Expats by Expats Relocation

🎄 MERRY CHRISTMAS 🎄

Team Expats by Expats Relocation wishes you the gifts of the season Peace, Joy & Hope. 🌟

Almost time for the Christmas holidays in The Netherlands! The holidays at school start the 21st of December. Ready to enjoy your days off? We’ve made a list with tips for the holidays!

Visit This is Holland: the ultimate 5D flight experience in Amsterdam. This is Holland is a simulated flight which will take you over all the famous spots in Amsterdam, definitely a unique experience!

Rent a bike and visit all Dutch stalls. Every now and then we share a typical Dutch recipe with you, such as the oliebol, stroopwafel and the poffertjes: this is the chance to taste them!

Book a boat tour during the Amsterdam Light Festival: a boat tour in winter? Yes, with the heated boats, mulled wine and great views during the tour, this will be a perfect winter evening. The canals are lit up by the best light artists from The Netherlands and abroad.





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Did you know that The Netherlands is in the top 10 of happiest countries in the world? According to the United Nation’s list of happiest countries in the world, The Netherlands is the 6th happiest country on the list! Our mission is to make everyone who is moving to The Netherlands as happy as possible. We want to give you the best service during the transition to The Netherlands. Explore the happiness of The Netherlands with a stress-free and easy transition!

Almost everyone pays taxes in the Netherlands. If you work for an employer, this is usually done for you because a percentage is withheld. Yet it is important to keep a close eye on all the blue letters you receive from the tax authorities.

It is important to have your tax in order right from the start. Every quarter you have to submit your data and you can see if you have to pay or get a tax refund.

The tax works quite complicated if you don't know it yet. Expats by Expats Relocation can help you with this during your integration process!

How delicious does these little pancakes look! Poffertjes are small Dutch pancakes, traditionally served with powdered sugar and a little bit of butter. You will find them freshly made on little street all year round.

You can even make poffertjes at home! A musthave for every dutch person is a poffertjespan. The pan helps you to make poffertjes in the easiest way possible. Just like a little toaster but then voor pancakes. The little fluffy pancakes are even more popular in the Netherlands then the orginaly big pancakes. Would you like poffertjes or do you stick with the old fashion pancakes? Let us know in the comments!

Moving with kids can be hard, they have to change schools and make new friends. As a parent it is complicated to find a good school in another country. That’s why we want to help you. One of our services is helping with finding a school. We will give you an overview of the schooling options, both public and private. We can give you pre-arrival school information and help with the visits and registration. This way we want to make the transition as easy as possible!

🎉 GIVEAWAY! 🎉

Step 1: LIKE our Facebook or Instagram Page and share it publicly.

Step 2: TAG or mention your friends to like our page too.

Step 3: Use on every post.

* Winner will be selected by raffle draw on Monday 16 December.

Christmas markets in the Netherlands

Even though the country of Christmas markets is nearby, Germany. We can organize some pretty good ones ourselves in the Netherlands. To get ready for Christmas we made a list of our five favorite ones!

1. Magical Maastricht, this winter fairy tale is absolutely delightful. The whole city is covered in lights, you can shop at one of the many little stalls. And don’t forget to go ice skating on the Vrijthof. Maastricht stays magical until December 31.

2. Extraordinary Valkenburg, this Christmas market is a very special one. It is located in the caves from Valkenburg. Not something you see every day! So make sure you check it out before January 5th.
TIP! Valkenburg is close to Maastricht, so you can combine these two magical Christmas markets!

3. Cozy Haarlem, the weekend of December 7 and 8 the city of Haarlem gets a full Christmas make-over. The Christmas spirit is all-around! So go take a look and enjoy the many lights, Christmas songs and the cozy stalls!

4. Historical Dordrecht, from December 13 to 15 you can travel back in time in Dordrecht. This historical Christmas market is the biggest in the Netherlands. Besides all the music, stalls and food, you can see how the artisans used to work decades ago.

5. Floating Leiden, in Leiden the Christmas market is on the water. In the canal are floating many little stalls where you can do all you Christmas shopping. Absolutely worth the visit. It’s open from December 13 to 24.

Relocating is already a big step. Expats by Expats Relocation helps you to make relocating and integration as pleasant as possible. One of our services is the 'Settling In Service':

Whether we have placed you in a home or not, we can assist you with settling in your new home.

We can assist you with the following:
Utilities connection (electricity, water, gas, internet, phone, etc.)
Government registration and citizen service number
Banking needs
Neighborhood orientation
Licensing registration
Healthcare needs (recommendations for clinics, doctors, specialists, etc)
Emergency services (police, fire and ambulance)

We are your first step in your relocation to the Netherlands.

Oliebollen! Around this time of the year you’ll see stands like this all over the country. What they sell here are ‘oliebollen’, literally translated ‘oil balls’. But I promise they taste way better than it sounds. Oliebollen are soft, doughy balls, originally stuffed with raisins and than fried. Top it of with some powdered sugar and you’ll have yourself a delicious snack! They are a dutch tradition to eat on new years day, but we like them so much we have them around already. Definitely try them out and let us know down
below how you liked them! Stay tuned: in December we'll share our recipe..

As an experienced expat and citizen of the Netherlands, we can tell you everything about this country, traditions, fun facts and important points to note. We are curious: what would you like to see on this page? Let us know in the comments!

Winter is coming have you ever heard of ‘Elfstedentocht’ (Eleven Cities Tour)? This is a trip that is skated. The tour goes through 11 cities of Friesland and is on natural ice. Every year it is exciting whether this tour continues or not, because the ice must be thick enough for a few days. The last trip was skated in 1997. Will there ever be another trip? The Dutch hope again every year.

If the Elfstedentocht does not come, that is no problem. The Netherlands will be opening many fun skating rinks in the coming weeks to get into the winter spheres. Tip: super fun to do during the holidays. We list the 5 best activities:

1. Ice Amsterdam - a well-known, pleasant, beautiful ice rink on the museum square in Amsterdam. Has already been opened!
2. Raalte on Ice - a little more to the center of the country, Raalte on Ice opens its doors on December 6 with a spectacular opening!
3. Gouda ice rink, Gouda - at the doors of the town hall! Opens December 18
4. Rotterdam ice rink - a fun track with cool light installation and a cozy atmosphere. Opens November 30
5. Eindhoven - another great ice rink will open in The City of Light on 13 December