I visited The Netherlands in 2014 and it’s the only foreign country where I almost felt at home. Not 100% but like very close to it. It was a strange feeling while being there.
Dane here. Love the Dutch.
Tbh i wanna go to The netherlands, travel all around and see your Old buildings n stuff, while violently high ofc.
So pretty good i’d say.
I’ve been there twice and honestly Amsterdam is the only city outside of Denmark that I’ve felt comfortable and safe in.
I love the Dutch people and culture!
Dutch guy living in Denmark here. Reading along to finally find out what my neighbours and colleagues think of me 🙂
We like the Dutch better than we like the German
Im not a fan of big cities, but the one exception is Amsterdam. I am absolutely enamored with Vondelpark. Amsterdam is an absolutely wonderful place, and look forward to visit it (and other places in the Netherlands) again.
If the Swedes and Norwegians are our brothers, the Dutch are our cousins.
Chill people that like to bike and travel the world, just like us.
Been living there for quite a few years. So, a bit of a fan by now. They’re pretty much like us, just a bit more ~~rude~~ direct and honest than we are.
Amazing bike infrastructure, they just need to learn some rules for biking.
Sweedes, norwegin and islandic are our brothers and sisters by blood. Dutch is our brothers and sisters in mind and way life.
Overhearing a dutch speak it even sounds like danish, untill you actualy listen and then the sounds is very similar but their words is weird.
If I am not mistaken parts of Copenhagen were architected by Dutch engineers
I like the Dutch a lot.
I Lived in Den Haag for 6 months.
Liked the bicycle culture. It’s very similar to ours. NL feels very much like home, but with minor exceptions. Architecture reminded me a bit of UK. More brownish buildings. Cafe culture was different. Dogs were accepted inside, which I didn’t really see In DK at the time (early 00’s).
The city seemed more international, but it might have been because of all the UN organisations in the city.
Nl was far more multiethnic than DK. Indonesian restaurants were very prevalent in the city. Rotterdam seems very futuristic to me. Amsterdam had too many tourists, but very nice city that I’d love to come back to. Queens day was a lot of fun with huge techno raves in the city, but they could tone down the cannabis references on billboards and tourist shops. To me NL is so much more than that. My favourite city was Utrecht. It was more laid back and a lot of student vibe + it had canals.
And you have lights on the freeway, which is nice in the nighttime, so I don’t get blinded by cars in the other direction.
Both appreciate licorice, the proper salty kind.
The Dutch are like long lost siblings that speak kinda funny. And The Netherlands is as close to home as any Dane can feel outside Denmark, even more so than Sweden or Norway.
The Dutch word for kærnemælk is karnemelk and on that basis alone, we are friends for life
My father is Dutch and my mother is Danish. My father have moved back and forth with all his girlfriends from Denmark and the Netherlands. They all always felt home both places! We really are similar. The biggest culture shock my father had, moving to Denmark, was that we sing songs at family parties that we write ourselves. Like confirmations and baptisms. We will take a well known melody, so that everybody can follow along, and write personal, emotional and funny things about our loved ones. This my father finds extremely cringe inducing, so of course he gets a song now and then 🙂
As a bonus, our architecture is also very alike!
Generally Dutch people are very nice and I would highly recommend going on a trip there!
Dutch-loving Dane right here!
I spent five months in the Netherlands on exchange and people are WAY more open and willing to talk to strangers than in Denmark.
I remember one time I was standing at a computer and a girl next to me asked me if I was staying there because she trusted me to keep her login session safe. We had not spoken until that point and it took me completely by surprise. Another time some older guy in an elevator said hello and goodbye as he left. I think he found me somehow distant although I did my best to answer in Dutch.
Overall I liked the country a lot. The cheese was excellent. Not a fan of the licorice though.
I prefer not to get engaged with dutch people. I always end up in some weird place with wild dance music and someone giving me free vitamins.
Hollænderne hjalp Danmark bekæmpe djævlene fra den anden side af Øresund så de vil altid have en plads i mit hjerte
As a Dane in America I’m often assumed to be Dutch. We look similar (I’m also tall, even for a Dane), and to Americans our accents sound similar, even though they’re quite different to us. And when I do come across Dutch people here, both professionally and in my personal life, we treat each other as kindred spirits. Love the Dutch!
Dutch people are so cheap that most Danes would find it repulsive, except for the Jutes – forbthem it is normal
both also got fucked on the italian ic4 trains lol
I’m an Aussie who has lived and worked in permanent positions in Netherlands and Denmark. On a global scale, they are quite similar certainly – as you say, both speak really good English and have similar infrastructure and societies.
