Vehicles

1. de auto

   Car

   Usage

   Parking in Dutch cities is expensive and the centres are a maze of one-way streets where bikes come first. Use a park-and-ride on the edge and take transit in

2. de bus

   City bus

   Usage

   You tap in and tap out — "in- en uitchecken" — and forgetting the second tap costs you extra. The stop is "de bushalte"

3. de touringcar

   Long-distance coach

   Usage

   The big coach used for group tours and international services like Flixbus. The city bus is a different word, "de bus"

4. de trein

   Train

   Usage

   The national operator is NS. The station is "het station", the platform "het perron" and the track number "het spoor". In a country this compact, the train is the fastest way between cities

5. de intercity

   Intercity train

   Usage

   The fast service calling only at main stations. No seat reservations and the same ticket applies, so take it between cities such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam

6. de sprinter

   Sprinter (local train)

   Usage

   Despite the name, this is the all-stops local service, and how you reach the smaller towns. The same ticket covers both, so check the board for which arrives first

7. de metro

   Metro / Subway

   Usage

   Amsterdam and Rotterdam have one. Amsterdam's Noord/Zuidlijn, line 52, is famous for the difficult tunnelling through soft ground (construction began in 2003, opened in 2018)

8. de tram

   Tram

   Usage

   Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht have them, and the RandstadRail links The Hague to Rotterdam as part tram, part metro. Look both ways when you step off — bikes use the same street

9. de taxi

   Taxi

   Usage

   Dutch taxis carry blue number plates. Hailing on the street is rare — use a rank or an app. Fares are high, so even a short hop is cheaper by transit

10. de fiets

    Bicycle

    Usage

    The national vehicle — there are more bikes here than people. The "fietspad" (cycle path) is often red-surfaced; check the signs at junctions. "Ik wil een fiets huren" to rent one, and always use two locks

11. de OV-fiets

    OV-fiets station bike

    Usage

    The blue-and-yellow bikes NS keeps at stations nationwide, hired for a flat daily rate so you can step off the train and ride the last stretch. It needs an account linked to a Dutch transit card, so visitors usually find a regular station rental shop easier

12. de bakfiets

    Cargo bike

    Usage

    A bike with a big wooden box up front. Dutch parents ride two or three children to nursery in one, and it is a standard family vehicle in the cities as well as a delivery vehicle

13. de elektrische fiets

    Electric bike

    Usage

    Also "de e-bike". The country is flat but the wind is not kind, and these are how people beat it. Rental shops offer them

14. de bromfiets

    Moped

    Usage

    The Netherlands splits mopeds in two. The yellow-plated "bromfiets" does up to 45 km/h, rides on the road and needs a helmet; the blue-plated "snorfiets" is limited to 25 km/h and used to be allowed on cycle paths, though Amsterdam and others now require the road and a helmet. In speech both are "de scooter"

15. de motor

    Motorcycle

    Usage

    The full-size motorcycle. The same word also means an engine, so context decides. A moped is "de bromfiets"

16. de step

    Kick scooter

    Usage

    Dutch "step" is the English kick scooter. The electric version is "de elektrische step", but Dutch vehicle-approval rules are strict, few models are road-legal, and the shared fleets common elsewhere in Europe have not taken hold. Check the legal status before you ride one

17. het vliegtuig

    Airplane

    Usage

    The country is too small for domestic flights — the train does that job. The airport is "de luchthaven", and the main one is Schiphol

18. de boot

    Boat

    Usage

    Any small vessel. The ones moored along the canals as homes are "woonboten", houseboats, an Amsterdam institution

19. het pontje

    Small ferry

    Usage

    The little ferry across a river or canal. Behind Amsterdam Centraal they cross the IJ to Amsterdam-Noord free for pedestrians and cyclists, running around the clock. Rivers all over the country have them, and cycle routes depend on them

    Grammar Note

    "De pont" plus the diminutive -je. Dutch reaches for diminutives constantly

20. de veerboot

    Ferry

    Usage

    The big car-carrying ferry, and how you reach the Wadden islands — Texel, Vlieland, Terschelling. Not the same as the little canal "pontje"

21. de rondvaartboot

    Canal cruise boat

    Usage

    The glass-roofed boat that loops Amsterdam's canals, leaving from near Centraal and the Anne Frank House. The "grachten" are a UNESCO site, and the city looks quite different from the water

22. de waterfiets

    Pedal boat

    Usage

    Literally "water bicycle", rentable on Amsterdam's canals and in park lakes. You will be crossing the cruise boats' path, so give the big vessels plenty of room

23. de ambulance

    Ambulance

    Usage

    The emergency number is 112: "bel een ambulance, alstublieft". For something less urgent, ask your host about the "huisartsenpost", the out-of-hours GP clinic

24. de huurauto

    Rental car

    Usage

    Dutch motorways are free, though a few tunnels toward Belgium are not. City parking is expensive, and several cities run a "milieuzone" that bars older diesels

25. de vrachtwagen

    Truck / Lorry

    Usage

    Rotterdam is one of Europe's biggest ports and the roads around it are thick with them. A delivery van is "het busje"

26. de camper

    Campervan / Motorhome

    Usage

    Camping runs deep here and towns provide dedicated "camperplaatsen". Sleeping in a vehicle on the street is banned in most municipalities, so use the marked sites

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