Especially if you don’t have a significant other by your side, loneliness can creep in. But, before you turn to Google or online dating sites for answers, check these 6 things to know about dating in the Netherlands! But first, you can’t start dating without knowing some good Dutch pick-up lines! Enjoy mobile chat with free open and private chat rooms that enable easy text online dating across the world. Meetup with online friends to chat, date and flirt. Experience the best of Mobile Dating on your phone. Savor online chatting with mobile friendly chatrooms that are super fast. Chat publicly or privately with strangers. Well, right now, Hinge is the best dating site. It seems to fit my personality, or the personalities I find online. I like that the sign-up process takes 10 minutes, and that I can keep an eye on what the profiles of people are. If I was more like Digg, and wanted to check out all the profiles I could find, I wouldn’t be so overwhelmed. Jtaimerais.fr is the best and most serious chating and dating website 100% free dedicated primarily to date between people who are interested by the French culture. You Chat with a serious French man or You can find easily a French girl for marriage in Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Grenoble, Toulouse, Dijon, Nice, Nantes, Metz, Montpellier, Nimes, Annecy, Bordeaux.

Moving to another country can be challenging: the stress of moving, starting a new study or job, leaving friends and family behind…who has the stamina? Especially if you don’t have a significant other by your side, loneliness can creep in. But, before you turn to Google or online dating sites for answers, check these 6 things to know about dating in the Netherlands!

But first, you can’t start dating without knowing some good Dutch pick-up lines! So here is our video on flirting in Dutch that will improve your love life in no time.

Dating in the Netherlands: what’s the deal?

Windmills, tulips, and cheese. The Netherlands is known for many things but what about the Dutch women and men? What do they do, where do they live, what are they like? Most importantly, how do you go about dating a Dutchie?

If you’re hoping to find a tender soulmate to come along and swoop you off your feet, then we have some bad news: the Dutch may not be the right fit. Welcome to the land of sensibility and realistically romantic folk. Sounds good so far? Then read on! 💋

1. Honesty is the way to go

This one goes for both Dutch men and women: honesty is their policy. Don’t worry if you have something stuck between your teeth after dinner, your date will tell you. 🙈

This may come as a shock at first, but once you get used to it, you quickly realize — hey! This is actually better! Who would want to walk around the whole night without anyone mentioning the lipstick on your teeth, right? 🤪

The Dutch believe that it’s better to be honest than to mislead someone or create high expectations. Instead, they put their cards openly on the table so that you don’t have to assume anything. So, no mind-games, no drama, no fuss! Any doubt? Just ask!

2. Keeping things casual

Dutch people are casual! If you expect to go to a fancy restaurant on a first date, well, things may not turn out the way you want. Nothing beats the gezellig atmosphere of a traditional Dutch bruin café where you can enjoy a pint and some bitterballen. 😋

Plus, it is just too much work to try to bike with your high heels and itty bitty dress, and who wants to slowly suffocate because of that stupid tie? Lekker rustig, you got this.

3. Dutch flirting and romance

Time is valuable for anyone! Like we’ve mentioned before, Dutchies are always pro-honesty and that affects their flirting style as well. That’s why Dutch women and men find it a waste of time to sugar-coat things and shower people with half-fake compliments. So, don’t get discouraged just because your date isn’t complimenting your every trait.

The same goes for romantic gestures. Gifts? Instead of popular ideas like a luxurious box of chocolates, you might get something you would use and enjoy more. In the end, everyone can get those cliché gifts, but that Kindle they just got for you? That shows that not only does your Dutchie care for you, but also listens to what you say and knows what you like! 🤗

4. Marriage, mortgage, and kids in the Netherlands

Okay, this is where things get a little tricky. We’re all familiar with the traditional way things go once you’re in a relationship. If you think you’ve found the right person, who you genuinely like spending time with, first you go steady, then after a couple of years one of you pops the question. Then comes the marriage, a mortgage, and a kid or two — or so the media says. 👀

READ MORE 4 things I wish I knew before moving to the Netherlands for love

When it comes to the Netherlands and dating, things go a little differently. They’ve decided to skip all that. Marriage is seen as a serious commitment by many and should not be taken lightly. So you meet someone? Great. The relationship’s going well? Then let’s move in together and maybe buy a house! Cool. What’s next? How about becoming parents?

I once had a friend of mine saying, “First comes the house, then a pet, then a kid, and then the marriage. I’m not going to marry someone without making sure that we can spend the rest of our lives together. What if he is a bad father?” 🤔

5. Taboo who?

It’s not uncommon to hear some heavy-hitting questions like, “Do you believe in God?” and “When was the last time you had sex?” when you’re first talking to a Dutch person.

