Belgium - Netherlands - Germany

[Sharon the Cat]

We might be able to get away towards the end of April for 3 weeks.
How welcoming is the Netherlands to motorhomers? Is it easy to find places to stay?
We avoid camp sites and use aires & stellplatz mostly, mainly using the WC app & SfS to find stops. We don't plan much, just wander.
Can anyone share experiences and advice?

 

[jann]

There are aires in the Netherlands.
A lot of picnic sites that we saw last year had no overnight signs.

 

[korky]

Lots of marinas have areas for motorhomes for a fee, but are generally nice places to stay. There are aires, but not many compared to France or Germany,also farmstays.Wildcamping is I believe illegal. I've toured there in the van a few times on my way out east and really enjoyed it.

 

[Tonybvi]

Our usual way to travel to the continent from NE Scotland is via the Newcastle to Amsterdam ferry. It used to be a straight drive through the Netherlands to get elsewhere but one year we thought why not spend a few days in Holland. What a delightful surprise and we have now done several month long trips without even venturing further afield. We prefer north of Amsterdam than South (less built up) but there are delights to be found everywhere. Very motorhome friendly and plenty of marinas, aires and places where motorhomes are welcome.

 

[Sharon the Cat]

Our usual way to travel to the continent from NE Scotland is via the Newcastle to Amsterdam ferry. It used to be a straight drive through the Netherlands to get elsewhere but one year we thought why not spend a few days in Holland. What a delightful surprise and we have now done several month long trips without even venturing further afield. We prefer north of Amsterdam than South (less built up) but there are delights to be found everywhere. Very motorhome friendly and plenty of marinas, aires and places where motorhomes are welcome.

Thanks, AndyJanet confirmed that wildcamping is illegal in Holland. Do you use any apps to find parkups and places to stay?

 

[Sharon the Cat]

Lots of marinas have areas for motorhomes for a fee, but are generally nice places to stay. There are aires, but not many compared to France or Germany,also farmstays.Wildcamping is I believe illegal. I've toured there in the van a few times on my way out east and really enjoyed it.

How do you find places to stay in Holland? I know for a fact I will never be able to speak Dutch.

 

[Tonybvi]

Thanks, AndyJanet confirmed that wildcamping is illegal in Holland. Do you use any apps to find parkups and places to stay?

Mainly S4S, Campertstop and Park for night. Neither my wife or I speak Dutch but everybody over there speaks English.

 

[Sharon the Cat]

Mainly S4S, Campertstop and Park for night. Neither my wife or I speak Dutch but everybody over there speaks English.

Thanks I mainly use S4S & WC in Europe. I haven't looked into Holland in any great detail yet.

 

[colinm]

How do you find places to stay in Holland? I know for a fact I will never be able to speak Dutch.

Only the Dutch speak their native language, very few others are interested in learning it, so they are mostly used to ignorant foreigners, I don't recall once having problems being understood speaking English, which is saying something when a German English teacher once said to me in perfect BBC English "I'm very sorry, I can't understand you".

 

[Wully]

Some campsites have a segregated area like an aire for motorhomes usually found at the entrance roughly a third of the cost of the campsite proper with basic facilities like water and waste dump. But you have to look or ask because they will try to get you on a main pitch and change full price.As said Marinas and along the country canals there are plenty stopping places for a small fee. S4S is the best I’ve found. Take bikes if you can it’s so easy to get around with bikes. The Dutch are very helpful and want to talk to anyone who speaks English as this gives them practice in the language they speak English with an American accent because they learn a lot from TV and movies. Think we will be there at Easter.

 

[guerdeval]

We might be able to get away towards the end of April for 3 weeks.
How welcoming is the Netherlands to motorhomers? Is it easy to find places to stay?
We avoid camp sites and use aires & stellplatz mostly, mainly using the WC app & SfS to find stops. We don't plan much, just wander.
Can anyone share experiences and advice?