My personal impression is that the Danish tax dollars seem to go further and that Danish salaries are higher in equivalent positions.
Netherlands has some more openness in their societies from the perspective of weed stores, though I found that none of my Dutch colleagues seemed particularly interested in that and were surprisingly conservative in their political views (I work in IT). Denmark seems to have similarly liberal views on that sort of thing, but politically their policies are more conservative.
I found the Dutch humor was more aligned to my Aussie humor in terms of loving a good dirty joke, which I appreciated!
Denmark has more archaic rules around immigration and they make it extremely difficult for foreigners to stay permanently, whereas Netherlands is more lenient and even offers tax incentives for foreigners to come work in skilled positions. I can’t imagine Denmark ever doing the same (in terms of tax breaks) as they try to tax everything they possibly can.
My work experience was that the Netherlands was more old fashioned and I found them generally untrusting of the foreigners as there were many occasions where there’d be a meeting where things were decided on and then a few of the Dutch employees would go off and have another meeting on the side or a general conversation and then everything was thrown up in the air again, which was a frustratingly slow process to get anything done. That being said, I know they is just my personal experience and not every company would be like that.
By contrast, in Denmark I have experienced the feeling that the best idea in the room wins and they genuinely want the input from everyone, and they are always looking to how they can improve work conditions for employees. The work-life balance is better respected also I think.
Anyway, I know it’s not exactly what you were asking for, but thought I’d give my 2 cents. Two nice countries that are full of nice people!
** As one follow up to some of the replies – The tax break that people are referring to in Denmark is not very similar to what the Netherlands offers, because the tax break they have applies to people earning more average salaries. For example, I was earning just below 4,000 euros a month (as previously noted, the salaries are comparatively low, as in all my 3 full time jobs in Denmark, I’ve earned much better), and part of my salary was being taxed at the highly skilled migrant tax rate (ie. after a certain amount of money, the lower tax rate kicks in). Their definition of ‘highly skilled migrant’ is more broad, in the sense that you could be filling an IT position at a large company creating complex software solutions, and given that takes skilled employees and there is a global shortage of skilled workers in that area (including currently in Denmark), that qualifies. The Danish tax break is for, in my estimation, very high salaries. Maybe if you are a team manager or business owner or work in a particular profession you could get the 72,500 kroner a month required, and maybe even some people on here earn that (I have no idea), but certainly, at least living in Jutland, I do not know many people at all that would be commanding such a salary. My partner is a doctor and earns probably half of that, and I would say that is a ‘highly skilled’ profession.
they helped expand Amager, so I dislike them quite much 🙂
I feel like the netherlands are just the guy across the table at a bar who you definitely have a lot in common with but just never got the chance to talk to.
They’re basically what we always wanted the Swedes to be.
Danish isn’t the prettiest language in the world. But at least we don’t sound like the Dutch.
The dutch are danes that dont speak Danish.
Netherlands are an honorary member of Scandinavia
I lived in both countries. They are in very similar indeed. In my opinion the danes have more similarities with the dutch than with with other scandinavian neighbours like sweden. Here are some of the major differences that i saw:
– both the Dutch and Danes are direct but danes are much more kind than then dutch. Dutch just like to offend you in your face but cant take any criticism from you. I found the danes to be one of the most kind people out there.
– i find it much easier to work with danes. Somehow the dutch are always right about everything. Danes are more rational.
– Copenhagen has great biking infrastructure but it is no match for the the one in the Netherlands. Dutch are superior when it comes to biking lanes.
– Netherlands is full of different cities which are full of life and things to do. In Denmark i feel as everything is centered in Copenhagen.
– i find the old dutch architecture more beautiful (e.g. old amsterdam buildings) but Copenhagen is much more cosy and “warm”.
– when it fomes to money, it is a national sport in the netherlands to get the cheepest thing possible and to get the best prices. The dutch are always going “dutch”. I find the danes (especially copenhageners) throwing money around like there is no tomorrow. Why get a can of beer from a kiosk for 25dkk if you can buy it next door in a plastic cup for 65dkk.
– i lived in a lot of places, but no store can match the might of Albert Hein – Its just art. Supermarkets in denmark are just meeeh. You can be happy if you manage to find a green salad.
My two favorite countries. I would pick denmark over netherlands any time. Here i feel home. I never felt that in the netherlands.
