Bizarre, Expensive or Incredible Things Found Only in the Netherlands

Found In: Nationwide (And Worldwide)
Est. Cost: $150 million in annual brand value* 

Nijntje Knuffel, also known as Miffy, is not a person, place, or thing, but rather a fictional rabbit. This bunny is beloved in the Netherlands, and she was first created in 1955 by Dick Bruna. Since Miffy’s first book in the mid-1950s, thirty others have come out, as well as a movie, cartoons, and more.

The Famous and Beloved Rabbit, Miffy @thestraitstimes/Pinterest

Though Miffy’s roots are European, she is popular all around the world, and, chances are, you’ve seen her before. She might not have a place on America’s WBD, but she is still an indisputable national and international icon. 

Found In: Amsterdam & Other Major Cities 
Est. Cost: $0 to use*

Customs differ all around the world. In the States, it would be shocking to see someone publicly urinating. But, in Amsterdam, the country has free outdoor urinals that people can use, and the practice is not considered distasteful—just normal.

Outdoor Urinals ©Creative Family/shutterstock.com

These fixtures have been improved greatly over time, and they are necessary for several reasons. For starters, restaurants and bars often charge people to use the restroom. Secondly, Amsterdam doesn’t want people urinating in the canals, as that would be hazardous. So, public urinals have proven themselves to be the best solution.

Found In: Amsterdam
Est. Cost: $0 for a sample*

Robin Alting, an ice cream shop owner in Amsterdam, made national news in the Netherlands when he began selling Raw Herring Ice Cream. Dutch diners might love herring, but even people in the country were unsure when the fishy favorite was combined with sweet ice cream.

Herring Ice Cream @DutchReview/Facebook

It’s not exactly a flavor you’d find at BRK, to say the least. Raw Herring Ice Cream, according to brave taste-testers, is a creamy blend of sugar, cream, onion, and raw herring fish. So far, Alting only offers samples of this creation, as opposed to large scoopfuls.

Found In: Veenhuizen, Drenthe
Est. Cost: $0 to visit*

Though the Netherlands doesn’t have the incarceration rates that America has, it still has to, like other countries, figure out where to put people who have broken the law. Veenhuizen is a village in Drenthe that serves just that purpose.

A Village Devoted to Prisons @tripadvisor/Pinterest

The village has been around since the 1800s, when it was a housing colony for poor, homeless people. It became a penal colony during the turn of the century. Now, Veenhuizen houses 800 inhabitants, most of whom are serving time for minor offenses, such as DUIs.

Found In: Dutch Bathrooms 
Est. Cost: $5*

If you’ve taken a trip to the Netherlands, you might have noticed an unusual feature in the country’s public restrooms. There is usually a calendar posted there—and not really a day/month one, but an annual birthday calendar.

A Bathroom Birthday Calendar ©rawf8/shutterstock.com | @sophia971922/Pinterest

Birthdays are a huge deal in the Netherlands, and it is considered customary to drop in on someone’s birthday. If you can’t visit the person (as was a common issue in 2020), you can always write their name down on the Dutch bathroom birthday calendar to honor them in absentia. Just one rule: you can never write your own name in the space, as that would be sacrilegious. 

Found In: Nationwide 
Est. Cost: $115-$130 per person on Sinterklaas gifts* (Statista, 2021)

Sinterklaas, also known as Sint-Nicolaas, is, as you might have guessed from the name, the Dutch interpretation of Santa Clause. Sinterklaas is the patron saint of children, and the tradition of Sinterklaas says that children are transformed into “Kings and Queens” every December.

©KarinR/Shutterstock.com

They are honored as light-bringers during the darkest time of the year. In the winter, Sinterklaas brings well-behaved children gifts, delivering them through the chimney while riding on a white-gray horse. This is a tad different from what we see in Netflix and Hallmark Christmas movies, but the general idea behind this mythical figure remains the same.

Found In: Major Cities  
Est. Cost: $250-$300 for a commuter bike*

The Netherlands is one of the most bike-friendly countries in the world. This obsession with cycling started in the 1970s, when Dutch officials moved away from cars in the hopes of creating more livable, safer cities.

