How to NL

Walking and wheelchairing (and nature reserves)

Here you will find some comments on walking and wheelchairing in the Netherlands, and also some comments on the nature reserves in the Netherlands.

For both walkers and wheelchairers, the Netherlands and the rest of Continental Europe have right-hand traffic. Remember to look left first, and then look right, before crossing the road. Road surface with red bricks/asphalt, or painted in red-brick colour, are often bicycle paths; bicycles can run pass in high speeds, and cyclists can come in from both directions. Be careful around tram tracks. Take care at train level crossings.

You may find Actueel Hoogtebestand Nederland, an electronic topographical map of the Netherlands, useful. (Yes, the Netherlands has topography. And Dutch people love topographical maps, based on the number of topographical maps and atlases available at bookstores in the Netherlands.)

Dutch people basically always check for possible rain/hail/snow before venturing outside. Check out the websites and apps of these: buienradar.nl, or buienalarm.nl. There is also ventusky.com, which shows weather pattern all around the world.

Walking

Walking is a pleasant way to explore the Netherlands. Wandelen is recreational walking. Many places have signposted walks that you can follow. (Signage is often – but not necessarily – good. Bring your own GPS, especially for walks outside urban areas.) Some are easy short walks, while others are hiking paths that run the length of the country.

Wandelnet.nl has various information on the wandelpaden 'walking/hiking paths' in European Netherlands. This is an electronic map by them, but for only some parts of the country. Wandel.nl is also another good website for wandelen in the Netherlands. Three types of longer-distance hiking paths are often encountered.

The first type is the LAW (Lange-Afstand-Wandelpad 'long distance hiking path'). LAW's often cover the length or width of the entire country. For instance, LAW 6, the Grote Rivierenpad 'Big Rivers Trail', runs from Kleve in Germany, near the Rhine and the Dutch border, west to Hoek van Holland on the Hollandic coast, crisscrossing various distributaries of the Rhine River. LAW's are symbolised by a rectangle (or arrow) with two horizontal strips in white (above) and red (below), like a Polish flag. The following are two examples of (inconspicuously placed) LAW symbols along LAW's.

The second type is the Streekpad. Steekpaden are also long-distance, but they are regionally based, and often form loops. Steekpaden are symbolised by a rectangle (or arrow) with two horizontal strips in yellow (above) and red (below), like a Kannada flag.

The third type is the NS wandeling 'Dutch Rail walk'. (See the page on NS wandelingen at NS, and at Wandelnet.nl.) NS walks typically start and end at railway stations (in a loop, or from one station to another), and they often consist of sections of LAW's. Hence they are also symbolised by a white-red rectangle (or arrow), but they have an extra NS symbol and/or the word NS-wanderlingen on it. The top arrow in the following example is a NS wandeling symbol. (The bottom arrow is a streekpad symbol.)

There are some two-day NS walks. (As described here:) for the two-day walks, you have to book your own accomodation. If you stay at one of the hotels recommended for a two-day NS walk, you get a free lunch pack on your second day if you show the routebeschrijving 'route description' (downloadable from the webpage of each NS walk on the NS website), and an OV-chipkaart or e-ticket (e-train-ticket, and showing at the hotel, I assume).

Many nature preservation organisations and municipalities also maintain sets of walks. See below for some of the nature preservation organisations in the Netherlands.

Wandelkalender.nl gives information on walking events. There are many walking events in the Netherlands. Amongst the 'hardcore' walking events, the Vierdaagse in Nijmegen is the most famous. It takes place in July each year, and it attracts a huge crowd of walkers, many from foreign countries. During the four days, each day walkers walk on designated routes of 30/40/50/55 km (which categories you are allowed join depends on your age and gender). There is also a military category for local and foreign military personnel. Sort out accomodation in Nijmegen or surrounding areas well in advance. During that week, there is extra public transport to/from/within the entire Arnhem-Nijmegen region, both for the walkers commuting from elsewhere, and also for the hordes of partygoers to/from Nijmegen at night. Driving to Nijmegen is not recommended, as many roads are blocked, and parking is also difficult.