31 comments
I visited The Netherlands in 2014 and it’s the only foreign country where I almost felt at home. Not 100% but like very close to it. It was a strange feeling while being there.
Dane here. Love the Dutch.
Tbh i wanna go to The netherlands, travel all around and see your Old buildings n stuff, while violently high ofc.
So pretty good i’d say.
I’ve been there twice and honestly Amsterdam is the only city outside of Denmark that I’ve felt comfortable and safe in.
I love the Dutch people and culture!
Dutch guy living in Denmark here. Reading along to finally find out what my neighbours and colleagues think of me 🙂
We like the Dutch better than we like the German
Im not a fan of big cities, but the one exception is Amsterdam. I am absolutely enamored with Vondelpark. Amsterdam is an absolutely wonderful place, and look forward to visit it (and other places in the Netherlands) again.
If the Swedes and Norwegians are our brothers, the Dutch are our cousins.
Chill people that like to bike and travel the world, just like us.
Been living there for quite a few years. So, a bit of a fan by now. They’re pretty much like us, just a bit more ~~rude~~ direct and honest than we are.
Amazing bike infrastructure, they just need to learn some rules for biking.
Sweedes, norwegin and islandic are our brothers and sisters by blood. Dutch is our brothers and sisters in mind and way life.
Overhearing a dutch speak it even sounds like danish, untill you actualy listen and then the sounds is very similar but their words is weird.
If I am not mistaken parts of Copenhagen were architected by Dutch engineers
I like the Dutch a lot.
I Lived in Den Haag for 6 months.
Liked the bicycle culture. It’s very similar to ours. NL feels very much like home, but with minor exceptions. Architecture reminded me a bit of UK. More brownish buildings. Cafe culture was different. Dogs were accepted inside, which I didn’t really see In DK at the time (early 00’s).
The city seemed more international, but it might have been because of all the UN organisations in the city.
Nl was far more multiethnic than DK. Indonesian restaurants were very prevalent in the city. Rotterdam seems very futuristic to me. Amsterdam had too many tourists, but very nice city that I’d love to come back to. Queens day was a lot of fun with huge techno raves in the city, but they could tone down the cannabis references on billboards and tourist shops. To me NL is so much more than that. My favourite city was Utrecht. It was more laid back and a lot of student vibe + it had canals.
And you have lights on the freeway, which is nice in the nighttime, so I don’t get blinded by cars in the other direction.
Both appreciate licorice, the proper salty kind.
The Dutch are like long lost siblings that speak kinda funny. And The Netherlands is as close to home as any Dane can feel outside Denmark, even more so than Sweden or Norway.
The Dutch word for kærnemælk is karnemelk and on that basis alone, we are friends for life
My father is Dutch and my mother is Danish. My father have moved back and forth with all his girlfriends from Denmark and the Netherlands. They all always felt home both places! We really are similar. The biggest culture shock my father had, moving to Denmark, was that we sing songs at family parties that we write ourselves. Like confirmations and baptisms. We will take a well known melody, so that everybody can follow along, and write personal, emotional and funny things about our loved ones. This my father finds extremely cringe inducing, so of course he gets a song now and then 🙂
As a bonus, our architecture is also very alike!
Generally Dutch people are very nice and I would highly recommend going on a trip there!
Dutch-loving Dane right here!
I spent five months in the Netherlands on exchange and people are WAY more open and willing to talk to strangers than in Denmark.
I remember one time I was standing at a computer and a girl next to me asked me if I was staying there because she trusted me to keep her login session safe. We had not spoken until that point and it took me completely by surprise. Another time some older guy in an elevator said hello and goodbye as he left. I think he found me somehow distant although I did my best to answer in Dutch.
Overall I liked the country a lot. The cheese was excellent. Not a fan of the licorice though.
I prefer not to get engaged with dutch people. I always end up in some weird place with wild dance music and someone giving me free vitamins.
Hollænderne hjalp Danmark bekæmpe djævlene fra den anden side af Øresund så de vil altid have en plads i mit hjerte
As a Dane in America I’m often assumed to be Dutch. We look similar (I’m also tall, even for a Dane), and to Americans our accents sound similar, even though they’re quite different to us. And when I do come across Dutch people here, both professionally and in my personal life, we treat each other as kindred spirits. Love the Dutch!
Dutch people are so cheap that most Danes would find it repulsive, except for the Jutes – forbthem it is normal
both also got fucked on the italian ic4 trains lol
I’m an Aussie who has lived and worked in permanent positions in Netherlands and Denmark. On a global scale, they are quite similar certainly – as you say, both speak really good English and have similar infrastructure and societies.
