Let me guess, the quantity of beer consumed and life expectancy are the first things to come to mind? (the Brits not coming out favourably in either category). But how does life in the Netherlands compare to life in the UK? What are the big differences between living in these two nations?
At first glance, it may not seem like these two old empires have much in common, but scratch the surface and you’ll find they’re old allies for a reason.
However, what exactly are the big differences between these two rain-soaked countries? It’s not the abolition of the royal family, that’s for sure.
But politics aside, there are a few clear differences for anyone who has lived in both the UK and the Netherlands. Here are just seven of them!
1. British politeness vs. Dutch directness
You knew this was coming, so we’re going to start off with the obvious. The Dutch are direct, and the British are not — in fact, they’re overly polite.
@myzyasmine Say it how it is #DIRECT #nofilter #dutch ♬ words – piri & Tommy Villiers
As a Brit, even I know that the British are far too polite and should just say what they mean straight-up (passive aggression is our second language, after all 💁♀️). But at the same time, you could also argue that Dutchies could soften the blow of their honesty a bit.
I think it’s safe to say there is a happy medium between the both. I will always be an English gal and apologise for my existence in every email — but living in the Netherlands has also shown me the value of being upfront.
2. British tea-drinkers vs. Dutch coffee kings
You’ll never change my mind that tea is the answer to everything. Ploughing through work? Going through a breakup? Need an excuse to have a biscuit? There’s nothing like a good cuppa to sort you out.
But while the British are casually sipping on tea throughout the day, the Dutch are chugging tea’s adrenaline-infused older brother — coffee.
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Now don’t get me wrong, I love a good cup of joe, but the Dutch drink it at all hours. It’s not unusual to have a Dutchie on their third or fourth at 5 PM. How do they even sleep?? And don’t insult a Dutchie by offering them milk. That is literally referred to as a “coffee wrong” (koffie verkeerd).
3. A proper pint vs. een fluitje
Say goodbye to your bank balance because drinking in the Netherlands is expensive! Okay, the plummeting of the pound hasn’t helped, so the Dutch aren’t fully to blame. Sadly this, and paying €3 for een fluitje will have you longing for a good old English pub.
But there is something that needs to be addressed. Dutchies, why are your drinks so small? The Dutch like to talk a big game about beer, but there’s a reason it’s called een biertje. The serving sizes are tiny — at least in a Brit’s eyes. 👀
Where are the pints?! And I mean a proper pint, none of this 250ml fluitje nonsense. And if you do find an “English” or “Irish” pub, you’ll be looking at €6 for a pint minimum. This is probably better for your liver — but has got me missing the pie and a pint for £7 at my local pub. 😭
4. Britain’s mountains vs. the Dutch lowlands
Well, the Netherlands is called the lowlands for a reason. It seems like a pretty obvious statement, but the UK actually has hills and mountains. This makes cycling considerably more difficult, but hiking considerably more fun.
It’s the butt of every joke that the Dutch don’t know what a hill is, but it’s kind of true. Limburg is the only part of the country with some elevation, but it’s basically in Belgium.
In the UK, a varied landscape is something you take for granted and even loath when you have to run for a bus, but you do start to miss the white cliffs of Dover. After all, unless you live in London, or maybe Birmingham, you’re never too far away from some picturesque countryside.
Now, I’ll hold my hands up, the Netherlands does have us trumped when it comes to beaches. We have to put up with the stoney seaside compared to the sandy shores of Scheveningen.
5. The NHS vs. Dutch health insurance
It’s a British tradition to complain about something yet actually be grateful for it — like the NHS. One of the biggest differences between the UK and the Netherlands was getting used to the concept of health insurance.
Now, it’s not US level with people forced to live in a tent to afford chemotherapy (yeah, that actually happens!), but health insurance is an expense you have to consider when living in the Netherlands.
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Mandatory health insurance is a strange thing to get your head around as a Brit. At least the Dutch government is there to help by providing an allowance for low-income workers, but you still have to cover your “own risk” (policy excess).