Surprised? We can only imagine. Freedom and individuality are encouraged in the Netherlands. Your Dutchie is likely to be someone who isn’t afraid to tackle the trickiest subjects pretty early on in the relationship, if not on the very first date. 😅

The reason? They want to know your opinion on these subjects to evaluate if you two are compatible with each other. That actually makes sense, right?

Moreover, they will give their opinion, whether you want to hear it or not. What the rest of the world considers as potentially rude or too blunt, the Dutch call it being open and honest.

6. Like saving money? So do the Dutch!

The Dutch are known for being cheap—ahem, we mean frugal—and this is often seen as something negative, but why? If your Dutchie knows where the best deals are, and doesn’t want to pay extra for something that can be found for less, who says that’s ever a bad thing? 💵 ❤️

End of the story

Just like you wouldn’t describe yourself as a typical (insert your home country’s nationality), the same goes for the Dutch as well. Apart from some common traits that we can mention with humour, it’s better to keep in mind that your Dutchie is just as unique as you! So, sit back, relax and success with dating a Dutchie! 🙆🏻‍♀️

READ NEXT Amsterdate, Amsterdamn! Dating in the Netherlands is not a piece of stroopwafel

Got a crush on a Dutchie but don’t know how to ask them out? To make sure your romantic endeavours are a success in the Netherlands, here are some tips to help get you speaking the same language:

What’s your experience with dating in the Netherlands? Let us know in the comments below!

Feature Image: Wavebreakmedia/Depositphotos
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in January 2018, and was fully updated in November 2021 for your reading pleasure.

Here is the quick list of my top five dating sites in France. I’ll go into more detail in my reviews below.

Ahh, France. The first thing I think of when I think of France is Paris and the romantic sidewalk cafes and strolling with that special someone down the Champs-Élysées. Much like Spain, Germany, and Italy, France has an active dating market.

When I first traveled to Paris as an adult back in the early 2000s, there were no dating apps to speak of. There were a few dating sites, but they didn’t have near the membership base they have today.

If you happen to be single and looking for love in Paris or anywhere else in France, you’re in luck my friend. France has several good quality websites and apps from which to choose.

As is the case with most countries, you’ll increase your chance of success if you live in a city with a large pool of potential partners. For the best results, try to stay close to cities with a lot of single people, like Paris, Marseilles, Lyon, Nice, or Toulouse.

French Model – Laura Tanguy (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Ok, without further ado, let’s take a look at my favorite dating sites and apps below.

Founded in 2001 and based in Boulogne-Billancourt, France, Meetic.fr is the best online dating site in France. From its humble beginnings, it has grown into the largest online dating site in Europe.

Following the acquisition of Match.com’s European operations, the site exploded in popularity and has millions of members all across the EU.

Meetic.fr’s features and design are similar to other Meetic network members like Match. Of all the Meetic sites I’ve seen, however, Meetic.fr’s website design is far and away the best.

The sign-up process especially was beautifully inviting. While Meetic.fr’s features aren’t terribly exciting, they are reliable. You’ll need a premium membership to do much of anything on the site, however. If you are willing to pay, and you speak French, I would recommend you give Meetic.fr a try.

Sign up Process

To begin, select your gender and match gender and enter your birthday. Next, you’ll be faced with some questions regarding your personality, lifestyle and appearance, and your ideal match criteria. The presentation of these questions was gorgeous web-design; I wish all dating sites looked like this!

In this section you’ll also upload a photo at some point, and you’ll finish by writing a short blurb about yourself. All-in-all, this took me around 10 minutes to complete.

To complete your profile, there are more questions to answer about yourself. You can also create a short quiz for your visitors to take, choosing questions from a long list, or creating them yourself.

How to Locate Potential Matches

First off, you can choose between basic and advanced searches. Basic searches include: born on the same day as me, it’s their birthday, perfect matches, reverse matches and mutual matches.

Advanced searches are searches you customize, using filters to narrow down your search. All the basic filters are here: age, location, education, smoking habits, education, etc. These searches can be saved for later use.

Another option is to use the Shuffle feature, a Tinder-like feature, in which you’re shown random profiles to like or dislike, both of you being notified when there’s a mutual match. And, of course, you can also add profiles to your Favorites.

How to Communicate with Other Members

Once you’ve found a match you like, you can send a Flash (basically a flirt/wink feature), but unfortunately you won’t be able to contact them until you’ve upgraded to a premium membership. Once you’ve done so, communication features are pretty basic, with text messages and IM chats available for members online. You can also add profiles to your favorites.

