How to NL

Domestic ferries

Netherlands has the densest inland waterway network in Europe. Water transport is very important to the Netherlands. There are many more ferry services than I can list here. The following are some of the more notable ones. You can see a list of all public foot passenger/bicycle/motor-vehicle ferries in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg at Vrienden van de Voetveren.

The following are the ferries that operate in 'open waters' (here it means outside all the sluice-gates, locks, and flood-barriers). Some are very frequent, while others are seasonal and do not operate every single day. All of these take at least passengers and bicycles. Check with the individual service providers. OV-chipkaart is not valid on these services unless otherwise indicated. (See also the international ferries page; the ferry journeys to Germany and Belgium are similar in length to these domestic journeys.)

Ferries in the northern waters, to the Wadden/Frisian Islands, from east to west (see also the bus page for the buses on the islands):

Ferries in the eastern waters, from north to south:

There are numerous ferries plying the inland waterways all over the country. The following are three larger operators which run year-round services.

There are many other services elsewhere. Please see the lists at Vrienden van de Voetveren.


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