Travel Archives - DutchNews.nl

DutchNews.nl destinations: cheese the day in Gouda

‘Cheese’ is the first thing that might come to mind when you think of Gouda, but fear not if you’re lactose intolerant. The city is also famous for its pottery, stroopwafels, and smoking pipes in addition to its picturesque centre. Long before its now world-famous cheese market rolled out its curdy wheels for the first time, it was little more than a swampy marsh. The Van der Goude clan showed up in the Middle Ages to build a castle along... More >

Selfies in cemeteries: dark tourism in the Netherlands

Dark tourists on a quest for the Netherlands’ nastiest narratives raises ethical questions about the commodification of some of the country’s most solemn sites. But condemning the practice without considering its context, say some, misses the point. Amsterdammer Claudia Crobatia has visited many cemeteries, but mostly as a tourist rather than a mourner. ‘It’s the closest you can get to the mystery of death itself,’ says the death awareness coach, who founded A Course in Dying in 2016 to help... More >

Dutch destinations: Dordrecht, or Dordt to the locals

The inhabitants of the oldest town in the province of Zuid-Holland are known to some as ‘sheepheads.’ According to lore, to avoid paying an import tax on meat, two men dressed a sheep up as a man and attempted to sneak the animal through the city gates, only to be discovered when the sheep bleated. There’s a statue to the legend that you can see if you visit this island city. Dordrecht was given city rights in 1220 by William... More >

Public consultation on Amsterdam bridge and tunnel plans

Controversial plans to bridge the IJ between north and central Amsterdam have gone to public consultation. Currently, 70,000 people a day use a ferry service to cross the channel, which is also traversed by 160,000 vessels a year. With predictions that the shipping channel will get ever busier, and more people will live in north Amsterdam and need to cross the IJ, the city has presented its plans to build two bridges and a pedestrian tunnel running north from Centraal... More >

KLM asks pilots to help with baggage chaos: Telegraaf

KLM pilots have been asked to lend a hand in baggage handing at Schiphol due to acute staff shortages, according to the Telegraaf. This summer has seen scenes of reported ‘chaos’ due to a lack of handlers and last month staff at budget airline Transavia formally complained to airline bosses. Although staff from Groningen Airport Eelde airport have been asked to help, apparently now the pilot team of KLM has been asked to employ its handling skills on the ground.... More >

Dutch Destinations: Summer’s almost gone, so start thinking autumn breaks

With the summer holidays coming to an end, what better time to start deciding where to go on an autumn break? Here’s a round up of our most recent travel features to inspire you to see more of the Netherlands. Untangle the history of Baarle-Nassau/Baarle-Hertog The great pyramid of the Netherlands Pint sized Staverden packs a punch Lockdown in a lockkeeper’s cottage Take a walk in the wild Westkwartier The Wadden Sea island of Terschelling Get away from it all... More >

Conferences return with (elbow) bump to Amsterdam

Elbow bumping should be the official mode of greeting at Amsterdam’s first major international conference in more than a year. Announcing the reopening of the Dutch capital as a ‘safe’ conference hub, mayor Femke Halsema said that the city looked forward to building a new kind of tourism. ‘We have a tradition of welcoming guests from all over the world, but [in] the last years, we have seen that the image of the city internationally became a little bit common,’... More >

Foreign tourists stay away in early summer

Foreign tourism has not returned to the Netherlands en masse, according to the Dutch statistics office. In the second quarter of this year, traditionally a busy period, around eight million tourists stayed in Dutch accommodation. Although this is more than double the rate during the coronavirus lockdown in 2020, tourism has not returned to the old levels. Compared to the record year of 2019, the figures were 39% lower between April and June this year, mostly due to a lack... More >

Speed limit on Haringvlietbrug reduced to 50kph

A speed limit of 50 kph has been imposed on the Haringvlietbrug on the A29 south of Rotterdam to reduce vibration. Until renovation of the bridge takes place in 2023, reports NOS, the speed limit needs to be halved to stop vibration in 210 aluminium plates on its under side. In 2017, around 20 cars were damaged when a metal part of the bridge came loose. The bridge is an important traffic link between Rotterdam and Antwerp, used by around... More >

Dutch destinations: untangle the history of Baarle-Nassau/Baarle-Hertog

It’s a town so nice they named it twice. Actually, the story of this unusual community that engulfs the Dutch/Belgian border in and near North Brabant is actually quite a bit more complicated. The borderlines that divide Baarle-Nassau/Baarle-Hertog are so convoluted they’ve been making the eyes of real estate agents, legal scholars, and bureaucrats water for centuries. Baarle-Nassau is the name of a Dutch town that’s entwined like a hopelessly knotted ball of yarn with a Belgian one called Baarle-Hertog.... More >

Dutch destinations: The Great Pyramid of…the Netherlands?

If you didn’t already know, the Netherlands is home to a 36-metre-tall pyramid. You can find it in Woudenberg. Here’s the fascinating history of one of the country’s most peculiar monuments. Keeping a regiment of 18,000 soldiers entertained back in the early 19th century was no easy task, especially one that was stuck in the middle of the Netherlands and far from the front lines of the Napoleonic Wars. That was the problem that French General Auguste de Marmont faced... More >

Dutch destinations: pint-sized Staverden packs a punch

Staverden is just one of a few places that claim to be the smallest city in the Netherlands. Its diminutive size makes one question whether or not it’s worthy of an entire travel feature, but Brandon Hartley was determined to give it a shot. Is Staverden the smallest city in the Netherlands? That depends on your definition of both ‘smallest’ and ‘city.’ Staverden received city rights way back in 1298 and currently boasts 30 residents. Using those metrics, that would... More >

Best case scenario: tourists to Amsterdam around half of 2019 peak this year

Amsterdam expects tourist numbers this year to be around half of the levels in 2019 and, in the worst-case scenario, to drop by more than two-thirds. The capital’s statistical analysis service, the OIS, reveals that at best it expects 45% fewer visitors to turn up this year. However, the results could vary wildly depending on international travel policy and vaccination programmes. In 2019, the peak of tourism and of reports of tourist nuisance, almost 22 million day trippers and overnight... More >

Motorists from high risk countries face Covid test requirement, as ban on UK flights is lifted

Travellers returning to the Netherlands by car from coronavirus high risk areas will also soon be required to show a negative Covid test on re-entering the country, health minister Hugo de Jonge told MPs on Tuesday. The plan is part of proposed changes to the public health act which the government wants to introduce to make quarantine compulsory and which are now being put out to consultation. Travellers will be checked at random and will also be expected to carry... More >