Living in the Netherlands means you're superbly placed to travel. Schiphol reaches everywhere cheaply, and high-speed trains put Brussels, Paris and the Rhineland within easy weekend range.
For the Dutch spots we've actually filmed (Keukenhof, Zaanse Schans, Texel), see our places worth visiting guide.
Within the Netherlands
- Utrecht, Delft, Haarlem, Leiden, classic canal-and-gable towns, all a short train ride away.
- Kinderdijk windmills and the Keukenhof tulip gardens (spring only) for the postcard Netherlands.
- Giethoorn ('the Dutch Venice') and the Wadden islands for something different.
Quick European escapes
- By train: Brussels & Antwerp (~1–2h), Paris (~3h), Cologne/Düsseldorf (~2–3h).
- By budget flight: almost anywhere, southern Europe for sun, the UK for a city break, the Rhine valley for Christmas markets.
- Being in the Schengen area means no border checks for most of this, just carry your residence card.
Questions & answers
- What's the cheapest way to travel around Europe from here?
- Budget flights from Schiphol and Eindhoven are unbeatable if you book early and travel light. FlixBus is dirt cheap if you don't mind slow. International trains (Brussels, Paris, Cologne) are fast but pricier, so watch for NS International deals. Being based here, a European city break as a long weekend is genuinely affordable, we do it far more than we expected to.