Netherlands

Amsterdam and the big cities

We rolled into the Netherlands from the German border, dropped down near Arnhem and made our way up to Amsterdam, where we happened to land right in the middle of TwitchCon. Five days in the city, streaming friends everywhere, and one thing that genuinely floored us was the traffic. Cars, trams, taxis, pedestrians and an absolute tidal wave of bikes, all sharing the same streets and somehow flowing like water. It was a genuinely humbling lesson in how cities are meant to move. If you want the full run-down of where we parked, ate and wandered, our Amsterdam travel guide has the lot.

Friesland and the quieter north

After the buzz of the capital, heading north into Friesland felt like exhaling. The pace slows right down, the campsites get greener and the whole thing turns properly restful. In Emmeloord we settled into a friendly, family-run site tucked in the countryside, all spacious pitches and easy walks straight from the van door, which we’ve written up in full in our Emmeloord road trip guide. A little further along, Bolsward gave us one of our favourite stops, a campsite with its own private beach where we quite happily did nothing at all for a day, plus a lovely bit of traditional Dutch cooking in town. The Bolsward chapter lives over in our Bolsward road trip guide if you fancy following our tracks.

Campervanning in the Netherlands

Practically speaking, the Netherlands is a dream to drive. The roads are flat, beautifully kept and gentle on the engine, which our slightly weary van thanked us for after months on the road. The one thing to plan around is the cities, because motorhome aires are surprisingly thin on the ground near Amsterdam and you’ll almost certainly need to book a proper campsite, often well in advance because they fill up fast. As folk used to finding a quiet spot on our own, we won’t pretend the busy Amsterdam sites were our cup of tea, and we were rather relieved to escape back to peace and quiet up north.

A word of warning from experience: one night we parked up on a car park beside a school, thinking we’d found a nice quiet corner, only to wake up to a steady stream of parents dropping off their kids. We tried very hard to look casual before slipping away to explore. And do keep in mind that here the bikes truly rule the road, so mirrors on, patience high, and you’ll get on famously with the Dutch.