Skip to content
Move with confidence.
Destination  Netherlands

Everyday Netherlands – public holidays, 112, the €3,000 cash rule, shop hours and alcohol laws

Last updated 25 September 2026Rules checked every MondayOfficial sourcesSources & methodology →

Shops may open until 22:00, but Sunday is your municipality's call. Cash above €3,000 has been banned in shops since 1 January 2026, and iDEAL is giving way to Wero. Here are the public holidays, emergency numbers and everyday rules that make Dutch daily life run.

Woman in a red coat walking through a crowded bicycle parking area under bare trees
Photo: Henk/Adobe Stock

Since 1 January 2026 traders in goods – shops, car dealers, jewellers – may not accept or make cash payments of €3,000 or more. That new rule sits beside older ones newcomers rarely know: there is no legal right to a day off on a public holiday, shops need the municipality's permission to open on Sundays, and anyone aged 14 or over must be able to show ID when the police ask.

The basics: the currency is the euro, the official language is Dutch (with Frisian alongside it in the province of Fryslân), the clock runs on Central European Time and the country code is +31. Each rule below is marked as national or as your gemeente's (municipality's) decision.

Which public holidays does the Netherlands have in 2026 and 2027?

The official public holidays are national. According to Rijksoverheid (the central government), no law gives employees a right to a day off on them: your CAO (collectieve arbeidsovereenkomst – collective agreement) or contract decides. Many CAOs make 5 May a day off only once every five years, next in 2030, says the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).

Holiday20262027
New Year's DayThursday 1 JanuaryFriday 1 January
Good FridayFriday 3 AprilFriday 26 March
Easter Sunday and Monday5–6 April28–29 March
King's DayMonday 27 AprilTuesday 27 April
Liberation DayTuesday 5 MayWednesday 5 May
Ascension DayThursday 14 MayThursday 6 May
Whit Sunday and Monday24–25 May16–17 May
Christmas Day and Boxing DayFriday 25 and Saturday 26 DecemberSaturday 25 and Sunday 26 December

Source: Rijksoverheid, read 24 September 2026.

Two dates are not holidays but matter: on 4 May, Remembrance Day, a two-minute silence is held at 20:00 for the victims of the Second World War and shops must in principle close by 19:00, as they must on 24 December. A statutory deadline that ends on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday runs to the next day that is none of those.

Emergency numbers in the Netherlands – 112 and 0900-8844

Call 112 for urgent help from police, fire brigade or ambulance in life-threatening situations or crimes in progress. The call reaches the national control centre in Driebergen, calls are recorded, and your number appears on the operator's screen even if it is secret. 112 works from a mobile without credit or a valid SIM card, has priority over other calls, and Dutch networks take over each other's 112 calls if your own provider has no coverage.

If you cannot hear or speak, or do not speak Dutch, the 112NL app lets you chat with the control centre and translates automatically into your preferred language; a 24-hour text relay and a sign-language video relay from 07:00 to 22:00 exist as well. For anything not urgent – a burglary discovered afterwards, a collision with only material damage – call the police on 0900-8844.

WhoNumberWhen
Police, fire brigade, ambulance – emergency112Life-threatening situations and crimes in progress; works without credit or SIM
Police – no emergency0900-8844Reports after the event, damage-only collisions
City of Amsterdam14 020 (+31 20 624 1111 from abroad)Monday–Friday 08:00–18:00
Rotterdam / The Hague / Utrecht / Eindhoven14 010 / 14 070 / 14 030 / 14 040Municipal information lines
BelastingTelefoon – tax and benefits0800 0543, freeMonday–Thursday 8:00–20:00, Friday 8:00–17:00
Het Juridisch Loket – free legal advice on a low income0800 8020, freeMonday–Friday 9:00–17:00
IND (Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst)088 043 04 30Monday–Friday 9:00–17:00

Source: Rijksoverheid, the City of Amsterdam, NetherlandsWorldwide, the Belastingdienst, Het Juridisch Loket and the IND, read 24 September 2026.

