In 2024, many people will again use May 1st for a trip to the Netherlands. But is Labor Day also a public holiday in “Holland”? © Friso Gentsch/dpa
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From an employee’s perspective, May 1, 2024 is not particularly ideal: a bridge day is not enough to ensure a long weekend. This requires two days of vacation this year. Nevertheless, many people in North Rhine-Westphalia will use Labor Day for a short or longer trip to the Netherlands. But is May 1st also a public holiday in the neighboring country? Or are the shops open there?
May 1st in the Netherlands: No public holiday in “Holland”
The Netherlands, also known colloquially as “Holland”, also has Labor Day. However, the “Dag van de Arbeid”, as it is called in the local language, is not a public holiday there. In contrast to Germany, where only a few shops, such as bakeries, are open on May 1st, normal everyday life continues in the neighboring country.
This means: The Dutch have to go to work as usual on Labor Day and accordingly you can shop as normal in the shops of cities popular with German (day) tourists such as Roermond, Winterswijk, Enschede, Venlo or Nijmegen. So if you plan a trip to “Holland” on May 1st, you don’t run the risk of finding yourself in front of closed shops.
Netherlands on May 1st: Extended opening hours in Roermond
The cities near the border in particular are prepared for a large number of tourists and day trippers on German holidays. Enschede advertises “holiday shopping” on these days. According to the city, the stores will be open on May 1st from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. There will also be a lot going on in Venlo on Labor Day. “The shops in the city center will be open as usual on this day,” says city marketing.
The Designer Outlet in Roermond will once again be a real visitor magnet in the Netherlands on May 1, 2024. The popular shopping center just behind the border invites you to shop for a particularly long time on Labor Day: it is open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
But be careful: Experience has shown that many (day) tourists from Germany and especially from North Rhine-Westphalia go on a trip to the Netherlands on public holidays – especially when the shops there are open. This often leads to high traffic volumes on the motorways and roads around the border. In order to avoid traffic jams on the way to Roermond, Venlo or Enschede, it is advisable to pay attention to traffic reports before and during the journey and to avoid traffic jams if possible.