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Our travel insurance expert, Adrian Taylor, has some great tips for helping you search for the best travel insurance for your trip to the Netherlands.
Your health is important, so always declare your pre-existing medical conditions as part of your travel insurance application. Whether or not you can receive cover for your pre-existing conditions will depend on your insurer, individual circumstances and the nature of your conditions.
While no one wants to think about what could go wrong, make sure you consider coverage for medical expenses, cancellation fees, luggage or rental vehicle excess that you may need. Depending on your travel plans, you may need to take out additional cover for ski holidays or adventuring.
You might be able to choose a higher excess to reduce your premium (and vice versa). Your excess is what you pay out of pocket if you make a claim, so always choose a manageable excess amount that suits your budget.
Although the Netherlands is known for being one of the safest countries in the world, it doesn’t mean it’s completely free of accidents, petty crimes and unforeseen illnesses. For example, bicycle accidents1 and petty theft2 are extremely common in the Netherlands, which is why it’s smart to be protected.
Anything can go wrong on any holiday, whether it’s simply bad weather or an issue with your health. Not only can travel insurance financially protect you from the unexpected, but it can also provide peace of mind so that you can kick back and focus on the important things, like admiring the tulip fields and windmills or visiting the Van Gogh Museum.
However, when choosing a policy, be sure to read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) for the full details of the inclusions, limits and conditions. Also read the Target Market Determination (TMD) to understand whether a policy matches the needs of you and your trip.
What your travel insurance provider may cover will depend on your itinerary. With the proper preparation, travel insurance can be a great way to cover your bases on your trip away.
For the most part, the Netherlands is a safe country for tourists to visit; however, general theft such as pickpocketing (especially while waiting for public transport) and bag snatching is common, particularly in Amsterdam.2
If someone steals your cash or credit cards, pickpockets your belongings or damages your luggage, your travel insurance cover may reimburse you for all or a portion of those losses so you can spend your euros on more important things.
The Netherlands is famous for its love of bicycles; it’s a great way for locals and tourists alike to travel and see the sites. In fact, there are more bicycles in the country than people, with approximately 23 million bicycles compared to the 17 million residents.3
With so many bicycles abound, it means that injuries are common. Travel insurance can cover the unexpected hospital cost and medical treatment that can come with accidents like these, provided you follow the country’s road rules and ride in a safe and responsible way. Insurance can also cover medical expenses for illnesses and other injuries if the Australia-Netherlands Reciprocal Health Care Agreement doesn’t already cover it.4 In the event of a medical emergency, your travel medical insurance can also cover your evacuation or repatriation back to Australia.
On any trip, there’s always the possibility of missed flights and cancelled or delayed travel, which might involve unexpected accommodation costs and missed or cancelled tours, tickets and events. You might also fall ill and need to cancel the rest of your trip to return home.
In these instances, your travel insurance company can cover some, or all, of these costs, so you’re not paying for experiences you didn’t get to have.
If you’re keen on adventure, you may want to add adventure cover to your general travel insurance policy. While many policies will cover a select range of adventure sports and activities, always check your PDS to know exactly what cover you have. For the more extreme adventure sports and activities, you will need specialised cover; without this, your insurer may reject any claims related to adventure activities.
To enjoy winter activities like ice-skating on the canals of Amsterdam or indoor skiing, you should consider snow and ski cover. Like adventure cover, your insurer may reject any claims related to snow sports activities unless you have this additional level of cover.
Without this cover, if you injure yourself on the slopes, any medical costs may need to be paid out of your pocket, which is enough to put a downer on anyone’s holiday.
Planning on driving? Your insurer can often cover the rental company excess that comes with misfortunes such as the rental car being stolen or damaged. Some insurers may also offer motorcycle and scooter cover. If you plan to jump on a two-wheel vehicle, you may need this cover if you have an accident and end up with medical expenses.
Every travel insurance plan has terms, conditions, limits and sub-limits, so it’s important to understand when and how you may be covered. In general, some exclusions may include the following:
Find out more about other common exclusions. For policy-specific exclusions, read the PDS provided by your insurer.
The Netherlands is one of the safest countries you can travel to and is ranked the 5th happiest country in the world.5 It also doesn’t experience a lot of severe weather or natural disasters. Most Dutch people are also fluent in English, so you probably won’t encounter many language barriers.
However, there is always some risk in all countries, especially when it comes to travelling. Travelling in a foreign country with different customs and laws can put you in a vulnerable position. Make sure you’re well prepared and watch out for pickpockets, as tourists are often easy targets, particularly in major cities such as Rotterdam, Amsterdam or The Hague and in busy areas such as cafes or restaurants.
If you’re using an Australian passport, you can travel through the Schengen area (a collection of 29 European countries) for 90 days without needing to apply for a Schengen visa. The Netherlands is one of the 29 countries in the Schengen area where Australian residents can travel visa-free for business or tourist reasons.6
As a General Insurance expert with over 13 years’ experience in financial services, Adrian Taylor believes in educating customers about the importance of travel insurance so that anyone can kick back and make the most of their time away from home. While no one wants a disrupted holiday, a suitable travel insurance policy can provide a financial safety net for yourself, your belongings and your trip in case things go wrong.
1 Government of the Netherlands. Safe cycling. Accessed April 2025.
2 Smartraveller – Australian Government. Netherlands. Updated April 2025. Accessed April 2025.
3 Government of the Netherlands. Bicycles. Accessed April 2025.
4 Service Australia -Australian Government – Visiting Netherlands. Updated October 2024. Accessed May 2025.
5 Wellbeing Research Centre – University of Oxford. World Happiness Report. Updated March 2025. Accessed April 2025.
6 Smartraveller – Australian Government. Visas and entry requirements in Europe and the Schengen Area. Last updated April 2025. Accessed May 2025.