Aug 13, 2026
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Americans Moving to Netherlands
Discover how the DAFT route opens doors to Dutch residency without retirement requirements.
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Love Netherlands
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Dear Netherlands,
There’s an old saying in the Netherlands: God made the world, but the Dutch made Holland. Drive across Zeeland, past the Delta Works, and you start to understand. Or stand at Kinderdijk at sunrise, when the windmills catch the first light and the canals are mirror-flat, and you can feel 800 years of stubbornness built into the landscape.
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Photo via Love Netherlands
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In today’s email:
- Moving to the Netherlands as an American: The DAFT Route Explained (2026)
- At The Café — Café De Klomp — The Oldest Café in Friesland
- Around The Web — Best Time to Visit the Netherlands: A Month-by-Month Guide (2026), Discover Your North Holland Roots: Heritage, Diaspora, and Family History, Rotterdam Food Guide: Where to Eat, Drink and Explore the Market Scene (2026) + more
- From Love Netherlands — Discover Your Zeeland Roots: Heritage, Diaspora, and Family History
- Dutch Food You Will Love — Hutspot — The Dutch Mash With a Siege Story
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Moving to the Netherlands as an American: The DAFT Route Explained (2026)
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Many Americans dream of making a life in the Netherlands — the cycling culture, the canal cities, the open society, and the central location in Europe all make it a compelling choice. But unlike Portugal or Spain, the Netherlands offers no dedicated retirement visa and no passive-income residency route. So how do Americans actually make it work? For tens of thousands of US citizens already living here, the answer is the Dutch-American Friendship Treaty — known in expat circles as the DAFT. Love the Netherlands? Join our free newsletter for hidden Dutch gems → inlovewithnetherlands.com/subscribe This guide explains what the DAFT is, who qualifies, how the application process works, and what other routes exist for Americans who want to stay in the Netherlands long-term. All information reflects the rules as understood in 2026 — but immigration law changes regularly. Always verify current…
👉 Read the full story
Have you been there? Do you have a memory of this corner of the Netherlands? Hit reply and tell us — we’d love to hear your story.
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At The Café
Café De Klomp — The Oldest Café in Friesland
Café De Klomp in Leeuwarden’s old centre has been pouring beer since 1620, making it Friesland’s oldest continuously running pub. The room is small and dark with wooden tables polished by four centuries of elbows. Frisian is spoken behind the bar and at half the tables — a separate language, not a Dutch dialect. Order a glass of Beerenburg, the local herb-infused jenever, and listen to a Saturday afternoon unfold around you in a language most Dutch people don’t speak either.
👉 Visit the café
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Around The Web
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From Love Netherlands
Your family left Zeeland long ago. But Zeeland has not forgotten them. This province sits where three great rivers meet the sea. The Rhine, the Maas, and the Scheldt all empty here. Zeeland stretches across a series of islands and peninsulas in the south-west of the Netherlands. The sea has shaped everything. The land, the culture, and the people. For generations, Zeelanders sailed away. Some went to South Africa. Others built homes in New York.…
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Photo: European Space Agency via Wikimedia Commons (Attribution)
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Dutch Food You Will Love
Hutspot — The Dutch Mash With a Siege Story
Hutspot is a thick mash of potatoes, carrots, and onions, served alongside klapstuk (slow-cooked beef brisket) or smoked sausage. The story is that the Dutch found a pot of it abandoned by Spanish soldiers fleeing Leiden in 1574 — the city had been under siege so long they’d been eating it themselves to survive. Every 3 October, Leiden still serves hutspot for free at its annual Ontzet festival. It’s the kind of plate that looks unassuming and tastes like centuries of practical Dutch winter cooking — sweet, savoury, and made for a long evening.
👉 Read the full story
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