The best neighborhoods in the Netherlands
Best for families: Amstelveen, Amsterdam
This area on the outskirts of the Dutch capital, which is home to around 90,000 people, is a tribute to the multiculturalism you can expect to enjoy while living in the Netherlands.
With Indian restaurants, a Japanese kindergarten, and thousands of other expats living there, this is the perfect place for your family to enjoy life to the fullest. Your kids can attend the International School of Amsterdam, and enjoy the many parks that grace Amstelveen.
Best for students: Oosterpoort, Groningen
If you decide to live in Groningen, you’ll be choosing a university city where 60,000 students live and learn amongst a population of 200,000.
As well as the University of Groningen (one of the top 100 universities in the world,) Groningen is also blessed with plenty of museums, parks, and beautiful architecture.
In the diverse neighbourhood of Oosterpoort, you’ll be able to rock out at a concert or see a play at De Oosterpoort, the largest pop music venue in the northern Netherlands.
Groningen may be around 6,000 years old, but it’s become the youngest area in the country – and it shows.
Best for singles: Enschede, Twente
This city in the east of the country is wonderful if you’re moving to the Netherlands for work, and don’t have a family to take into consideration. Enschede is an entrepreneurial and high-tech hotspot – and it’s not all business.
It’s also home to the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra, Rijksmuseum Twenthe, and sporting facilities that will allow you to try everything from water skiing to regular skiing.
And if you want to see live sport, you can watch Twente’s soccer team, which won the top Dutch league (the Eredivisie) in 2010.
Best for hipsters: Buiksloterham, Amsterdam
Amsterdam-Noord is undoubtedly the coolest region in the Netherlands at the moment, and Buiksloterham is the jewel in its crown.
As well as cinemas, cutting-edge restaurants, and a film museum, the former industrial district-turned-hipster neighborhood on the water also boasts a virtual reality arcade, an adults-only playground, and a 3D-printed canal house.