Although it pains me to say, the Dutch healthcare system has its upsides. The waiting times are nothing compared to an NHS hospital.
You will receive top-notch care — and rightly so because you’re paying for it (and might have a mini heart attack when you get your first insurance bill).
6. British make-up vs. Dutch fresh faces
This comes as a cultural shock for a lot of internationals moving to the Netherlands. The Dutch don’t dress up (unless, perhaps, you’re in a student association, that is).
They’re the reigning champions of smart casual, or just casual. That means minimal make-up, no heels, and only wearing a suit if you’re an accountant or a frat boy.
You don’t need a native to tell you that Brits love to dress up. Look to any episodes of Geordie Shore for reference. We use so much make-up, we call it “slap”. Now, I don’t personally subscribe to the Only Way is Essex dress code, but I like to feel like I’ve made a bit of an effort for a night out.
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I also miss the ritual of getting ready to go out on the town, putting on make-up, drink in hand while running in and out of my friend’s bedroom to try on all her clothes.
But don’t get me wrong, the Dutch have style, it’s just very understated. In the Netherlands, you would stand out from the crowd if you were wearing a fancy pair of jeans. Maybe that’s what you want — if so, go for it!
7. Car culture vs. bikes ruling the road
It doesn’t take a genius to know that the Dutch are a dab hand at biking. The Brits, not so much. Mostly because biking in London — or any major city — is taking your life into your own hands.
In the UK, you can’t really live without a car because public transport is pretty naff. London is the exception to this rule, but try living in a rural county relying on a bus that comes once every hour, and trains that are in a permanent state of delay.
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Not only is public transport in the Netherlands en pointe, but you can even bring your bike on said public transport or rent a bike on your OV chip card.
Yes, it’s cliche to say that the Dutch don’t drive, especially because it’s not particularly true. But how the Dutch can afford to drive when car tax is as much as €200 a month baffles us.
The Dutch vs. the British: how we aren’t so different
Okay, okay, it sounds pretty sappy, but it’s true. Despite all the ways that the UK is staggeringly different from the Netherlands, we still have a lot in common.
The two countries have a long history of cooperation. We’re a fair match when it comes to a drinking contest, and we both appreciate some dark humour. 😉
All in all, it’s unsurprising that many Brits (like myself) have opted to move to the Netherlands. We are, after all, both rainy Northern European countries with an antiquated royal family.
What do you think are the big differences between these countries? Tell us in the comments below! 👇
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in January 2021, and was fully updated in June 2023 for your reading pleasure.
What does the typical Dutch insurance bill even look like? I’m a Brit, but live in the US (and have since I was an early teen). I just had some medical issues this year, and have already had to pay about $4000 out of pocket (there will be more). AND I have to pay about $1200 a month for insurance. Are the Dutch insurance bills… less bloody awful?
In the Netherlands you have a mandatory health insurance which on average costs about €125 per month per per person of 18 years and older. On top of that you have a fixed amount of €385 per year own risk or deductibles. These are normally the only expenses you have. When you get medicines prescribed you can get charged tiny amounts for certain medicines, but when you’ve paid the amount of €385 you won’t be charged anymore for the rest of that year. No matter how many more medicines you get prescribed. I personally have had several operations in hospitals, but I never got any bill and as far as I know you never get any bills for a stay in the hospital unless you used extra services like using the Wi-fi or watching TV. But I have to point out that insurers have contracts with hospitals. If you decide to make use of a hospital that has no contract with your insurer, it’s likely that you’ll receive a bill, based on the difference on what the hospital charges you and what your insurer covers. So if you had a €20 000 operation and your insurer only covers $18 000, you’ll be responsible for the remaining €2000.
Wil’s comment isn’t entirely correct. If you want a good insurance package that covers more or less everything you may need, you pay a lot more. You can take a look at one of the most popular’s insurance provider’s basic health insurance. This is Zilveren Kruis: https://www.zilverenkruis.nl/consumenten/zorgverzekering/basisverzekering. So you get helped for free at contracted hospitals. It has no dental plan, which together with many many extra services adds up on top of your basic insurance. In essence, any really good insurance would start at 200 euros and up (unless you’re a perfectly healthy 20 year old youngster).
