Netherlands: good to know
The general-information half of trip planning: how expensive Netherlands feels, what is considered polite, what is not, and the everyday practicalities - alongside our 343 written places.
Direct, egalitarian and unbothered; the bicycle outranks everything on the road.
✓ Considered polite
- Look both ways for bikes before every single step off a pavement
- Make appointments - even social visits are often scheduled
- Split bills without embarrassment - going Dutch is real
- Say hello and goodbye to shopkeepers
✗ Better avoided
- Walk in bike lanes - the bell means move now
- Expect small talk to cushion opinions - directness is normal politeness
- Photograph people in Amsterdam's red light district
- Assume every Dutch city is Amsterdam - most are calmer and lovelier
Worth knowing
- Many places are card-only now, the reverse of Germany - but foreign credit cards sometimes fail where only Dutch debit works
- Tipping is optional; rounding up is plenty
- Trains are frequent and punctual; use a contactless card to check in and out
- Museumkaart pays for itself in about three museum visits
Plugs and voltage: Wikipedia, «Mains electricity by country» (after the IEC World Plugs list), read 15 October 2026.
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Customs are living things - regions differ, cities relax, generations shift. Take these notes as a friendly head start, watch what locals do, and when in doubt a smile and a greeting in the local language cover almost everything.