Car rental the Netherlands

General information and regulations

In order to rent a car in the Netherlands you have to be 21 years and have held your license for 2 years. Drivers under the age of 25 may incur a surcharge (for example with luxury cars). Seatbelts are mandatory both in the front as in the back. Traffic travels on the right.

Speed limits are: on highways 75mph/120kph (although 62mph/100kph on some roads), local roads 49mph/80kph and 31mph/50kph in cities (although sometimes even slower).

Driving in the Netherlands with a rental car

There is an extensive road network in the Netherlands: more than 135,000 km (public roads). This is one of the densest road networks in the world. 5,012 km is state highway, province roads are 7,899 km and other roads 122,500 km.

Daytrips from the north to the south are easy to do, whether you travel from Groningen to Rotterdam or from Amsterdam to Tilburg, all trips can be done in less than a day. Crossing the country will take less than three hours, even less in other directions (the Netherlands is small in width).

Trips across the border are easy to arrange as well. From Amsterdam, the cities of Antwerp and Brussels can be reached in a matter of hours (Antwerp is a 2.5 hrs drive from Amsterdam). The same goes for the German border. Amsterdam-Berlin is about 576 km and a city like Bremen is a mere 274 km drive (from Amsterdam). Crossing the border to Germany has a rather big advantage; from this moment, there are barely any speed limits.

Renting a car in the Netherlands

At the airports of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Eindhoven there are many car rental companies that can facilitate your trip. Companies such as Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, National and Sixt are present at most of the airports.

It is also possible to book a rental car through EasyTerra. This website compares the rates of local car rental companies for your convenience.