More Bicycles Then People @voxdotcom/Pinterest

The Netherlands government redesigned the country’s major cities, installing miles of bike lanes and creating a culture of cycling safety. This appears to have paid off, as just 14.6% of the Dutch population is classified as obese (as opposed to 30.7% in America). Seeing how the Netherlands gets around might inspire Americans to head to Dick’s Sporting Goods and pick up a bike for themselves! 

Found In: Nationwide 
Est. Cost: $5-$10 per ticket to visit certain windmills*

Throughout the centuries, windmills pumped water from the Netherlands’ lowlands, sending the water back to the riverbanks so that farmers could farm the land. In the Netherlands, there are still approximately 1,000 windmills, and a high number of them are still in use today.

©Olena Zn/stock.adobe.com

While companies like Tesla and NextEra are all about solar and electric energy, the humble windmill still has its uses. The windmills in the Netherlands are not just beautiful and historical, many serve vital functions for the surrounding countryside.

Found In: Nationwide 
Est. Cost: $0.25-$0.50 to use*

According to the Dutch Review, there is a lot to not love about Dutch toilets, especially when compared to traditional toilets. With traditional toilets, your waste disappears underwater, “quickly and easily” exiting the toilet when you flush.

The Inspection-shelf Toilet ©drsnaut/Shutterstock.com

With Dutch toilets, said waste lands on what the Dutch have nicknamed the “inspection shelf,” which prevents the waste from going straight into the water. As the DR put it, “Say hello to your food again” when using Dutch toilets. 

Found In: Amsterdam
Est. Cost: $5 per adult ticket to visit*

Located in Amsterdam, Electric Ladyland is owned and operated by one Nick Paladino, a pony-tailed artist with a fondness for the fluorescent. This museum is the only one in the world (so far) that is dedicated to fluorescent light.

A Museum of Fluorescent Art: Electric Ladyland @Electric Ladyland - the First Museum of Fluorescent Art/Facebook

Who knew that the lights we see lining the aisles of Walmart and Target are actually quite majestic? Electric Ladyland creates an immersive, colorful world when it turns on the blacklight, allowing its visitors to see homemade, fluorescently-lit, neon shapes spring to psychedelic life. 

Found In: Amsterdam 
Est. Cost: $0 to visit, but donations encouraged* 

You might think that cats hate water, but our feline friends are living their best lives on The Cat Boat (De Poezenboot). This floating Amsterdam cat sanctuary has been around since the 1960s, founded by a woman named Henriette van Weelde for abandoned, sick, or stray felines.

The Cat Boat @Sprudge/Twitter.com

Since then, the Cat Boat has become a charity, able to house fifty cats at one time. Human visitors can come and visit these furry, floating kitties, hopefully to adopt, but also to give them a cuddle, if they want. 

Found In: Oosterhout 
Est. Cost: Undisclosed 

Tanis Confectionery is a candy company based in the Netherlands, and it undertook an ambitious project in the spring of 2023. It assembled teams to create the largest gummy bear in the world, and the Dutch firm ended up succeeding in its bid to win the world record.

World's Largest Gummy Bear @NL Times/Twitter.com

The gummy bear, which will be placed in the Guinness Book of World Records, weighs 3,809.6 pounds and stands 6.5 x 6.5 feet in height. According to Tanis, this one mega-bear is the size of 850,000 regular-size gummy bears combined.  

Found In: Nationwide 
Est. Cost: $2-$5 per item*

If you’ve ever visited the Netherlands, you might have stopped into FEBO. FEBO is a chain of self-serve, fast food restaurants that let you order French fries, drinks, hamburgers, and more from a massive array of vending machines.

Self-serve Fast Food Everywhere ©poludziber/shutterstock.com

So far, FEBO has sixty stores across the Netherlands (and over one-third of those are in Amsterdam). In addition to the self-serve fast food machines, you can also buy Kaassouffles, frikandellen, krokets, and more from FEBO’s on-site automats.

Found In: Veenendaal
Est. Cost: $45,000 raised for charity*

In 2005, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, Juniorchamber Veenendaal-Rijnvallei set the world record for the largest bag of cookies. This record-setting event raised over $40,000 for charity, and it was quite an impressive feat.

World's Largest Bag of Cookies @GWRecords/Pinterest

220 volunteers helped set this record, putting in a total of 3,600 hours of work to stuff a bag full of over 200,000 Bart Foundation cookies. The charity benefitted was the Bart Foundation, an organization that helps support those suffering from severe diseases.