Netherlands

We travelled 469 miles in Netherlands over 12 days between 26 April 2014 and 07 May 2014. It was mainly cloudy (5 days) whilst we were there

Key places where we stopped

Leeuwarden aire

An aire visited on 06/05/14

A few parking spaces for motorhomes next to a river / canal, but within easy walking distance of the centre of Leeuwarden. Free to stay there, but no facilities. Stayed for 1 night

Leeuwarden petrol station

A petrol station visited on 06/05/14

Filled up with petrol; 1.689 Euros per litre

Workum farm

A farm visited on 05/05/14

A farm in the shadow of a wind turbine, owned by motorhomers, on which they welcome fellow travellers. Free to stay and facilities to empty toilets and fill up with fresh water (we only used the latter). Stayed 1 night

Lambertschaag petrol station

A petrol station visited on 05/05/14

Petrol station with motorhome service facilities; the toilet disposal and grey waste are free. No overnight stops allowed

Oosthuizen car park

An aire visited on 04/05/14

2 motorhome spaces in a small car park outside the town, next to a canal and a roundabout. No facilities, but as a free stop, not bad. Stayed 1 night

Stolphoevekerkje, Volendam

A church visited on 04/05/14

Small protestant church in Volendam; the building is from 1658! The service was totally in Dutch, but they gave a very warm welcome to us and we had a lovely chat with people in English after the service, over a cup of coffee.

Simonehoeve car park

An aire visited on 03/05/14

Car park of a cheese and clogs farm, which welcomes motorhomers. Can really recommend the free tours they give you and their homemade cheese is very tasty (especially the stinging nettle gouda and the mature gouda). Free to stay overnight, but no facilities. Stayed 1 night

Badhoeve campsite

A campsite visited on 01/05/14

The Fawlty Towers of campsites; a lovely, family-run place with a lot of character and great owner! Takes about 45 minutes to get to the centre of Amsterdam on public transport at a cost of 2.60 Euros per person. Campsite has good facilities, although the hot showers could only be described as lukewarm. 16 Euros per night (with an ACSI card). Stayed for 2 nights

Apeldoorn aire

An aire visited on 30/04/14

4 motorhome spaces at the end of a very large car park. No facilities, but it's free to stay and in an ideal location for visiting the Hoge Veluwe national park. Stayed 1 night

Heteren petrol station

A petrol station visited on 30/04/14

Filled up with petrol; 1.679 Euros per litre

Indoornik aire

An aire visited on 28/04/14

Relatively quiet aire with no facilities between the villages of Indoornik and Heteren, although very popular with dog walkers. Free to stay for up to 72 hours. Stayed for 2 nights

Toppershoedje Campsite

A campsite visited on 27/04/14

Lovely family campsite very near to the beach. Great facilities and very friendly receptionist. Mainly wanted to do our washing and have a shower, which we managed! 15.70 Euros per night (with ACSI discount card) and 5 Euros for the washing machine. Stayed 1 night (despite the receptionist trying to convince us to stay longer)

Gereformeerde Kerk Vrijgemaakt

A church visited on 27/04/14

Went to the morning service (9:30am) and roughly followed it, despite it all being in Dutch. Hadn't come across the eating of a mint before a sermon... but then again we'd never been to a Dutch Reformed church before. Tea + coffee after the service once a month... sadly not when we were there!

Middelburg aire

An aire visited on 26/04/14

Large car park within walking distance of the centre of the town. There are specific places marked out for motorhomes, but all were full, so we joined other motorhomes in the rest of the car park. It looked like there were some facilities (electric hookup, water and grey waste), but we didn't use them. Everything free. Stayed 1 night

Photos

View full gallery of images

Blog posts

Cheesy clogs (May 9, 2014)

The city of water-retaining ‘amsters (May 6, 2014)

What’s the Dutch for “Sikaflex”? (May 4, 2014)

Jousting and windmills (May 1, 2014)

The following information was last updated on July 21, 2014 and therefore may now be out of date. Please consume with a pinch of salt!

Personal comments:

Beautiful country with all of the standard trimmings you'd expect; windmills, cheese, tulips and clogs! Flat and pleasant travelling, although not too much of a choice of free places to park a motorhome; plenty of campsites though. One of our favourite overnight stops was outside a cheese + clogs farm near Volendam.

EU Member:

Yes

Currency:

Euro

Language(s):

Dutch

Numbers:

1 - een
2 - twee
3 - drie
4 - vier
5 - vijf
6 - zes
7 - zeven
8 - acht
9 - negen
10 - tien

Useful words / phrases:

Hello - Olá
Goodbye - Dag
Yes - Ja
No - Nee
Please - Alstublieft
Thank you - Dank je/u
Sorry - Het spijt me
I don't understand - Ik begrijp niet
How much does it cost? - Wat is de prijs?
Where is the toilet? - Waar is de toilet?
Petrol - Benzine

Vignette / toll requirements:

No vignette requirements and no toll roads

Vehicle laws:

As you pass the yellow name sign of a town the speed limit is 50kph - this stays the same until you see another yellow sign with a red line through it.

Trams always have right of way - if a tram stops, you must stop

Buses have right of way when leaving bus stops

Must have a warning triangle

Petrol in a can permitted, but forbidden on ferries

When parking, you may need a parking timer (to show how long you have been parked)

Wild camping rules:

Wild camping isn't tolerated - go to a campsite or marina