You’ve booked your flights, bought your travel adapter, and convinced yourself that your high school geography knowledge is enough to get you through the Netherlands. Spoiler: it isn’t. Good news is, travel apps are here to save you from yourself.

Mistake 1: Thinking You Can Just “Figure Out” Dutch Public Transport

You show up to a train station with 4 minutes to spare, 2 suitcases, and zero understanding of the difference between Intercity and Sprinter. Cue panic. Apps like 9292 and NS Reisplanner turn that nightmare into a streamlined, step-by-step journey. They even show you where to sit. (Mentally, anyway. You’re still on your own in the quiet carriage.)

Mistake 2: Assuming Every Restaurant is Open When You’re Hungry

Restaurants here close earlier than you’d expect. You might find yourself wandering canal streets like a sad breadcrumb hunter. That’s where Too Good To Go saves the day—cheap, leftover meals from places that didn’t sell out. Plus, now you can say you support sustainability. Good for your wallet and your image.

Mistake 3: Not Planning Anything “Because Spontaneity Is Fun”

Sure, spontaneity is fun—until you’re stuck in a museum queue for two hours or biking blindly into a thunderstorm. With apps like Fietsnetwerk, you can “spontaneously” follow pre-planned scenic routes and pretend you made it all up yourself.

Conclusion

Traveling in the Netherlands isn’t hard, but it’s also not idiot-proof. Unless you have the right apps. Then it almost is.