Unique Site Features

Two features stood out to me on Meetic.fr:

1. Mag – This onsite blog is chock full of helpful articles on dating, relationships, online dating, and more.
2. Customer Support – Get this: if you call their hotline, you can speak with an actual person! Amazing. This feature is only available for premium members.

What is Included in Each Membership Level

• Free – Create a profile, upload a photo, search/browse/watch profiles, receive messages, send messages to Connect members, use Shuffle limited
• Premium – Unrestricted use of Shuffle, see who has visited or favorited you, start live chats and message with anyone, customer support
• Extras:
• Incognito Mode – Invisible browsing
• Boost – Boost your profile, advanced placement in search results, extended communication options

eDarling France

EDarling.fr is perfect for people between the ages of 30 and 40. The site uses a sophisticated algorithm in order to find your “perfect match.”

While EDarling.fr is a solid dating site in France, it also made the list for the best online dating sites in Italy and Germany due to its quality and because it has a lot of members (thanks to a huge television advertising push the site did when they launched). The site does an excellent job of weeding out low quality profiles through its identity verification system.

Sign up Process

To begin, you provide your gender, match gender, email address, and password. From there you’re going to be given a personality test to complete, which will take you 30 to 40 minutes.

There are about 200 questions of basic information, including your values, feelings, what you’re passionate about, and your interests. When you finish the test, you can upload a photo if you want, then the site calculates your matches. Once that’s done, you can browse profiles.

Although you can start browsing, your profile is not complete. You will still have to fill out a lot more boxes, which include 12 different sections where you are asked to provide information about yourself, like “What my partner needs to know about me,” etc.

Another section asks you to choose what traits and habits you would either like or dislike in someone, selecting 10 for each out of a long list with statements like, “My ideal partner would be friendly and gentle” and “My ideal partner would not view themselves as a victim to be pitied.”

How to Locate Potential Matches

eDarling uses a unique approach in finding matches since there are no typical browse or search features. On a daily basis, the site implements complex algorithms comparing the results of your personality test with other members’ results in order to recommend matches.

eDarling gives you 7 new matches each day. What’s nice is that, as a free member, you are allowed to view nearly everything on the profiles of these matches, even the reports on their personality.

However, you are not allowed to view their photos.

How to Communicate with Other Members

As a free member, you can add profiles to your Favorites, as well as send Smiles plus 5 Questions. These questions are selected from 53 different options. These are questions like, “What would you like to happen within the next 10 years?” “When you’re in a relationship, do you need a lot of personal space?” “If the dance floor were empty and they’re playing your favorite song, what would you do?”

Also, once you’re a premium member you can send text messages to other members.

Unique Site Features

The personality test on eDarling is first-rate. It was created by psychologists and designed to measure 29 different aspects of someone’s personality. Once the test is completed, eDarling gives you a detailed Personality Dimension Analysis comparing your levels of Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Neuroticism and Openness to the average levels of other members on the site.

What is Included in Each Membership Level

• Free – Take the personality test, create a profile, upload photos
• Premium – See all photos, unlimited communication, view profile visitors, use the mobile app
• Premium PLUS – Receive 20 extra profile matches in the What If feature, verify your identity, see detailed personality profiles, read message notifications

Tinder is a great app to use for France. See my write-up on Mexico dating sites and apps for my full review on Tinder.

Bumble

Bumble stands out as the first matchmaking app to put women in the driver’s seat. Similar to other popular apps on the market, Bumble lets users swipe left and right through profiles of other users.

When it comes to talking, only women have the option to send the first message and they only have 24 hours to do it. But first, how to get started.

Sign up Process

Setting up an account is quick and user friendly. Profiles consist not only of a selection of pictures but also allow information such as height, what user’s are looking for on the app, different conversation starters such as ‘favorite movie’, etc… in addition to a short bio. This puts a little more emphasis on personality while still remaining very visually based.

The app requires either a Facebook account or phone verification to set up an account as well as providing additional authentication by submitting a selfie matching the instructed pose to eliminate fake accounts.

How to Locate Potential Matches

All profiles are displayed on the main page of the app displaying a picture and name. If interested, a user can scroll down on the photo to reveal additional photos and information and finally choose to swipe left if they would not want to match and right if they do.

How to Communicate with Other Members

Perhaps the most distinctive part of Bumble is its effort to engage female users by enabling only women to send the first message and by limiting their time frame to 24 hours since matching. This encourages women to be more engaged in showing interest, taking the rejection of other app designs off of male users. Some find this refreshing while others find it frustrating or burdensome, either way it remains a huge draw for Bumble.

Unique App Features

Since Bumble has gained in popularity, it has introduced two new interfaces within the same app: Bumble BFF which allows users to create new friendships and Bumble Bizz which works as a networking platform for businesses and people looking for new career opportunities.

