Car Rental Netherlands

Lying in the lowlands of north-west continental Europe, the Netherlands is a compact country and easy to explore by car. A comprehensive network of toll-free highways – called autosnelweg – connects the major cities of the Netherlands. These roads are the fastest way to get from city to city, and are marked as A roads if they’re domestic routes, or E roads if they cover wider Europe.

Joining the A2 will take you to Amsterdam and Eindhoven, via Utrecht, leading to the southern Belgian border and the city of Liege. Meanwhile, the A1 leads from Amsterdam to the border with Germany, where Cologne and the romantic Rhine Valley are a short drive away

Take the A4 from the capital to tour Rotterdam, via the coastal city of Den Haag – translated as The Hague. For a perfect island escape, drive north from Amsterdam on the A7 and take the car ferry from Den Helder to Texel. Expect sweeping vistas and calming, head-clearing fresh air.

The speed limit in the Netherlands is 50km/h in urban areas, 100km/h on main roads and 130km/h on highways. City centres can get quite busy, and it’s worth noting that, at junctions, traffic coming from the right has priority, unless indicated otherwise.

You’ll also notice the huge number of cyclists, who, along with trams and pedestrians, generally have right of way.

The landscape is as flat as a Dutch pancake but the Netherlands has overwhelming variety in its streets, centres and folk traditions.

Explore the capital

Spend some time in the capital, where pastel townhouses line the maze of canals. Bicycles adorn every humpback bridge and you never know what you’ll find down the next cobbled street. Cutting-edge restaurants, cozy cafes and boutique stores are tucked away in these narrow lanes.

You can spend hours – even days – in the museums and galleries, where world-class collections include ancient artefacts and works by Dutch masters.

Smell the flowers

Outside the cities, discover country lands where rainbow strips of tulips meet the horizon. In spring, the Flevoland province – about an hour’s drive from Amsterdam – is awash with multi-coloured fields.

For the full tulip experience, head to the Keukenhof gardens – it’s en route from Amsterdam to Leiden. More than six million bulbs are planted in this sprawling park every single year. There are events throughout the celebrated floral season, including a flower parade in April which attracts thousands of visitors from all over the world.

Windmills and cheese

Head to the city of Gouda to sample this city’s world-famous cheese. Its market is held every Thursday, running from April through to August, and it upholds traditions that date back to the 14^th century. The orange cheese wheels are still delivered by horse and cart and are sold by farmers in front of the old city hall.

In the same region, marvel at the UNESCO-protected windmills of Kinderdijk. Rows of 16^th-century windmills rise from the reeds of the wetlands, amidst a maze of waterways and sluices that course through the countryside.

Home of famous painters and paintings

The 17^th-century town of Delft is a warren of cobbled streets and canals, as though Amsterdam were shrunk down to the size of a town. This town was once home to the painter, and today you can enjoy its centre – crowned with the imposing, Renaissance-style town hall – and water lilies floating on the peaceful canals.

Drive to the nearby city of The Hague, home to the International Court of Justice. Step into the Mauritshuis art gallery where the works of Rembrandt and Holbein adorn the walls, and Vermeer’s Girl with the Pearl Earring resides. Continue your adventures by exploring old royal palaces and pulling up a chair in the cheerful seaside restaurants.

Cities of innovation and industry

Eindhoven is a bustling centre of commerce and business in the Netherlands. Streets packed with stores, cafes and swanky restaurants make up the heart of the city. Get a culture fix at the Van Abbemuseum, one of the best modern art collections in the world.

Head to Rotterdam for some of the most innovative architecture in Europe. Admire the ramshackle modern Cube Houses, designed to look like a surreal forest. Then visit the vast indoor food market with a floor the size of a football pitch and a striking modern exterior.

Island life

Take the car ferry from Den Helder to the peaceful island of Texel, floating in the North Sea. Discover a microcosm of diversity, where sweeping dunes meet verdant wetlands, and admire the hills in the centre – remnants of the ice age. Take a picturesque walking trail through the middle of the island or relax on the sweep of beach lined with nautical blue and white huts.

Explore the Netherlands in your rental car and discover the country’s liveliest cities, peaceful islands and blooming countryside.