Another popular activity is wadlopen 'mudflat hiking'. It is possible to walk across to some of the Wadden Sea Islands (Frisian Islands) during low tide. There is more risk waddling in sea mud (than walking on dry land, and you are doing so at your own risk), so only go with an experienced guide. A list of companies offering such tours can be found at the bottom of this page at Waddenwandelen.nl. The Waddenwandelen.nl website also offers information on walks on the Northern mainland coast, and on the Wadden Sea Islands, including Borkum (Germany).

Wheelchairing

Wheelchair accessibility seems to be not too bad in the Netherlands, at least in comparison with many other countries. (Of cause there is room for improvement.) This is what Holland.com and Angloinfo.com have to say about accessible travel in the Netherlands. Accessibletravelnl.com is a company specialising in tours for people with special accessibility needs.

In bicycle-mad Netherlands, handbikes are not uncommonly seen. See the pages on cycling, moped-riding, motorcycling, and driving for some insights into the traffic rules in the Netherlands.

One point to note is that on traffic signs, the moped icon includes motorised handicap vehicles, and the bicycle icon includes non-motorised handicap vehicles. In the following road sign, the top sign (Dutch road sign C15, moped and bicycle icons in white circle with red border) indicates that mopeds, bicycles, and handicap vehicles are not allowed, but the bottom sign says m.u.v. invaliden-voertuigen 'with the exception of handicap vehicles'. In other words, mopeds and bicycles are not allowed, but handicap vehicles are allowed.

The government has solid goals to make all public transport accessible for everyone (see this page in Dutch). Currently, many buses, many trams, and all metros are wheelchair-accessible. With trains, the platform at many stations are accessible, but the problem is getting on and off the trains; only some trains are on the same level as the platform, and I do not know what the gap is like. At many train stations, there are mobile ramps and they can help you get in and out of trains (booking required). This is a map of train stations with assisted boarding and disembarking. The following are the accessibility pages of the train companies:

• Nederlandse Spoorwegen
• Arriva ("all trains are accessible").
• Breng (brochure; "trains are accessible, except at Arnhem Velperpoort").
• Syntus ("all trains are accessible").
• Veolia ("accessible for non-motorised wheelchairs; motorised wheelchairs can only board and disembark at stations with wheelchair assistance")
• Connexxion – Valleilijn ("accessible except at Barneveld Noord")

haltescan.nl is an electronic map of accessibility of bus stops in the Netherlands.

Another option is the regiotaxi, or shared-taxi; regiotaxi's are priced between regular public transport and regular taxis. Many of their clients are wheelchair-users. See the regiotaxi page. Many regular taxi companires have vehicles suitable for wheelchair-users. See the taxis and carpooling page.

Here is a list of wheelchair-accessible wandelpaden 'hiking paths', and here is another one. Here are some words on accessible beaches, and accessible restaurants. Here is a webstie for wheelchair users on vacations within the Netherlands and in other European countries. Here are some words/phrases that might be useful for online search or real-life interactions:

• rolstoel(en) 'wheelchair(s)'
• toegankelijk 'accessible'
• toegankelijkheid 'accessibility'
• toegankelijkheden 'accessibilities'
• gebruik(en) 'use/s'
• gebruiker 'user'
• mindervalide(n) 'less-abled person/people'
• beperking(en) 'limitation(s)'
• handicap(s) 'disability/ies'
• gehandicapt(en) 'handicapped person/people'
• chauffeur, rolstoelplank alstublieft '(bus) driver, wheelchair ramp please' (sometimes they forget)
• dank u 'thank you'.

Nature reserves

Despite its small size, the national parks (and other nature reserves) in the Netherlands are not managed by a single national entity; instead, they are managed by a plethora of different organisations. Sometimes a single national park is jointly managed by a plethora of organisations and individuals. They all maintain their own sets of hiking trails (some wheelchair accessable), bridle paths, mountain-bike trails, etc. Some organisations provide maps and information on their hiking trails etc. for free on their websites, while others sell maps for more-detailed information.