The app also hosts live events open to all app users through Bumble Hive, allowing users to meet, as possible friends, business partners and even potential matches.

What is Included in Each Membership Level

The app is free to download and use but different subscriptions offer enticing features. While some users find the time limits constricting, upgrading to Bumble Boost enables users to extend a match by an additional 24 hours, giving them extra time to send a message or to respond.

Bumble Boost also allows users to rematch with matches that have since expired as well as showing which profiles have swiped right on them already in a feature called the Beeline.

OkCupid is one of the oldest dating websites, having been founded back in 2004. Fortunately, OkCupid has done a good job of modernizing its platform over the years. The site has enjoyed solid growth over the years and remains one of the most popular and widely used dating sites.

OkCupid focuses on providing higher quality matches and uses personality tests to see if people are a good fit. Most members fall between the age of 25 and 34. However, there are a lot of users in every age range.

As for relationships, you can express interest in short-term new friends, hookups, short-term dating, and long-term dating.

Sign up Process

Registering for OkCupid is simple enough. First, you fill out your basic details, like name and location. You can also register with Facebook and have most of this information filled in for you.

However, registering doesn’t mean you’re signed up and free to go. OkCupid’s distinguishing feature is its personality tests. Before you can find matches and send messages, you need to answer a bunch of questions that will gauge your personality.

OkCupid suggests that you answer between 50 to 100 questions to get started. This takes a bit of time but helps you find better matches.

French Dating Customs

How to Locate Potential Matches

Once you’re done answering questions, OkCupid will show you a bunch of potential matches. These matches are graded with percents based on your personality fit.

The primary search feature is OkCupid’s “Double Take”. Like other dating apps, Double Take will show you profiles one at a time. You can then choose to like the person or pass. Click on the star to like or hit the X to pass.

If the other person matches with you, you’ll be able to message each other.

OkCupid also features a search function. You can filter people based on different traits, like age, whether they’re smokers, or pet owners, and many other things. If you find someone through search and like them, you’ll start to be shown to them more often.

If they like you back, you’ll be able to message them.

How to Communicate with Other Members

Unlike many apps, you can message people before they like you by sending an introductory message. If you like someone, you’ll be moved up in the Double Take feature. When people click on your profile, they’ll also see your introductory message.

If they like you back, you can start chatting through the built-in messaging platform.

Unique App Features

Two things help OkCupid stand out. First, personality tests may help you find better fitting matches. This can lead to more meaningful connections. It does take more work to answer questions, however, and some people may prefer the ease of other apps.

Second, the search feature allows you to filter people based on attributes. Some users may find this more convenient than swiping.

What is Included in Each Membership Level

Dating Customs In France

You can use OkCupid for free and will be able to access most of the features. In fact, OkCupid’s free account offers quite a bit. You will see ads, which can get annoying. Also, you can’t see who likes you.

If you upgrade to the A-List, you’ll be able to see who likes you right away. This means you can find potential matches more quickly. You also get unlimited likes and don’t have to deal with ads.

online, free Mobile Dating In France And Netherlands Now

Premium A-List includes all of the above and also offers a daily automatic boost. You can also see answers to other users’ public questions as well and will be shown more attractive people to potentially match with.

online, free Mobile Dating In France And Netherlands Free

You can also purchase an incognito mode. While you have incognito mode, no one will see you until you like them.

How to Get Started:

online, free Mobile Dating In France And Netherlands Today

If you’re really serious about finding love in France, I highly recommend you learn French, even at a basic level. Your ability to connect with the woman (or man) of your dreams will be so much higher if you’re able to speak in your love interest’s mother tongue.

Once you know some basic French, sign up for one of the sites/apps I mentioned above. If you need help on how to set up a profile, what to write for your initial and follow up messages, when to ask the woman/man you’re interested in to go offline for a date, and more, check out my e-book, Online Dating Success: How to Find Love Anywhere in the World. In the book I go into detail about all of that stuff.

online, free Mobile Dating In France And Netherlands Now

Good luck on the dating trail! Bonne chance (“Good luck” in French)!

Further Reading

• Worldwide Online Dating Site Reviews: Be sure to check out my country-by-country reviews of the best online dating sites in the world.

• Worldwide Moving Guide: Everything you need to know in order to plan your move to 65+ countries around the world.

• Worldwide Jobs Guide: If you are interested in working in this country, be sure to check out my posts on how to find jobs in this country and other countries around the world.

• Worldwide Apartments Guide: If you are interested in renting an apartment in another country, take a look at my articles on how to find an apartment in various countries around the world.

Online Dating In France

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