The Netherlands has an excellent infrastructure and, as a major international transport hub, is easily accessible from practically anywhere in Europe and beyond. Find out how you can best organise your journey to the Netherlands and get top tips for travelling around once you're settled.

Travel in the Netherlands

The Netherlands really is pretty easy to get around and you combine different forms of transport in one trip.

Car

The Netherlands is easy to get around and the road network is extensive and well-maintained. And as the country is fairly small, nothing is really far away.

The speed limit on motorways is 100km/h during the day and if you need to use your mobile phone, it has to be hands-free. You're advised to have an emergency triangle and safety vest in your car and it's useful to also have a spare set of lights, a life hammer, a first aid kit and a torch. And don't forget an emergency charging cable for your mobile phone!

If you don't have your own car, but really need one for a trip, you can of course rent a car (provided you have a driver's licence!). The Netherlands also has various car share systems in place, such as Greenwheels (which you can also link to your public transport travel card. See Greenwheels share car l A car when you need one | NS for more information.

Bike

Cycling is a really easy way of getting around in the Netherlands. Cities and towns have special cycle lanes and other road users are used to cyclists so it's much safer than in most countries. It's often quicker to get around town on a bike than by car or public transport and you'll quickly see how skilled the Dutch are at carrying practically anything on their bikes.

It's worth buying a second-hand bike rather than a new one to save money. Or you could rent one with a monthly payment. The bike must have good lights (white light in the front, red light at the back) especially in the winter as the police regularly check cyclists for these lights (and could fine you €90 if the lights aren't working). You'll also need to make sure you have a good lock, preferably with a wheel lock and a chain lock.

Public transport

The Dutch public transport system is really well linked so connections between trains, buses and even ferries are generally pretty smooth. The payment system is also linked with trains, buses, trams and metro systems all using the public transport smart card, the ‘OV-chipkaart’.

You can get single-use card from a public transport company (for instance, when you board a bus), but an anonymous ov-chipkaart is probably more useful. It costs just €7.50 and can be used by more than one person (though not at the same time!). You simply load credit onto it for your journey at a sales point (such as the ticket machine at the train station) and then check in by swiping it across the screen on a gate or card reader at the train station, on the bus or in the metro. At the end of your journey, hold your ov-chipkaart against a gate or card reader again to check out. The display will show the cost of your journey and how much credit you have left on your card. 

If you often travel by public transport, a personal ov-chipkaart is a good idea. It means you can add personal travel products like a monthly pass, travel on credit or set it to automatically reload credit and see all your travel details online.

For planning your trip you could use www.9292ov.nl.