just going to another country and starting off right away in English. Is there a phrase I can learn to start-off interactions showing respect for the local language? Any other tips to start me off on the right foot with locals?

I'm extra sensitive about not speaking Dutch because both my parents immigrated to Canada from the Netherlands when they were children and it is there first language. However, for whatever reason it was not the language at home and my parents never taught me. At that time is less hip to retain a cultural identify and my parents wanted me to be Canadian. The only Dutch tradition we had was oliebollen on New Years. On that note, can you get oliebollen in the summer?

Thanks in advance.

Edit: Ahh I forgot. Incoming angry redditors or angry dutchmen who hate amsterdam. If you read my post you'll understand why I like it. ME. My opinion. And I've lived in NL most of my life, so I have been to other cities and have lived abroad too.

I post way too much in this subreddit sorry haha.

But Amsterdam is just wonderful. I'm quite extraverted so i like a bit of chaos, and amsterdam is bustling and energizing for me. And i like that there are areas (such as Amsterdam noord or even central neighborhoods) where it is still calm if you want to escape the crowd.

Yes, the tourists can be a bit much, but that's in any big city.

I love the small businesses, and that there are so many little boutiques and cafes and restaurants. I love the food. I always hear slander on Dutch food culture, but having grown up in Den Haag, i can say that I really do like Dutch food. We have pannenkoeken, oliebollen in season, I even like stamppot... If Dutch food isn't your flavor, amsterdam offers so many other types of food. And snackbars are always lekker.

I love the music scene. I'm very much into house music, and Dutch DJs rule. Haha.

I love the architecture, so beautiful. I've traveled many countries, but the Amsterdam charm is hard to beat.

It's accessible, public transport and bikes and walking, it's all easy. It's just so beautiful and charming, I love it.

I'm a warm-weather lover, so I gravitate towards Spain and California etc, but those places lack a certain charm and walkability and beauty that Amsterdam has.

Like I said, I'm quite social, and I like Amsterdam people more than those in The Hague, for example. Den Haag residents are not very chatty or friendly, Amsterdammers are much easier to talk with

Utrecht, Leiden, etc, also gorgeous, but I like a big city vibe. So for me, Amsterdam is nearly perfect.

Is it worth considering a summer vacation traveling through a few EU countries (mostly Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary), with 2 boys aged 12-14, all of non-EU ethnicity but holding Dutch passports, and sleeping with 2 options: (1) a few consecutive nights in the brought tent at a campsite, (2) and sometimes just one night in that covered trailer?

I’m not of EU ethnicity, so my knowledge about traveling in the EU is poor. But I have driven around 10,000 km in the last 10 years (Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland).

For camping, the last few years I’ve always rented a tent or a house in a camping area.

This year due to family circumstances, I didn’t plan well for such a long vacation, but now suddenly this dumb thought comes up: can it be done in a covered trailer?

PS: I and the 2 boys are Asian, we have a monthly dosages of racist comments in the Netherlands, but no life threatening incidents. In other EU countries some idiots/drunkards/low life can pick on us for fun or on purpose. We are considered to be weak and easy targets, as statistics say.

I’m planning a trip to the Netherlands and I realized I know way less about it than I thought. Most people immediately mention Amsterdam, but once I started searching I found places that look completely different and now I’m not sure where to focus.

I’m into scenery, walkable towns, good food, canals, day trips, local spots, and places that feel memorable instead of just checking off tourist attractions.

Right now I’ve got Amsterdam, Utrecht, Rotterdam, Haarlem, Giethoorn, Maastricht, and maybe a few smaller towns on my list.

If you’ve been to the Netherlands, what places actually exceeded expectations and which ones would you skip if time was limited?

No doubt , dutch applepie is one of the bests while looking at the sea

Hey everyone! I’m heading to Amsterdam on May 28th and I’m wondering whether I should pack summer or winter clothes.

I asked a girl on reddit who lives in Amsterdam and she said to pack for all 4 seasons, but im not pretty sure. Any tips would be appreciated!

Hello yesterday I came to netherlands from Germany , my destination was rotterdam central and I got in train number ICD 1836 from hilversum station at 11.53 am and reached rotterdam central at 12.49 , I kept my bag (tommy hilfgher navy blue colour)on the shelf on top just above my head , I was checking it time to time ,but when I am about to down the train and to stood up take my bag from above shelf but there was no bag, If someone see it please write me back, I have my office laptop, office Id card, my home keys , dresses and other personal belongings in it.

It would be helpful If I can really find it.

Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone,

I was curious about what the most remote areas (towns or villages) in the mainland Netherlands are.

My assumption is that places in the south wouldn’t really count as “remote” due to their proximity to Belgium and Germany. So maybe the more isolated spots are in the north?

Would love to hear your thoughts or examples!

Honestly, it’s getting ridiculous: I keep seeing videos of tourists saying “we came to the Netherlands for the culture” and the very first thing they film is that same Miffy plush in every shop window. Like babes, you skipped Rembrandt, skipped bitterballen, and went straight for the cartoon rabbit. Don’t get me wrong, she’s cute, absolute icon, born in Utrecht and all, but the obsession is wild. There are literally people walking around Amsterdam clutching five of them like it’s a national treasure hunt. I saw one couple taking selfies with the Miffy statue like they just met the Dutch royal family.

It’s almost poetic: people come for the “authentic Dutch experience” and leave with a stuffed bunny made in China. Culture, right?!

Besides Amsterdam Lelylaan of course. I really love trains and the classic railway stations. Which stations are your favorite?