At the national level, there are:

• Staatsbosbeheer, a national governmental legal entity
• Natuurmonumenten, a non-govermental association

At the provincial level, each province has its own non-governmental organisation:

• Frisia: It Fryske Gea, an association

and for each of the other provinces, a foundation:

• Groningen: Het Groninger Landschap
• Drenthe: Het Drentse Landschap
• Overijssel: Landschap Overijssel
• Flevoland: Het Flevo-landschap
• Gelderland: Geldersch Landschap & Kasteelen ⛫
• Utrecht: Utrechts Landschap
• Noord-Holland: Landschap Noord-Holland
• Zuid-Holland: Zuid-Hollands Landschap
• Zeeland: Het Zeeuwse Landschap
• Noord-Brabant: Brabants Landschap
• Limburg: Het Limburgs Landschap

There are also the municipalities, and many other organisations, that manage national parks and other nature reserves.

The following are two examples of sign-posting along hiking trails.

Samenverkingsverband Nationale Parken is a cooperative foundation of the national parks in European Nethelands. See their overview map for the locations of the national parks. The national parks are free to enter, except De Hoge Veluwe. The following is a list of national parks in European Netherlands, and the organisations that manage them. (In the following list: SBB = Staatsbosbeheer, NM = Natuurmonumenten. Also included are the SBB and NM map numbers. Some have free route maps that you can download via their website or app.)

• Groningen/Frisia: Lauwersmeer, SBB (SBB map 5)
• Frisia: De Alde Feanen, It Fryske Gea and others (overview map, hiking brochure)
• Frisia: Schiermonnikoog, NM, Rijkswaterstaat, and others (NM map 14)
• Frisia/Drenthe: Drents Friese Wold, SBB (4150ha), NM (950ha), Het Drentse Landschap (450ha), Maatschappij van Weldadigheid (200ha), 80 private owners (about 400ha) (SBB map 8)
• Drenthe: Drentsche Aa, SBB and others (SBB map 9)
• Drenthe: Dwingelderveld, SBB, NM, and private owners (SBB map 39, NM map 01)
• Overijssel: Weerribben-Wieden, SBB (Weerribben), NM (Wieden) (SBB map 34)
• Overijssel: De Sallandse Heuvelrug, NM, SBB, and others (SBB map 18)
• Gelderland: Veluwezoom, NM (NM map 05)
• Gelderland: De Hoge Veluwe, its own foundation (admission fee; park map for purchase, electronic map)
• Utrecht: Utrechtse Heuvelrug, SBB, NM, Utrechts Landschap, and others (SBB map 25)
• Noord-Holland: Duinen van Texel, SBB and others (SBB map 1)
• Noord-Holland: Zuid-Kennemerland, SBB, NM and others (NM map 08)
• Zeeland: Oosterschelde, IVN Zeeland, Province of Zeeland. (electronic map)
• Zuid-Holland/Noord-Brabant: De Biesbosch, SBB (SBB map 27)
• Antwerpen (Belgium)/Noord-Brabant: De Zoom - Kalmthoutse Heide, SBB, NM and many others (printed map here, or here)
• Noord-Brabant: De Loonse en Drunense Duinen, NM, Brabants Landschap, IVN Noord-Brabant (NM map 10)
• Noord-Brabant/Limburg: De Groote Peel, mainly SBB (SBB map 37)
• Limburg: De Maasduinen, SBB, Het Limburgs Landschap, and others
• Limburg: De Meinweg, SBB, Prorail, and others (SBB map 38)

Other than the nationale parken 'national parks', there are also the nationale landschappen 'national landscapes' in European Netherlands. A nationaal landschap 'national landscape' is an area with unique combination of nature, agricultural areas, and cultural history. There are also many hiking trails, bicycle paths etc. in them. The cover-organisation for the national landscapes is Servicenet Nationale Landschappen. See their list and map of the national landscapes in the Netherlands.

In Caribbean Netherlands, there are the following national parks:

• Bonaire: Bonaire National Marine Park, STINAPA Bonaire
• Bonaire: Washington Slagbaai National Park, STINAPA Bonaire
• Sint Eustatius: Sint Eustatius National Marine Park, STENAPA
• Sint Eustatius: Quill/Boven National Park, STENAPA
• Saba: Saba National Marine Park, SCF
• Saba: (future?) Saba National Land Park, SCF

There are many other nature reserves around the country. The Netherlands take nature preservation, and recreation in the nature, very seriously.