Nearly 22 million summer holidays in 2025, France most popular

• 72 percent of people aged 15 or older took one or more summer holidays in 2025.
• There were 12.9 million holiday trips to destinations outside the Netherlands, including 2.2 million to France. Germany and Spain were also popular holiday destinations.
• Just over 40 percent of households on the lowest incomes went on a summer holiday, compared with over 87 percent of households with the highest incomes.

Almost three-quarters of the population aged 15 years or older took one or more holidays during the summer season of 2025. Between 26 April and 1 October, 10.8 million people went on holiday, totalling 21.9 million holiday trips. Close to 12.9 million of these holidays were spent abroad, while 9.0 million were in the Netherlands. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this on the basis of new figures taken from the Holidays Survey.

People who live alone are less likely to go on holiday than those who live in a household with a partner or with their family. Families with children are more likely to take holidays than couples without children.

Over 87 percent of households on the highest incomes take summer holidays, compared with 41 percent of households in the lowest income group. However, the frequency of holidays is similar for people on both lower and higher incomes. In the summer of 2025, both groups went on holiday twice, on average.

Gelderland most popular holiday destination in the Netherlands

Dutch people are more likely to spend their holidays abroad than in their own country, but the Netherlands remains the number one destination for summer holidays with 9.0 million trips. In 2025, most holidays – over 1.6 million – were spent in the province of Gelderland, followed by Noord-Holland, Noord-Brabant, Limburg and Overijssel, each with between 890 and 990 thousand trips.

Most holidays are spent in Europe, France remains the most popular destination

People in the Netherlands made 12.9 million holiday trips to destinations outside the Netherlands in 2025. Most destinations were in Europe (11.5 million trips), particularly in Western Europe (5.8 million trips) and Southern Europe (4.1 million trips). In addition, 1.4 million people spent their summer holidays outside Europe. Türkiye (Turkey), the United States and Indonesia were the most popular destinations.

France, Germany and Spain have been the two most popular holiday destinations for many years.

Cars are the preferred mode of transport for holidaymakers

Most holidaymakers prefer to travel by car (13.4 million holiday trips in 2025), others by aeroplane (4.9 trips) or by train (1.7 million trips). The majority of people who spent their summer holidays in the Netherlands travelled by car (80 percent of trips). Of those who chose a destination abroad, 48 percent travelled by car and 38 percent travelled by aeroplane. Railway travel is less popular: 9 percent of people who spent their holiday in the Netherlands in 2025 travelled by train, and 7 percent of those who went abroad.

4 in 10 holidays abroad are spent in a hotel, guesthouse or B&B

The types of accommodation used for holidays include hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs (7.6 million trips); holiday homes or mobile homes (6.5 million); and campsites (3.9 million).

36 percent of holidaymakers who spent their holidays in the Netherlands opted for a holiday home or mobile home. Among those who went abroad, a hotel, guesthouse or B&B was the most popular choice, at 40 percent. Campers were more likely to stay in the Netherlands (23 percent), while 14 percent went camping abroad. Renting an apartment was more popular among those going abroad than those who stayed in the Netherlands.