The Netherlands has both yellow front and rear license plates. The plates also have the standard, vertical, blue European stripe on the left. The only other license plates to resemble the Netherlands are Luxembourg and Israel, but Luxembourg is much more undulating than the Netherlands and Israel has a vastly different landscape. It’s important not to confuse Dutch license plates with those from the U.K. which have yellow rear plates but white front plates. The Dutch landscape has many narrow paths that are often tree-lined. It is also arguably the most bike friendly country on earth. This is reflected in its bike lanes, visible bikes and red and white directional signs specifically for cyclists. The Netherlands is remarkably flat, has well-maintained roads and features many canals and waterways. It also has blue directional arrow signs with white lettering for motorists. These signs appear at many intersections and provide distances and directions to the nearest towns and cities, providing valuable information for pinpointing your precise location. People in the Netherlands speak the Dutch language, but it is also spoken in a few other countries such as Belgium. It is a very distinct language characterised by many letter z’s and w’s. Double letters also appear frequently in the language such as ‘ee’. Another common Dutch letter combination is ‘ij’. English also appears across the Netherlands, mainly on shop signs and some advertisements. The Netherlands has several different looking bollards however the most common is a white post with an elongated red, vertical rectangle encased near the top of the post. This looks similar to the bollards of Turkey and Australia however the Dutch bollards feature a more elongated rectangle than Turkey and Australia. Dutch street names provide a further clue into the Netherlands location. ‘Weg’ means road in Dutch and ‘Straat’ translates as ‘street’. These suffixes particularly appear at the end of many road and street names. The Netherlands often has town houses that have some similarity to UK townhouses such as being monochromatic coloured. Dutch townhouses and apartments typically have either flat roofs or really steep roofs. The Netherlands also has another visual oddity: The Dutch islands south west of Rotterdam that are connected to the Netherlands via road bridges largely have dashed white lines on the sides of their roads- one of the few non-Nordic places in Europe to have this look. License plates in the Netherlands are the easiest way to identify the country. Both front and back plates are yellow with the blue, vertical, European stripe appearing on the left. The Netherlands stands out for its lack of utility poles. The entire country has their wires underground. Only street lights line the streets. Sometimes, there are dashed lines on smaller N roads. Dashed lines in the Netherlands indicate a maximum speed limit of 80km/h. Narrow, well-maintained paths are a common sight in the Netherlands. They are often tree-lined. A few types of bollards are visible in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, it is common to see these blue arrow signs with white lettering. They point to the nearest town or city and make pinpointing much easier. There are many bike paths, cyclists and cyclist directional signs to be seen. Red and white coloured signs provide directions for cyclists in the Netherlands. Canals and waterways are a common sight in the Netherlands. The entire country is flat and it is rare to see anything resembling an incline across the country,

The Netherlands has long, yellow licence plates with the standard European blue strip on the left. Dutch taxis have blue plates.

Dutch is a Germanic language. It features a lot of double vowels. Typical letter clusters are ij, ieu and oe. “IJ“ written as one capitalised letter is also unique to the language.

Dutch is also used in the region of Flanders, which comprises the northern half of Belgium.

The Netherlands has a simple, white bollard with a red reflector.

On rare occasions, you can find round French-style bollards with a red band and a pointed top. A difference with French bollards is that the red wrap usually does not go all the way around the bollard.

The Netherlands usually does not have any utility poles, while you can sometimes see larger power lines.

Belgium in comparison does use utility poles somewhat commonly.

The Netherlands is extraordinarily flat. In most of the country, you will get no more than a few metres of elevation. Large swathes of the country are reclaimed land that is at or even below sea level. 

The most major exception to this is the south of Limburg, where you can get low hills. Another place with some amount of hills is De Veluwe in central Gelderland province.

In addition, the Netherlands is a very water-rich country. The country has innumerous waterways. Canals and ditches next to the road are common. Water management is an important facet of Dutch infrastructure, so you will often see dikes (low earthen walls to protect against water), dams and bridges.

Many rural roads are lined by rows of trees.

This is also common in Poland.

The Netherlands has a high amount of urban planning, and as a result tends to have a very organised look. Road infrastructure is well-maintained. Suburbs are usually master-planned and typically feature row houses.

Like most of Europe, the Netherlands has all-white road lines. Many roads have dashed outside lines. Sometimes, you can find unique green middle lines.

Many Dutch roads are flanked by bicycle paths. Different designs exist, but a very common one is a reddish-pink lane.

Cycling is one of the most common modes of transportation in the Netherlands. You will see cyclists and bicycles everywhere.

Brick roads are common in the Netherlands, both in rural and urban areas. The brick pattern shown in the image is especially common.

Most Dutch sidewalks use the same type of square grey tiles and offset tiling pattern. In some historic areas, you might find smaller brick sidewalks.

The Netherlands has very recognizable speed bumps. They usually have white warning stripes that alternate between long and short. The example image is on a brick road, but they also occur on asphalt roads.

Many rural roads feature a sort of brick rumble strip on the sides. This is fairly unique to the Netherlands and a good way to identify the country in very rural rounds.

