warmest and driest city in the Netherlands?
 

Hey everyone,

I originally moved from Southern California to Den Haag with my husband (He's Dutch and from here). Since I arrived 3 years ago, I've always felt out of place and that it's incredibly difficult to adjust. I've never felt like this is my home. I am enrolled in Dutch classes to learn the language and in the hopes of gaining more confidence (feeling more like I belong). While it does feel nice being able to have conversations with native Dutch people, I still don't feel accepted and have difficulty connecting with the people here. People in the U.S. to me seem much friendly, easy to talk too, open minded, and easier to build a connection with. The weather has been one of the most difficult things for me to handle as well. In southern california, it's always warm, sunny, not much rain, and not a lot of wind. The total opposite of here (Always rainy, freezing cold to me, windy, and not a lot of sun). The weather is especially difficult for me since I have terrible SADS and I get depressed a lot as a result. I have to use a light therapy lamp most of the year to help with my SADS which really sucks.

I would love to move back to southern california, but it is sadly too expensive for us. I have talked with my husband about the possibility of moving some where else in the U.S. or even some where else in Europe, but unfortunately he has his decision made of wanting to stay in the Netherlands. He does like the U.S., but he feels the benefits of the Netherlands are a million times better (Health care, dental, safety, transportation, vacation days, job protection, starting a family, child friendly, ect) which I fully agree with. But it is difficult since I will always miss my home and that's the place I feel the happiest.

Anyways, since my husband prefers to stay in the Netherlands, I was thinking maybe there could be a better place to live than Den-Haag. Since I'm not satisfied here, maybe another Dutch city could be better. Since the weather is a huge factor, I would love to hear recommendations of cities that are less rainy, are warmer, and hopefully have a bit more sunny days. I know that the Netherlands isn't huge and the climate is pretty much the same every where, but I have heard that some cities have slightly better weather (Less rainy/bit warmer) like Limburg, Nijmegen, and Maastricht. I'm hoping with a slight improvement in weather, I might be happier and feel a bit more comfortable. So please let me know your recommendations and opinions. :)

Re: warmest and driest city in the Netherlands?
 

I'm sorry to hear that you are facing so many challenges in the Netherlands. You had apparently not anticipated these before moving from SoCal to The Hague.

You are correct that the Netherlands is a small country and that therefore the climate is mostly identical everywhere. There are a few regional differences however. If you live close to the coast line you will have more wind than if you live more inland. The coast line of the North Sea, east of the Ijsselmeer and the Wadden isles have more wind than for example Nijmegen, or Twente (Enschede). On the other hand: these more eastward places tend to have lower temperatures during the winter (and slightly higher during the summer). These differences are however not huge, only a few degrees Celsius at most. Friesland tends to be colder than South Limburg (e.g. Maastricht). Maastricht is a nice city, but it is rather isolated from the rest of the Netherlands.

Re: warmest and driest city in the Netherlands?
 

I think the OP has it about spot-on with regards to the weather; the other thing not previously mentioned is that Holland is pretty much flat, so there is no real protection from the weather that comes in from the North Sea; hence the pretty standard conditions in weather across the country; you generally know that if it's raining in the west and the wind is coming from there, it will be raining in Enschede 2 hours later.

If you want slight differences in climate, then Limburg is probably the place to check-out (warning, they speak with a weird dialect and like funny music). :)

One thing I noticed relatively recently is that the winters in Holland have been less severe than when I first lived there in 1985.

Re: warmest and driest city in the Netherlands?
 

Warmest Dutch city? Probably Oranjestad :)

Re: warmest and driest city in the Netherlands?
 

The Dutch West Indies ?

Re: warmest and driest city in the Netherlands?
 

@SushiFan
Funny enough, I actually thought i was pretty well prepared, but I didn't realize how much depression and emotional drainage I would get. Back when I was in Caifornia, me and my husband were still dating. Every winter and summer come visit him here in Den-Haag for 2 or 3 months. This went on for a few years. I always looked forward to coming here since I loved the Netherlands. But no matter how many times I visited, it is a million times different than living here. I was prepared to give up my language, my culture, my cuisine, the imperial system, and a million other things that were familiar too me. I couldnt have predicting some things though like that I would develop winter depression for over 6 months of the year or how difficult it would be adjusting to a new culture dispite having a good idea of it. I also didn't realize exactly how much it rains here, how much wind there is, how there's only pratically one month of summer and the rest of the year is cold, ect. I mean a lot of places in the U.S. have cold/harsh winters and sometimes spring, but at least they nice summers for more than 3 months ha ha. I know the Netherlands isn't consider "as cold" to many people. but it's a huge adjustment too me. Especially when it's cold and lower temperatures almost all the year. It would be easier to deal with a colder climate if it only last a few months, but it's difficult when it's all year if you know what I mean.