My personal impression is that the Danish tax dollars seem to go further and that Danish salaries are higher in equivalent positions.
Netherlands has some more openness in their societies from the perspective of weed stores, though I found that none of my Dutch colleagues seemed particularly interested in that and were surprisingly conservative in their political views (I work in IT). Denmark seems to have similarly liberal views on that sort of thing, but politically their policies are more conservative.
I found the Dutch humor was more aligned to my Aussie humor in terms of loving a good dirty joke, which I appreciated!
Denmark has more archaic rules around immigration and they make it extremely difficult for foreigners to stay permanently, whereas Netherlands is more lenient and even offers tax incentives for foreigners to come work in skilled positions. I can’t imagine Denmark ever doing the same (in terms of tax breaks) as they try to tax everything they possibly can.
My work experience was that the Netherlands was more old fashioned and I found them generally untrusting of the foreigners as there were many occasions where there’d be a meeting where things were decided on and then a few of the Dutch employees would go off and have another meeting on the side or a general conversation and then everything was thrown up in the air again, which was a frustratingly slow process to get anything done. That being said, I know they is just my personal experience and not every company would be like that.
By contrast, in Denmark I have experienced the feeling that the best idea in the room wins and they genuinely want the input from everyone, and they are always looking to how they can improve work conditions for employees. The work-life balance is better respected also I think.
Anyway, I know it’s not exactly what you were asking for, but thought I’d give my 2 cents. Two nice countries that are full of nice people!
** As one follow up to some of the replies – The tax break that people are referring to in Denmark is not very similar to what the Netherlands offers, because the tax break they have applies to people earning more average salaries. For example, I was earning just below 4,000 euros a month (as previously noted, the salaries are comparatively low, as in all my 3 full time jobs in Denmark, I’ve earned much better), and part of my salary was being taxed at the highly skilled migrant tax rate (ie. after a certain amount of money, the lower tax rate kicks in). Their definition of ‘highly skilled migrant’ is more broad, in the sense that you could be filling an IT position at a large company creating complex software solutions, and given that takes skilled employees and there is a global shortage of skilled workers in that area (including currently in Denmark), that qualifies. The Danish tax break is for, in my estimation, very high salaries. Maybe if you are a team manager or business owner or work in a particular profession you could get the 72,500 kroner a month required, and maybe even some people on here earn that (I have no idea), but certainly, at least living in Jutland, I do not know many people at all that would be commanding such a salary. My partner is a doctor and earns probably half of that, and I would say that is a ‘highly skilled’ profession.
they helped expand Amager, so I dislike them quite much 🙂
I feel like the netherlands are just the guy across the table at a bar who you definitely have a lot in common with but just never got the chance to talk to.
They’re basically what we always wanted the Swedes to be.
Danish isn’t the prettiest language in the world. But at least we don’t sound like the Dutch.
The dutch are danes that dont speak Danish.
Netherlands are an honorary member of Scandinavia
I lived in both countries. They are in very similar indeed. In my opinion the danes have more similarities with the dutch than with with other scandinavian neighbours like sweden. Here are some of the major differences that i saw:
– both the Dutch and Danes are direct but danes are much more kind than then dutch. Dutch just like to offend you in your face but cant take any criticism from you. I found the danes to be one of the most kind people out there.
– i find it much easier to work with danes. Somehow the dutch are always right about everything. Danes are more rational.
– Copenhagen has great biking infrastructure but it is no match for the the one in the Netherlands. Dutch are superior when it comes to biking lanes.
– Netherlands is full of different cities which are full of life and things to do. In Denmark i feel as everything is centered in Copenhagen.
– i find the old dutch architecture more beautiful (e.g. old amsterdam buildings) but Copenhagen is much more cosy and “warm”.
– when it fomes to money, it is a national sport in the netherlands to get the cheepest thing possible and to get the best prices. The dutch are always going “dutch”. I find the danes (especially copenhageners) throwing money around like there is no tomorrow. Why get a can of beer from a kiosk for 25dkk if you can buy it next door in a plastic cup for 65dkk.
– i lived in a lot of places, but no store can match the might of Albert Hein – Its just art. Supermarkets in denmark are just meeeh. You can be happy if you manage to find a green salad.
My two favorite countries. I would pick denmark over netherlands any time. Here i feel home. I never felt that in the netherlands.