My wife and I want to visit The Netherlands and Belgium for a Month, starting mid March 2022. Do you foresee it will be fully open. Museums? Restaurants? Trains? Galleries? Will lines be longer? Will there be more tourists than usual even though it will be the off season? I’d appreciate your thoughts.
Rob
No one really knows but I have a friend that lives there married to a local. He is my age. While I was fully vaccinated by April he just got the first shot a week ago, which suggests I rollout slower than what happen here in the USA. The country has a strict lockdown now so I think it will be ready by March 2022 if not before. Amsterdam in particular had been suffering from over tourism prior to Covid. So there never was really an off season there just slower month in January. Mid-March is the beginning of the Tulip season so there could be a bump in tourism in 2022 as the last two years the flower showcase at Keukenof was closed.
Rob, the US government recommends that all American citizens who plan on traveling abroad enroll in STEP: https://step.state.gov/step/. This way you’ll receive email notifications on the current situation which will be accurate and up to date. I do this no matter where I’m going and highly recommend it.
It’s impossible to predict that far ahead given the uncertainties of new Covid variants. My guess would be that things will be open but some restrictions still in place (face masks required inside, social distancing, museums reduced capacity and ticket only, restaurants by reservation only, etc). On the positive side the pace of vaccination has really stepped up in recent weeks so everyone will be ‘done’, on the negative side, last winter’s experience was that the virus thrived in northern Europe’s cold damp winter and it’s possible a new variant might reduce the vaccine’s efficacy.
As a tourist experience it may be better if some restrictions are in place, eg if you have to book museums in advance and capacity restricted, it will be much more pleasant than the usual scrum at the busier places. It will be expensive, bars and restaurants are trying to recoup their losses through the lockdown and prices have skyrocketed.
Right now, if you could get here, it’s actually really nice. Most things are open, including inside dining, but with so little tourism towns like Brugge feel like you have them to yourself. (I live in Belgium and travel to The Netherlands for work).
Thank you all for taking the time to respond with helpful information. We had originally planned our trip for March 2021 so were very disappointed not to be able to go. I do a lot of research on the culture, history, people, language etc. before we go. I was primed to be ready by March. So my research continues, for next year and you folks helped. Anything you would like to add as the weeks pass will be gratefully devoured.
Best regards,
Rob