I know the climate is pretty much identical, but I heard that some places like Nijmegen and Maastricht are more pleasant because they have a bit less rain, a little more sun, less wind, and a big higher temperatures. That much already sounds a lot better to me. However I didn't realize they are colder during the winter. That part makes me nervous if I already think Den-Haag is cold and the winters in the Netherlands normally last longer than just 3 months. So I'm not really sure what to do. Also I know Maastricht is a bit isolated, but it's nice that it's so close to the boarder of Belguim.

Re: warmest and driest city in the Netherlands?
 

@Cynic
I heard that the people from Limburg talk differently which sounds fun to hear, although I haven't heard their dialect yet. I also heard that Nijmegen and Maastricht are nice, but I'm worried that the winters there will be longer and colder than here in Den-Haag.

I've heard a lot of people say the winters lately haven't been as severe and they are a lot less cold. To me they feel pretty extreme especially since I lived my whole life in a place that's always warm and that has nice weather year round. Another problem that I find difficult is winter is a lot longer than 3 months and the summer is only like 1 month here ha ha. The rest of the year is cold, has low temperatures, windy, and rainy. The "year round" endless cold is the most difficult part for me. I seen a report that said the average yearly temperature for the Netherlands is 10.5C! That is pretty crazy. There are a lot of states in the U.S. that are freezing and snowy during the winter (About 3 months), but they get a lot warm and better weather during the Fall and Spring. Then the summers there are normally great, sunny and warm.

Re: warmest and driest city in the Netherlands?
 

@tigerbolt, the coast line of the Netherlands is subject to a sea climate, which "dampens" temperature fluctuations throughout the year. Eastern parts of the Netherlands (e.g. Twente, Groningen, Nijmegen, Maastricht) are more subject to a land climate. In those locations you will see a larger fluctuation between day time and night time temperatures, and between summer and winter temperatures. Also, during winter is the wind coming from the east, bringing in colder air from Eastern Europe and Russia.
However, these temperature fluctuations in the Netherlands are not as outspoken as in many locations in the USA.

And yes, in Maastricht sounds the local dialect a bit different.

Re: warmest and driest city in the Netherlands?
 

I doubt moving anywhere in the Netherlands will bring much change. Your problem is that you are homesick and the only cure is to move back to California. All year sunshine is not available in northern Europe and maybe the answer is to move to Spain for example. After the summer we have just had complaints about the weather seem a bit out of place.

Remember every country is different and it takes time to adjust to any new place.

Re: warmest and driest city in the Netherlands?
 

In general terms, the further from the sun you are, the colder the climate. For you to experience anything like Southern California temperatures, you're looking at moving to southern Spain/North Africa. To avoid the wind and the rain from the North Sea, you need to move east; a happy medium would be countries around the Adriatic Sea. My brother-in-law moves to Croatia when the weather in Holland gets too much for him.

Re: warmest and driest city in the Netherlands?
 

I've lived in Nijmegen for 3 years having moved from Sunnyvale, California. However we moved there from the south of England and before that Scotland. I did get a bit down the first year when I hated having to cycle in the driving, freezing rain. Now I'm used to it and see that everyone else hates it too! But now I plan ahead and have the right clothes!

In my short time here, the summers in Nijmegen have been pretty hot - too humid some days that we got on the train to find somewhere cooler!

After a while you look forward to the darker days so you can have an excuse to eat erwtensoep, drink heavier beers and have nice Sunday afternoons in a cafe listening to music or chatting with friends. It's very gezellige! Nijmegen has a terrific music scene which helps.

What I find helpful is to plan some long weekends away in a sunnier climate during the really dark months of January and February. We really enjoyed Marseille even though the locals thought it was chilly, it was brilliant sunshine. We're going back to Valencia this Christmas as the weather was so nice (I did research on where the best winter weather was in Spain).

So start planning a get-away this winter!

Denise

Re: warmest and driest city in the Netherlands?
 

But many locations in Croatia would be wetter than the Netherlands, so he won't avoid the rain;).

Re: warmest and driest city in the Netherlands?
 

Then I guess the rain doesn't bother him ? ;)

Re: warmest and driest city in the Netherlands?
 

Still a nice place though and wouldn't bother me. Probably also depends where he is. You'd get a bit more sun during winter but I was surprised how wet Split is as an example.


Klima Split - Klimadiagramme und Klimatabellen für Split - wetter.de

Re: warmest and driest city in the Netherlands?
 

Oh dear I feel your pain.. I lived in NL for 30 yrs and never got over the dark skies in winter .However I lived in Brabant close to Eindhoven and found it was always at least 5 deg warmer than the north. I never found the Dutch particularly open to friendships with foreigners. a lot to do with the character of the people. but also in the case of Eindhoven ,,which has a large international community ,self protection,as inevitable most ex-pats leave after 5 yrs or so


I moved to Portugal 5 yrs ago and my life changed dramatically .It is the California of Europe and heaven to live in. My advice.. move here. :starsmile:

p,s If you simple can't move. look for an International Club in your area. It saved my sanity