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    How to BIKE in THE NETHERLANDS? … These foreigners survived the Dutch bicycle!



    Biking in the Netherlands? These foreigners talk about the Dutch on their bikes… and their own experiences cycling in the Netherlands.

    How to ride a Dutch bike (in Dutch: fiets)? Should you avoid cycling in Amsterdam? What are the rules? Why are the Dutch anoyed by tourists on bikes?

    This is a funny video made by Bart de Pau: a compilation of quotes by his Summer School’s Dutch language students.

    Error: the name of 1 of the students is incorrect in the video. Where Sabrina is written, should be ‘Katie’.

    Bart de Pau makes more #dutchculture videos like this, check the playlist:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjFq_qv_h90&list=PLUOa-qvvZolDmz66BL9Vc5KQ6tsBdK4aS

    Do you want to learn Dutch in the most efficient way?

    Learn Dutch online with Bart de Pau’s online video course:

    Dutch Grammar

    Video made by:
    Bart Leenhouts-de Pau and Nicolás Bálbontin

    Editing: Claudia Macchiavello
    Music: Steelsound

    To know more about our:
    – Dutch Summer School: https://dutchsummerschool.nl
    – Dutch Winter School: https://dutchwinterschool.nl

    View 39 Comments

    39 Comments

    1. Adinnnnu on

      Biking in the NL might look chaotic sometimes (e.g. Amsterdam) but it's actually the best organized country in the region. The bike lanes are very well marked and the (car) drivers are much more aware of cyclists than in other countries.
      NL is awesome!

    3. OceanaMar on

      No! It's not I was biking alone the South of the Nederlands in 2014, I was 55 and I'm a woman. Well, I started in 2009 in Amsterdam. I was an alien from Portugal 🙂 Love it to bike amongst real bikers. Heel lekker fietsen!!

    4. Niels van 't Klooster on

      haha I once wasn't allowed to walk without my crutches because os some medical problems so in one hand I took both of the crutches and in the other one my shopping bag on the bike to do groceries…. didn't even needed a hand for the steering lol

    6. Peter from GW on

      It’s the bloody inconsiderate, ignorant, imbecilic bikeriders in Amsterdam that need to be dragged into line. Absolutely no respect or consideration for pedestrians who are NOT wandering into bike lanes. I spent time in Amsterdam dodging these stupid bastards on bikes – including nearly being cleaned up while walking across a pedestrian crossing with a green light. Perhaps it could also be a result of Dutch arrogance as well…. Tschuess aus Australien.

    11. Kees Bos on

      Al this coments about carrying so ting let me think about the time I needed to carry a “Sinterklaas surprise” on my bike it was 1 maby 2 meter lang and someting like 60 cm breed 🙂
      Ps I didn’t fall

    14. Maartje Waterman on

      We had English friends to stay for ten days or so and of course they too were amazed with all those people going around on bikes and when I told them that just a few hours before I got into labour of our second child I went to the midwife for a checkup, did some grocery shopping and took the eldest one from kindergarten, all of that by bike, they didn't say anything but stared at my husband as if he were the worst one ever.

    16. Victor on

      1:23 that woman literally knows nothing about physics. There is no way a 100 pound bike going at 15mph is more dangerous than a car.
      Cars seem safe until one is dead.
      Bikes can lead to scrapes and bruises if one isn't used to it.

      seems is not the same as is.

    17. Frits Siewers on

      If you are hit by a car you will be in hospital for a week. 😪
      If you get hit by a bike you get up again, say some ugly get the dust off your pants and walk on again

      Best regards
      Frits

    18. Almendra on

      When I visited, my boyfriend's dad lent me his bike. It was WAY too tall so I ended up falling off and hurting my ankle. I had never fallen off a bike before, it was scary af

    21. Janco Smits on

      Dutchies grow up on a bike from age 4 or a little older , and learn the rules ( not always follow them however ! LOL ) . So being a foreigner and biking here can be confusing I imagine . But don't blame the dutchies , blame yourself for your own lack of experience and knowledge

    22. Sacha B on

      im from belgium living on the border with maastricht holland and the infrastructure of the roads and keeping bicyclists and cars seperate and even people on foot seperate lanes etc etc it's very very safe bicyclists have right of way over cars all the time and it's just safe the bike lanes are up to date meaning they service it there aren't putholes or cracks in the lanes etc etc

      comparing that even to belgium we pay the highest taxes in general but specifically on cars and road tax etc etc and we have still shit roads and bicycle lanes are holes in them and it's not as safe as in holland here also alongside a road where they drive 70km/h the cars the bike lane is just next to it no seperate lanes or devided like in holland so if a car just drives 5 cm to the right and you cycle there he will hit you in holland that's not the case what so ever they have the best infrastructure of roads etc even waterways they also master that they are the kings of the water hahah

    23. Frank Heuvelman on

      Riding a bike lowers one CO2 footprint, dear New Netherlanders.
      Apparently none of you thought about that crucial fact while it is so typically Dutch to be aware of the environment.
      Our whole existence is based on environmental awareness and thinking ahead.

    24. Gery on

      We call the whole Netherlands Hollandia. I think the Netherlands would sound silly in my language. 😂 Or it could be another word but that wouldn't be cool as we have a region called like that. 🤦🏻‍♂️🤣

    25. Mark on

      In Amsterdam in the Prinsengracht in the summer in front of the Ann Frank house you can hit as much tourists as you want on your bike! Uber annoying because ppl stand still when they hear de bells ring and think what a lovely bell?!

    31. karunanithi n.ramachandran on

      Obviously these youngsters have no idea about Shanghai of the 60's and 70's where you have bicycle jams at the peak hours and if you are a pedestrian you cross the road at the risk of being hit .
      I once waited almost half an hour to cross a road ' two cars ' wide with bicycles going in both directions , and it didn't even have a painted divider in the center .

    33. Jeffrey Crawley on

      There's a story told in East Anglia in England of a shot up Wellington bomber making its way back from a raid over Germany in WW2. The radio was damaged, they were lost in thick fog and the plane did not have enough power to climb to a safe height for the crew to parachute down.
      Fortunately the pilot managed to crash land without anybody getting injured.
      Unsure as to whether they had successfully crossed the North Sea the crew hid up while one of them went looking for help.
      He came upon a farm labourer working in a field and, speaking loudly and slowly, asked him where they were.
      'Olland came the puzzled reply.
      That was enough for the airman who made his way back to the crash site where the crew burned their code books and maps and smashed their bomb sight.
      They then set off to look for a village that could help them and immediately crossed paths with an English policeman on his bicycle who had seen the plane come down and was coming to find them.
      They were, of course, in the OTHER South Holland. The one in Lincolnshire.

    34. The Snark on

      02:40 Mandatory to wear helmets in France? I have been there for 6 years, 6 to 9 months out of the year, and I don't even have a helmet.
      Out on my bike for an hour every day, circumstances and weather permitting.

    37. vincent rekers on

      i think a cursus for every one that comes here! and must complete it other wise dont go on a bike !!! and biking in Amsterdam is totoally diffrent from the rest of the Netherlands

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