[imiric]

> You can't rent bikes if you are not Dutch

Huh? There's a bike rental place on practically every other corner in most Dutch cities, and most of their profit is from tourists. You only need to show some ID and leave a deposit. Dutch people usually have a cheap old bike, or use the public OV bikes, for which you do need to register and get a card, but even that is possible as a foreigner, it just takes some days to process.

> visiting the lovely villages and other places Holland is full of is a time consuming exercise in futility unless one has a car.

I'm not sure where you're getting this from either. Intercity transport by train works great, and there are many organized bus tours that take you to smaller villages. You can easily see most of the country without owning a car, though it's a personal preference whether you enjoy using public transport or not.

[BrandonS113]

One needs iDEAL for many things in Holland, and needs to be a resident for that. My colleague tried to get a personal OV-chipkaart, https://www.ov-chipkaart.nl/en/apply-for-personal-ov-chipcar..., needed for bikes, he went though the process, and got nowhere. It was 2 years ago, so may have changed. But he said it stranded on need for a local bank account.

I know you can get anywhere by public transport, much better than where I live. But going though tram-train-train (+even bus or a 3rd train) to visit some village that is less than an hour away by car, will multiply the transport time.

[mcv]

The accessibility of OV-kaarten is indeed not great for tourists, which is ridiculous. There's been a lot of criticism of the OV-kaart system. But most things can be paid with a simple bank card transaction. I doubt buying or renting a car would be that much easier.

[BrandonS113]

yes. I dont want to make much out of this. One of the team came from a country close by and he brought his car. Problem solved.

But just about every Dutch person we worked with had a car. They would meet us on weekends in villages, and most drove. Public transport is great in Holland, but cars have their place too. And unlike some countries close by, Holland has a well maintain and well designed road system. Its great for car travel.

[mcv]

This is true. You can really feel by the road surface that you've crossed the border with Belgium or Germany. Netherland isn't just about bikes; it tries to make sure all forms of transport all well-served. Public transport could be better, though.