You’ll need to stay onsite if you plan to visit Amsterdam but the trams are everywhere

 

[Sharon the Cat]

Some campsites have a segregated area like an aire for motorhomes usually found at the entrance roughly a third of the cost of the campsite proper with basic facilities like water and waste dump. But you have to look or ask because they will try to get you on a main pitch and change full price.As said Marinas and along the country canals there are plenty stopping places for a small fee. S4S is the best I’ve found. Take bikes if you can it’s so easy to get around with bikes. The Dutch are very helpful and want to talk to anyone who speaks English as this gives them practice in the language they speak English with an American accent because they learn a lot from TV and movies. Think we will be there at Easter.

Thanks Wully, sounds perfect for us. We are happiest parked up near water, and walk and cycle everywhere we can.

 

[yeoblade]

Thanks Wully, sounds perfect for us. We are happiest parked up near water, and walk and cycle everywhere we can.

We cycled all around Amsterdam from the campsite, getting a ferry over, the cycling is a bit intimidating at first, so many all in a hurry! If they don't speak English to you then check that you are still in The Netherlands

 

[yeoblade]

We stopped here, though not sure it is still open:

Street View · Google Maps

Explore a place in a more immersive way in Google Maps.

maps.app.goo.gl

 

[colinm]

Thanks Wully, sounds perfect for us. We are happiest parked up near water, and walk and cycle everywhere we can.

Cycling in Netherlands is a whole different experience than UK, openmaps or similar should have cycle network, it's a brilliant system, all across the country junctions are numbered.

 

[Sharon the Cat]

Cycling in Netherlands is a whole different experience than UK, openmaps or similar should have cycle network, it's a brilliant system, all across the country junctions are numbered.

Are there any rules, written or unwritten, that we should be aware of?

 

[NicsTricks]

yes wild camping not allowed. But very very welcoming. Even the cops came at times to ask me to follow them to a far nicer place than I had chosen.
They all or the younger ones anyway, speak English, as their tv programmes are all in English. However, they're far more prone to be less distant if you ask Spreken Sie Engels? And say dankje well at least.
I use WEBSITE BLOCKED BY ADMIN and S4S/p4n. Often cheap farm camping available.
Lovely free sites near the ferry ports in Rotterdam and Hoek van Holland, but they've been misused unfortunately so the Dutch clamping down on the free sites sadly...

Cycling there is my favourite pasttime ever. You always got right of way, bikes are more important than cars!! Yes they are fast but the Dutch got a 7th sense even. They are born on bikes lol - I love watching the things they're doing while cycling, like stuff on an Ipad or a Punch and Judy performance for the kids

 

[colinm]

Are there any rules, written or unwritten, that we should be aware of?

Cyclists have right of way, it's a very rare thing for them to even look to see if a car/van is coming, they actually have a high number of deaths due to this, on the otherhand if you stop for a gap in traffic whilst on your bike car drivers become very confused.

 

[barge1914]

How do you find places to stay in Holland? I know for a fact I will never be able to speak Dutch.

You don’t need to. I spent a year or two learning Dutch so I could use the navigational VHF, but apart from that the only people I ever got to practice my Dutch on were very ancient lock keepers and barge skippers, everyone else spoke English…well apart from the man manning the international emergency number overnight!

 

[UFO]

Like many we have only ever passed through Belgium on our way to or back from somewhere. Our daughter and family started their 130 night, 6,000 mile tour of 10 countries in Belgium. They recommend the area around Dinant in the Ardenne. A couple of places they visited; Citadelle de Dinant and Vêves Castle. They are rock climbers and found some good climbing around Durnal. On the way there they visited Plantentuin Meise.

One of the places we did stay was Thieu back in 2013, (50.47124, 4.08826). There is the heritage Lift No. 4 Old Canal Du Center boat lift close by and if you walk east along the canal there is the modern Strépy-Thieu Boat Lift