soon in Haarlem!

Member since 30 June 2015

BrunisFrance&QCMember30 June 2015 14:02:17

Bonjour à tous,

We (my wife and myself) are moving to the Netherlands in October/November if everything goes smooth.
We like the Ocean (coming from Nantes/France) and are strongly considering Haarlem to become our next city ;-)
Is somebody there to help us with the questions below :
-best neighbourhood to recommend (or not).
-we would like to buy a house/appartment. any recommendation of things to do or not to do here ? we don't speak dutch at all...
-quality of the public transportation (I will work close to the Amsterdam Arena and will travel via Shiphol almost every week)
-necessity/complexity of having a car in the Netherlands
-nightlife in Haarlem (restaurants/bars/concerts - we are not really night clubbers but love music)
-price of the wine (I am French so I REALLY have to ask that ;-))
-all advices or mistakes not to make would be great.

We speak French, English and can communicate in Spanish w/o any problem.

Thank you all!

Brunis

See also

Discover the Netherlands - Guide
Looking for a room near Haarlem - 4 Replies
Mum in Haarlem - 1 Reply
Looking for schools for young children in Haarlem - 5 Replies
First Expat.com gathering in Haarlem - Thursday, Nov. 28 - 2 Replies
I'm looking for friends in Haarlem - 10 Replies
expat meet ups in haarlem? - 9 Replies

petrilopa012 New member

Member since 10 March 2012

petrilopa012New member07 September 2015 07:59:27

Hola¡
We are a spanish-italian family and we just moved in haarlem four month ago.
This is beautiful city! Close to the airport, beach and amsterdam... Look in pararius.nl to find an appartment or house to rent. We live in the center close to train station and is really good conected.
We have a little boy so we are not very into night life but we also love bars with live music and I saw a couple of irsh bars which looks great 😉
For any info you can contact me to my email: ******************
Have a really nice day!

Moderated by Priscilla 10 years ago
Reason : Do not post your personal contact details on a public forum for your own security

malungo Member

Member since 16 July 2015

malungoMember08 November 2015 11:11:27

hi Brunis, are you settled yet? Haarlem is a lovely city, especially if you are located within the city centre. It is small, yes, but you will find everything in here, restaurants, bars... there are plenty. As for live music there are a few venues, I guess the most popular is Stiels (blues, jazz..). I quite like the museums here, De Hallen is great and Frans Hals is also quite good. Every Saturday there is the open market by the grote kerk, which is amazing to walk around testing the cheese and all the treats they have while you are on your way to get some breakfast.

Transportation you can easily get to the Arena and Airport by train and by bus. The intercity takes you to Amsterdam in only 12 minutes. Make sure you apply for a abonnement for your ovchipkaart to travel with discount. Trains they come quite often, you won't have any problem moving around without the car. There's always the possibility to rent the Green Wheels if you happen to need a car.

Wine. I would say you can find decent wine starting from €7. Cheaper than that, only in Albert Heijn. By the way, there are a few wine shops around the city.

anitka New member

Member since 24 August 2016

anitkaNew member24 August 2016 08:14:43

I love Haarlem Noord the best

Anita B. Member

Member since 26 January 2011

Anita B.Member11 July 2017 08:44:23

Hello,

I see your post now and noticed that you wrote it 2 years ago, so I can just hope the thread is not yet closed.
I will be moving to Netherlands, most likely Haarlem at the beginning of next year and I would like to ask you how is the life there? How do you find it? All the advises you asked for I would like to ask you too
Have 2 small daughters, 2 and 5 years old.
Thanks a lot
Anita