These are our nine tips for stops along the Dutch highways

A highway was made to quickly get from A to B. But breaks should be part of long trips, and just to stretch your legs and eat or drink something, you should take a fifteen minute rest at least every two hours. Of course there’s the parking lot at the gas station, but in case you’d like to hit pause at a more scenic spot in the Netherlands: check whether one of these stops is on your route!

The Afsluitdijk

So commuters driving over the Afsluitdijk to Friesland every day? They have a proper excuse. But if you’re passing this manmade dam separating the North Sea from the Flevomeer for the first time, then you should definitely stop half way. Did you know that the Afsluitdijk gets 300,000 visitors a year? You can have a look at the monument and go to the visitors centre and grab something to eat in the restaurant. But the view from the parking lot is worth the stop as well.

Kornwerderzand

Only a small proportion of the visitors at the Afsluitdijk also visit Casemate Museum Kornwerderzand. The museum is not opened every day – and not open all year round. But if you’re in luck, or checked the hours beforehand, then the museum is definitely worth a visit!

The best roadside restaurants in Netherlands

Are you near Meppel? Then quickly head for Industrieweg number two for a snack at The Rocket: the number one roadside restaurant in the Netherlands, according to the visitors of restaurant rating site Iens. The Meppel truckers spot is closely followed in the rankings by Ottoman in Rotterdam, Bij Marjan in Amsterdam and Resto Truck A4 Wegrestaurant in Hoofddorp. Of course there’s plenty of other nice roadside restaurants, indicated with a knife-and-fork sign along the highway.

Strand Horst along the A28

In particular a destination for surfers of all sorts, but with nice weather, Strand Horst along the A28 is also a nice stop for land rots. For a reasonable fee you park at the beach and watch the kiters and windsurfers, or skaters and ice-kiters (depending on the season). Apart from the great lake view, there’s also clean toilets all year ’round.

Urk

The A6 highway runs from Muiderberg near Amsterdam via Flevoland and the North-East Polder to Joure in Friesland. About halfway you get exit 13: Urk. In this picturesque coastal village that was once an island, you can easily spend a whole day. But a quick visit to the beautiful harbor is certainly worth the little detour too!

National Park De Hoge Veluwe

Is your drive taking you to or through Arnhem? Take exit 25 on the A12 and drive a little further for a stop on the Veluwe, one of the largest and most scenic nature reserves of the Netherlands that is open to the public. Take a short walk, or go for a longer stretch, but make sure you find your way back to the car! In the midst of the park you’ll find the Kröller-Müller Art Museum with the second largest collection of Van Gogh paintings in The Netherlands!

Pancakes!

As every Dutchman knows: where there’s forest, there’s pancakes! So be on the look-out for signs saying “Pannenkoeken" along your more scenic routes. Both in the afternoon and all through the evening you can go to a pancake house for the traditional thick pancakes with bacon and syrup. Or with cheese, with apple or a nice thick layer of icing sugar. The ambience in any pancake house is warm and cozy, and children will sleep soundly in the backseat for the rest of the way.

Straight from the highway into the movies

Just wait until mid-2016, but then The Hague is getting a huge new cinema with 11 halls, two catering facilities and 450 parking spaces, right along the A12 motorway near station Ypenburg. But if you’re craving for popcorn and a blockbuster right now, there’s cinemas near highways in Tilburg, Ede and Leidse Rijn near Utrecht as well.

Hotels near Schiphol and the highway

Planning a visit to the Netherlands and looking for a nice hotel near the Airport as well as the highway? Large scale or small and cozy: if you rent a car at BB&L, you can pick them up and/or leave it at ten different hotels in the vicinity of Schiphol Airport. At no extra charge!