Netherlands Booking cheap Hotel Deals accomodations
Get around Netherlands, useful info train, bus, rooms

Get around Netherlands by bicycle.

There are four ways to use a bicycle:

• if you are staying in a city, you can use the bike as a means of transport, to get from A to B. This is the way local people use it, for short journeys it is faster than car, bus or tram. You can use the bike to get to places near the city, which may not be accessible by public transport.
• you can cycle around on the bike, in a city, or in the surrounding area. The bike is then a means to see places and landscapes. The many signposted cycle routes are designed for this, most of them are octagonal and take you back to the starting point. Some rural routes go through areas inaccessible by car. Signs for bicycle routes are usually white, with a red border and lettering. One thing to note that mainly in the southern part of the Netherlands, it's possible to create your own routes by connecting marked and numbered points called "knooppunten".
• you can take the bike on a train, for a day trip to another city or region. It costs € 6, and you may not travel with a bike in the rush hour. As an alternative, you can easily hire bikes at (or near) stations. You must carry a supplementary ticket, which is easily obtained from the automated kiosks. Folding bikes can be taken on board for free when folded.
• you can load your tent on the bike, and set off across the country. For this you do need to be fit, and not afraid of rain. The national long-distance cycle routes are designed for this type of holiday

Bike theft
Bike theft is a serious problem in the Netherlands, especially around train stations, and in larger cities. Never park a bike near a station, use the guarded bike parking ('stalling'). In general, use 2 locks of different kinds (for example, one chain lock and one tube lock). This is because most bike thieves specialize in a particular kind of lock, or carry equipment best suited to one kind of lock. Ideally, you should lock the bike to a lamppost or similar. Bike thieves have been known to simply pickup unattached bikes and load them into a pickup truck, so they can crack open the locks at leisure. In cities, most bikes are stolen by drug addicts, and they sell most stolen bikes too. In fact they simply offer them for sale to passers-by, if they think no police are watching. Buying a stolen bike is itself illegal, and police do arrest buyers. If you buy for a suspiciously low price, or in a suspicious place (in general, on the street), the law presumes you "know or should have known" the bike was stolen. In other words actual ignorance of the bike's origins is no excuse. Sometimes even the police themselves sell those bikes to arrest potiental buyers. Bike shops are the best place to buy a second-hand bike legally, but prices are high. Some places where you can rent bikes will also sell their written off stock, which is usually well maintained. Most legal (and often cheap) second-hand bike sales now go through online auction sites like marktplaats.nl - the Dutch subsidiary of Ebay.

Get around Netherlands by taxi.

Taxi service was traditionally a tightly guarded monopoly. In recent years, the market was deregulated, but prices are still high. Taxi drivers are licensed, but they do not, as of yet, have to pass a proficiency exam, providing they know the streets. This is planned in the future, since the taxi market is being re-regulated.
Some taxi drivers refuse short rides. This is illegal, but it's hard to enforce this prohibition. There is a maximum tarriff, and it's built into the taxi meters. If you negotiote a price before you get in, the price you have to pay is the negotiated price, or the metered price, whichever is lower. Getting in a cab without enough money to pay for the ride is illegal, so it's wise to negotiate a price.
All legal taxis have blue license plates. So do some other vehicles for group transport, such as minibus services for the handicapped.

Get around Netherlands by car.

A car is a good way to explore the countryside, especially places not connected by rail, such as Veluwe, Zeeland and The North Sea islands. Driving in the Netherlands is normally quite pleasant - the motorway network is dense, roads are well-signposted, and Dutch drivers are among the least aggressive in Europe. However, this one of the most densely populated countries in the world, so be prepared for heavy traffic and congestion in all but the northern part of the country. When driving in cities, always give priority to cyclists when turning across a cycle lane. If you are involved in a collision with a cyclist, you will be automatically assumed to be guilty (until proven innocent). If you only wish to see cities a car is not the best option. Due to limited road capacity and parking, cars are actively discouraged from entering most bigger cities.
Line bus have the priority when leaving a bus stop, so be careful as they may pull in front of you expecting that you will give way.
Drive on the right. The speed limit in built up areas is 50 km/h with some zones limited to maximum of 30 km/h. Outside of towns speed is limited to 80 km/h (this includes most N-roads). On some local roads the speed limit is 60 km/h. On the highways the limit is 120 km/h except on some roads where the limit is 100 km/h. On a few highways in the west of the country the speed limit has been reduced to 80 km/h since 2005. During rush hour signs above many roads indicate the current speed limit. On semi-highways and some of the N-roads the speed limit is 100 km/h.