Street signs are almost always blue with white lettering. Very rarely, you can find yellow, white or green street signs. 

The Dutch word for street is straat. Other common road name endings are -weg, -laan, -pad, and -plein. However, if you see a blue sign with the word ‘fietspad’, do not search for it; it simply means ‘bicycle path’.

Street signs in Belgium come in a variety of colours and usually mention the municipality, which is rare in the Netherlands.

Dutch town entry signs are blue. The signs sometimes have very elaborate designs, often with frames and additional signs.

Often, these signs list the municipality they are in, after the word ‘gemeente’ (gem). Many municipalities are named after larger towns or cities in the vicinity, which can help a lot with scanning.

Dutch road markers are green. Many list the road number in a small yellow or red box.

Highways have a red box and start with the letter A. Regional roads have a yellow box and start with the letter N.

Many Dutch signposts feature striped markings with a black-and-white or blue-and-white colour scheme.

Road signs on traffic islands often have these bulky yellow signposts.

On some roads, especially in rural areas, you might find these distinctive striped barriers.

Brick architecture is very common in the Netherlands. Many buildings feature red-brownish-coloured bricks. Roofs often have orange or dark grey tiles.

Similar brick architecture is also common in Denmark and Belgium.

As mentioned before, row houses are very common in the Netherlands. Almost half of the Dutch housing stock are row houses, significantly more than almost all other European countries.

Windmills, both traditional water or grain mills, and modern wind power turbines, are common in the Netherlands.

This is the most common bollard in the Netherlands, a white bollard with a red reflector.
These bollards can be mostly found on the right side of the roads and highways.

Less common, also on the right side of the road black bollards with red reflectors can be seen.

Bollards on the left side of the road are less common, but often they are white with a white reflector.

You can also find bollards with distances on them, counting from the start of the road until the end.

Bollards with multiple reflectors exist as well.

The following bollards, can also be seen alongside smaller roads in between cities/towns/villages.

Road Lines:

Double white stripes in the middle of the road, with a green line in between, means cars are allowed 100 km/h.

Double white stripes in the middle without a green line, means cars are allowed 80 km/h.

No lines in the middle, means cars are allowed to go 80 km/h, unless a 60 km/h sign is shown.

The Netherlands has a lot of red cycling lanes, either alongside the road or completely separate on the side.

Road Signs:

National hectometer signs are green with white letters.
They will have either Li or Re written on them, to indicate that you are on the left (Li) of the right (Re) driveway.
The number on the signs indicates the distance in kilometers from the start of the road.
Quite often the road number is clearly visible, giving you a great hint to figure out where you are.


Directions to cities are generally blue signs with white letters.
Road numbers are often visible.
Red for A-roads, Green for E-roads, Yellow for N-roads

The example above with the yellow road marks is one of the few examples of Toll Roads in the Netherlands.
Yellow signs with black letters are warning signs with instructions.
Think about detours, road constructions, or when two lines merge into one.

Overhead digital road signs can be found above highways.
Most of the time they are not used, but you can see X-es on them, or numbers with speed limits too.


Local areas within cities have a white border around them on the signs.
Examples are ring roads, neighborhoods or directions to harbors.
These can be seen on highways and within cities.

Brown signs normally show touristic information.

Fietspad means bicycle lane.


In the land of Flevoland and in other parts of the country you will often find electric windmills.

License plates:

Current license plates in the Netherlands are yellow with black letters.
The most recent registrations consists of one number, three letters and two numbers, or two numbers, three letters and one number.
There are in total 11 combinations available in different colors for specific reasons, but these are far less common.
The license plates are the same from the front and the back.

Vegetation/Landscape:

The vegetation within the Netherlands is very diverse.
The dune areas and overgrown beach plains are unique in Europe.

The large low peat bogs (Nieuwkoop, Vechtstreek, Northwest Overijssel, Friesland) find no equivalent anywhere in Western and Southern Europe.

The same applies to the Oostvaardersplassen in Flevoland created by land reclamation.

The moraines, moors, high moors, fens and deciduous forests, river valleys, brooks and springs located in the east and south each have their characteristic vegetation.

In the extreme south one finds a plateau landscape with in the valleys a rich flora, partly bound by limestone, which differs greatly from that of the rest of the country.


There’s a lot of different trees in the Netherlands such as Beech, Birch, Oak, Maple and Elm trees. Most of these trees can be found in other countries, too.

Architecture:

Houses in cities are generally narrow while houses in the countryside larger houses were built.

Some towns are still very traditional like Zaanse Schans for instance.

Other places are much more modern, both in the cities and in the countryside.

Rotterdam is a very modern city when it comes to architecture.
The outskirts were partially unharmed during World War II, but the city center was totally destroyed.
Instead of rebuilding like it was before, as they did in many other cities, Rotterdam chose to build a new city.
Lots of skyscrapers and unique architecture can be found in the Manhattan of Europe, very different from the rest of the country.

The Netherlands is the country of cute little villages with canals and small little bridges.

It is also the country of dikes protecting the people from the water, which are often full with cows or sheep.

The Dutch love fields of flowers, windmills, more windmills and of course bicycles.


