General Information
Thinking of Holland the first things that might come to mind are Tulips, Windmills & Football. However, The Netherlands (NL) is a country with many more “faces”. It has a rich history and you can find beautifully restored old trading houses alongside hyper modern architecture. The metropolitan areas are lively and are packed with things to do. The countryside offers excellent out-door possibilities and you will notice that just about everyone in The Netherlands owns at least 1 bike!The most well known city is flamboyant Amsterdam. In this posting of Travelallergy I will concentrate on two less known places that are quite different but equally entertaining namely, The Hague (Den Haag) and Zeeland Flanders (Zeeuws-Vlaanderen). For more information on The Netherlands check out the website of the Tourism board.
About 10% of the Dutch adult population suffers from some kind of allergy and nearly 25% of the families in The Netherlands need to take food-related allergies of at least one of the family members into account while cooking. In comparison to other countries the awareness of and knowledge about food allergies is high. This makes The Netherlands one of the easiest places in the world to go on holiday for someone with a food-allergy.
Language
Most of the Dutch know at least 1 foreign language and English is widely spoken. You probably won’t need it but here is the English-Dutch allergy dictionary.
Tip: If you’re planning a trip to The Netherlands and you have a pollen allergy or asthma you might want to consult the Dutch Pollen Calendar to determine the best time of year for you to go.