Cash or card? The €3,000 rule and the switch to Wero

The cash ban comes from the Wet plan van aanpak witwassen. According to the Belastingdienst (Tax Administration), payments up to €2,999.99 remain allowed, splitting a purchase to stay under the limit is prohibited too, private individuals trading with each other are not covered, and services such as hairdressers are not yet covered. From 10 July 2027 European rules extend a limit to services; the EU-wide cap is €10,000 and the Netherlands keeps €3,000.

The opposite duty is coming as well. Both chambers have adopted an acceptatieplicht – a duty to accept cash for payments up to €3,000 – but it is not yet in force: the government is drafting the exceptions, such as online orders and unmanned petrol stations, and aims to apply the duty in 2027. Until then a pin-only sign is legal.

De Nederlandsche Bank (the central bank) found that only 17 per cent of checkout payments were cash in 2025; cards took 83 per cent and phones or smartwatches 39 per cent. Still, 96 per cent of outlets accepted cash, 4 per cent were marked pin-only, and cash is the only option during a card outage. Online, iDEAL is gradually being replaced by Wero in 2026, according to the Netherlands Enterprise Agency.

Shop opening hours – national law, municipal choice

Under the Winkeltijdenwet shops may open on weekdays and Saturdays from 06:00 to 22:00. The law assumes they are closed on Sundays and public holidays, but each municipality decides whether and on what conditions shops may open on Sundays and on those holidays. Shops must close by 19:00 on Good Friday, 4 May and 24 December unless the municipal by-law, the APV, allows longer. Petrol stations, roadside restaurants, shops in hospitals and care facilities and shops mainly selling newspapers and magazines may always open.

Alcohol, tobacco and ID – the rules with fines

Alcohol may only be sold to people aged 18 and over, and many sellers ask everyone under 25 for ID. Serving someone visibly drunk is prohibited; shops selling drinks above 15 per cent alcohol and venues serving alcohol need a licence. Whether adults may drink on the street, and where, is decided by each municipality in its APV; being drunk in public is a criminal offence. Drivers, cyclists included, may have at most 0.5 per mille alcohol in the blood, holders of a beginner's licence 0.2 per mille.

RuleWhat appliesSince / fine
Under-18 carrying alcohol in publicFine€50 under 16; €100 at 16 and 17
Adult passing alcohol to a minor in a bar or at a festivalFine€100
Alcohol advertising on TV and radioBanned06:00–21:00, Mediawet
Tobacco and e-cigarettesSale only to 18 and over; advertising and sponsorship banned; nicotine pouches banned outrightNational
Smoking banAll public buildings and hospitality, e-cigarettes includedSince 1 July 2020; smoking rooms banned since 1 January 2021
Where tobacco is soldNo online sales, supermarkets or hospitality; e-cigarettes only in specialist shops in 2026; every sales point must register; no petrol stations from 2030; only specialist shops from 2032Online ban since 1 July 2023; supermarkets since 1 July 2024; registration from 1 July 2026
Identificatieplicht (identification duty)Everyone aged 14 and over must be able to show a valid original ID to the policeFine, and possibly a visit to the police station

Source: Rijksoverheid, read 24 September 2026.

The identification duty is a duty to show, not to carry, but in practice you carry your passport, ID card or residence document. Foreign nationals still waiting for their residence document get a written statement from the IND – the artikel 9-brief – which satisfies the duty towards the police.

What to do now

StepWhatWhen
1Save 112 and 0900-8844 in your phone; install the 112NL app if you do not speak DutchThis week
2Note your municipality's information number and its Sunday-opening rulesThis week
3Check your CAO or contract for which public holidays you have offBefore planning leave
4Get a Dutch debit card; keep some cash for outages and pin-only outletsOnce your bank account is open (part 4)
5Pay anything of €3,000 or more by card or transfer, never in cashFrom 1 January 2026
6Carry valid ID from age 14, or the IND letter while you wait for your residence documentAlways

Source: Rijksoverheid and the Belastingdienst, read 24 September 2026.

Official sources

The official pages this guide is based on, read 24 September 2026. Links open the authority’s own website.

Relocate in Europe provides general information, not legal or financial advice for your individual situation. Check with the authority named above before you act – rules change, and your case may differ.