August a good month to travel to Netherlands or Belgium?

May 19, 2024 1:34 PM

I'm looking to travel to the Netherlands and Belgium in (late) August. Am I going to have any issues with most of the country being on holiday at that time? I don't know when the main summer holiday period is in those countries (though I've heard it's July for Belgium at least).
posted by Mechitar to Travel & Transportation (3 answers total)

There is a European school year calendar. But remember, both countries are popular destinations, specially for German tourists, so the German holiday schedule also influences the activity or lack thereof.

In general, I don't feel Belgium and the Netherlands shut down as dramatically as for instance France does.

Traffic will be bad everywhere during all of July and August. Train tickets should be pre-ordered. It will be hot, and Europe in general does not have as much AC as in the US. For instance, lots of restaurants don't have AC, neither do local trains.
posted by mumimor at 2:27 PM on May 19

Nothing really shuts down in the Netherlands during school holidays. You might have issues with traffic to beaches or campsites, but generally a lot of people leave the country.

It will be hot and air conditioning isn’t super common, so I’d look for a hotel that says they have A/C. All NS trains have A/C these days, and many trans/metros do too.
posted by neushoorn at 5:01 PM on May 19 [2 favorites]

In the southern part of the Netherlands, schools start again on the 19th of August. (One week later for the central part, another week later for the northern part.) So late August is potentially after the holiday period.

If you check out expected temperatures for this period, do keep in mind that 25 degrees Celsius (77F) is about the limit of 'nice and warm' here. Above 30C (86F) is likely to be quite uncomfortable, I guess due to humidity.
posted by demi-octopus at 11:59 PM on May 19