Postal Codes and Addresses in the Netherlands

Posting a letter in the Netherlands? Find out how to make sure your letter is properly addressed...

Post Offices and Stamps

Post offices in the Netherlands are operated by PostNL, a publicly traded company. There are very few dedicated post offices left in the country. Post services are generally offered as a small sub-set of a larger store like a supermarket or stationery shop. There are no postcard stamps in the Netherlands, as the postage rate is the same for mailing a postcard or standard letter.

There are three types of stamp in the Netherlands:

• Nederland stamp: used for posting letters which are to be delivered within the Netherlands
• Europa stamp: used for posting letters which are to be delivered within Europe (including the U.K.)
• Wereld stamp: used for posting letters which are to be delivered outside on Europe

Roadside mail boxes for posting letters are orange and divided into local postcode zones, European destinations, and the rest of the world.

Post is not delivered on Mondays but is delivered on five other days of the week (Tuesday to Saturday).

In general, post office hours are Tuesday to Friday 09:00-17:00. Larger locations are open on Saturdays, although with shortened hours. The major cities (including Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague) have main post offices which offer extended operating hours. Some locations situated inside another retailer (for example, an Albert Heijn store) may offer services seven days a week.

• Find a list of post office locations and opening times in the Netherlands (in Dutch)

Netherlands Postal Codes

Dutch postal codes are written as a sequence of four digits followed by two uppercase letters, for example 1234 AB. Until 2005 certain letters were not used for technical reasons (F, I, O, Q, U and Y), but to allow new combinations these letters are now used. For historical reasons the following combinations are not used: SS, SD and SA.

• Find an address or post code with postcode.nl (in Dutch)

Dutch Addresses (how to read them)

Example:

• Boerhaavelaan 7,
  2500 DL Den Haag

The first line is the name of the street followed by the number. The first two digits of the postcode indicate a city and a region. The following two digits and letters indicate a range of house numbers usually on the same street. A postal code in the Netherlands usually covers eight single addresses.

When the street number is followed by a letter (14a) or range of letters (14a-c) it will always be in lower case to differentiate it from the two letters in the postal code.

Due to the length of many Dutch city names, they are sometimes shortened:

• 's-Gravenhage becomes Den Haag
• 's-Hertogenbosch becomes Den Bosch
• Alphen aan den Rijn becomes Alphen a/d Rijn
• Capelle aan den Ijssel becomes Capelle a/d Ijssel

Glossary of Postal Terms

• Buying Property
• Building Permits
• Renting Accommodation
• Property Jargon
• Setting Up Home
• Moving House
• Postal System
• Useful Contacts