Strange Dutch Traditions

The Dutch are a strange folk, more than half of the country is under sea level, they love to put chocolate on their bread and their houses are super dangerous. You gotta love the Dutch. In this post I will (try to) explain some of the weird traditions we have. Enjoy!

Ignore emergency alarms (if it’s on the first Monday of the month)

Every first Monday of the month, the Dutch government will test the national alarm system. Any foreigner visiting would think the Netherlands is being attacked. But not the Dutch! Nothing going on here!

Celebrate birthdays by sitting in a circle with tea, coffee and a slice of cake

The Dutch are known to party hard, but on birthdays we just sit in a circle with a drink and a cake. Seriously that’s it.

Eat lots and lots of chocolate for breakfast

We love chocolate, even more so we put chocolate sprinkles on our bread. (There are even over 30+ different kinds of sprinkles to chose from!) It’s simple but amazing. Try it!

On New years eve, the Netherlands will turn into a warzone

For some weird reason, the Dutch love fireworks, I mean they really do. On NYE all rules regarding to firework are cut lose and it’s everyone for themselves. You are allowed to ignite fireworks from 6pm until 3am on the 1st of January. Happy new year!

Ignore all the rules of queuing

Queues are for the weak, no here it is every man for themselves. Only the strong ones survive. This especially is true on public transport!

Food from the wall

Ahh, the famous wall of snacks. Money goes in and a delicious snack goes out. They have all kinds of different fried goods, from Frikandellen to kipcorn (Chickencorn) to Mexicano’s. For just 1,50 Euro you can pull your own snack out of the wall.

Wait ages to be served by waiters

For some reason it always take ages to get served by waiters in the Netherlands. The waiter is probably just busy with other distractions. Soon it will be your turn to order. Who knows..

Celebrate the Kings birthday (or anything else) by dressing up in orange

Whenever it is celebration time in the Netherlands the Dutch will go orange crazy. It’s no surprise since it is the official color of the Dutch royal family (house orange). It must be a very confusing time for anyone who suffers from color blindness.

We Sometimes live in dangerous houses

We like tall stairs (that look more like ladders), and the fun part; we just run on them like it’s no ones business.

Greet each other with three kisses on the cheek

Don’t get romantic ideas when a Dutch person kisses you on the cheeks 3 times. This is just a way of greeting each other here.

Thanks for reading! If you know any strange/fun tradition let me know in the comments!