As the one with an autoimmune condition, I’m currently paying above 300 for the insurance that covers more or less everything. That also includes a full dental plan with orthodontics. This isn’t as cheap as many people sometimes tell you 🙂 The part about own risk is correct. A rule of thumb is that the higher your premium, the lower your own risk.
While I find the Dutch hospitals generally good, it’s still a GP who is your first point of contact in case of any health related issue occurs. Nowadays GPs generally do everything to avoid referring you to a specialist. I’m German and go get my checkups over there, since my Dutch GP simply refuses me to refer me to a specialist. This is not the US, UK or Germany where in that case you can simply go by yourself and pay for a checkup out of your own pocket. Here you simply can’t go anywhere. No referral, no checkup. I also asked my GP to perform an echo on my breasts yearly which was a recommendation of my German GP. There were many cases of breast cancers in my family in my mother’s line. Given my family’s history and the fact that I’m an over 40 year old woman on birth control, this was a general recommendations. I’m so glad I could get those checkups in Germany, as few years ago they found a cancerous lump which is impossible to see and especially feel during a manual exam. It was a very small stage I cancer, very successfully treated later in the Dutch hospital. Now imagine I wouldn’t had done my exam in Germany… Cancers, once they appear, grow rather fast. I would had been on stage 2-4 already… This is the dark side about the Dutch healthcare system. It’s universal, yet very money focused and financially optimised. Patients are being sent for checkups mostly when they already develop visible symptoms, and there’s little to no prevention in cases where in most other countries it exists. I have a new GP now and he’s more keen on sending me to specialists then needed, yet I still find prevention almost non-existent in the Netherlands. That’s quite shocking, knowing how developed The Netherlands is in many other areas.
So weight your pros and cons. My husband is American, we spent few years living there long time ago. Despite expensive insurance, I find the care so much better and way more innovative in the United States. I’d rather be alive and pay few thousands extra to catch my cancer on time than wait till they find that I’ve become terminal. 120 euro insurance won’t bring much joy then, I guess. That’s a big problem in The Netherlands. Most of my Dutch colleagues complain about the healthcare system as much as expats do. And since I work in IT, where people tend to be better well-off, they massively go to Germany or Belgium for simple checkups or treatments that they can’t get in the Netherlands. Paid out of own pocket, of course. I’ve heard many sad stories during my years here how many times parents of some of my Dutch colleagues had already started experiencing symptoms of serious illnesses and were told to go home, rest, unwind the stress, take paracetamol, wait a month or two without getting properly checked and tested. Once they got tested, they got diagnosed with cancer stages 3-4 or, the worst, terminal. This I find quite shocking about such a progressive country as The Netherlands. It’s very conservative and super old school when it comes to healthcare, as if some tests or tools wouldn’t even exist.
I overall enjoy my life here, but wanted to leave my comment here so people would know that not everything is rosy, shinny and fantastic over here. Good luck.
@Neil Ramsay
We are planning to move to NL at the end of this year. From my own research its between €100 an €120 per person per month. But remember the income tax in NL is astronomical. So if you are a high earner without health issues you can get rich in the US, and probably afford the very high standard of private healthcare the US has to offer. But for lower earners their quality of life may be considerably better in NL due to strong socialist policies. One needs to look at the whole picture to get a sense of lifestyle. What you are willing to sacrisifce. Hopw that helps.
The UK took Royal Dutch Shell … AKZO nobel and many other companies with the help of the USA ..
The ASML was a duch investment with a lot of taxpayers money involved .. They tried to take over this company too with sme huge hedgefunfd infestors coming from the USA .. Ever wondered why the NAZI’s did not win WW2 ? They changed their normes and values .Wars are not always fought with weapons and gunns . Economic warfare WW3 has already been initiated by the USA .
I made a comment about : England beat Germany to win first women’s major trophy
Posting: Well done uk … with some advice from wiegman .