The Netherlands is a small country with less than 18 million inhabitants. However, it is one of the current leaders in the escape room market. For years, Dutch escape rooms have been winning the hearts of puzzle room enthusiasts all over the world and have been awarded prestigious industry awards such as TERPECA and the Escape Room Awards.
How to plan an escape room trip to the Netherlands and what is worth knowing?
How to get around the Netherlands?
The Netherlands can be easily reached both by land (train, bus, car) and by air. Moving between cities in the Netherlands is not difficult. If you want environmentally friendly and fast transport, choose a train. The Dutch railway reaches all major cities.
If, on the other hand, you want more independence, choose a car. The advantage of choosing a car is that you can get anywhere in the Netherlands quickly. Many escape rooms are located outside the big cities, which makes them not so easy to reach.
Is it possible to combine eco-friendly travel with easy access to anywhere in the country? Yes, and that solution is hitchhiking. According to numerous sources, the Netherlands is a hitchhiking paradise. Hitchhiking in this country is not only legal but also encouraged - in many places, you will find specially designated hitchhiking zones.
Getting around cities
Is choosing a car in the city a good idea? Not necessarily. The Netherlands is famous for its love for eco-friendly solutions, which means you won't get to every place in the city by car. A better option is to leave your car in a Park&Ride zone on the outskirts of the city and continue your journey by metro (Amsterdam, Rotterdam), bus, bicycle, or on foot.
Remember that the Dutch love bicycles - so much so that bicycles have priority in many places and will get you almost anywhere. You can easily rent a bike at many points in all Dutch cities. If you like cycling, try this mode of transport on your escape room trip to the Netherlands.
Escape rooms in Amsterdam
Amsterdam is home to an astonishing number of escape rooms considering the city's size. The consensus is that escape rooms in Amsterdam tend to be very good.
“The standard of games in Amsterdam was very, very high.”
- The Logic Escapes Me
There are around 20 different rooms in the city and several are internationally known and have won numerous awards.
The Early Days
Escape rooms began appearing in Amsterdam around 10 years ago. One of the first, The Secrets of Eliza's Heart, recently closed its doors after hosting over 9,000 games in 11 years.
“When we opened our first escape room, Eliza’s Heart, we thought we would be the only one in the city, but right from the start other games began appearing. They were all highly ambitious. Everyone tried to raise the bar compared to what they had seen elsewhere.”
- Alexander Gierholz (Co-Founder and Head of Development at logiclocks.com).
Escaping in Amsterdam in 2024
Today, the city is home to a host of excellent games, including a couple of top-ranked ones: The Amsterdam Catacombs (TERPECA Top 100 in 2022) and The Alchemist (TERPECA Top 100 in 2023).
Other notable games are the Vault, created by the makers of The Alchemist, and the games of Questomatica, which include Wake Up! and Arcade Invasion.
What makes Amsterdam - and the Netherlands in general - a good place for escape rooms?
The Netherlands is a place built by human effort, and, as a result, a love of creativity and technical expertise are strong features of Dutch culture. These qualities are reflected in Dutch escape rooms, with creators placing a strong emphasis on high-quality set design, technological innovation, and creative storytelling.
Escape rooms in Amsterdam also benefit from the flow of tourists that pass through the city. These tourists have helped the Amsterdam escape room scene to flourish by providing a constant flow of new players looking for interesting and unique experiences.
And since the Netherlands is a very international place, English is commonly spoken. Most escape rooms can be done in English, making the Netherlands an easy place to do some escape room tourism.
The Lock.me team recently visited the city to play some of the escape rooms on offer...
“Escape rooms in Amsterdam were pure fun. Their offer places a strong emphasis on the quality of the experience. I would even say ‘theatrical’ experience. It is very often possible to encounter role-playing or multiple actors during the game. In the end, they are very engaging, you can count on a lot of surprises and this will certainly appeal to those who like to have a very strong immersion in the storyline.”
The best rooms in the Netherlands
What other rooms are worth visiting during a visit to the Netherlands? According to TERPECA's worldwide ranking, the best Dutch rooms are:
- Molly's Game by Down The Hatch (Voorburg);
- The Dome by Mama Bazooka (Bunschoten);
- The Non Believers by Your Escape (Leiden);
- Stay In The Dark by Darkpark (Vlaardingen);
- Lost And Found by Kamer 237 (Volkel);
- The End by Darkpark (Zoetermeer);
- Jason's Legacy by Outerground Escape Rooms (Rijswijk);
- Illusion by Epic Escape (Waalwijk).
How much do escape rooms in the Netherlands cost?
Dutch escape rooms are not among the cheapest. When planning an escape room trip to this country, you need to be prepared to spend from a few dozen to even 250 euros per game.
The price of a game depends on the time and day of booking, as well as the number of players - it is cheaper to split the bill for 5-6 people in the middle of the week than to play at the weekend for two.
