Planning a trip to Amsterdam and Belgium in August. Was thinking of renting a car and taking day trips from Brussels. We are experienced drivers who drive regularly in Manhattan and have done fine in Italy, etc. Should we be worried? Read a bunch of threads about multiple accidents, horrible traffic, lack of signs, etc. Again, all is relative. We are from NYC area so familiar with the concept of traffic but certainly don't want to spend our vacation in one. There are 4 of us so taking trains everywhere will add up as well. Any advice or thoughts please?

Have never seen anywhere in europe traffic similar to bad traffic in Manhattan. (The center of London can be tied up since it doesn't have a grid pattern - but can;t imagine why anyone would drive there.)

Found driving in Netherlands and Belgim very easy. The only tricky thing is town centers - make sure you have detailed driving - not walking - maps that show one way streets, pedestrian zones and locations of parking garages.

(We have done more than 25 road trips in europe and found signage better than in the US, and roads generally very good quality - just make sure you have really good maps. Oh, and drivers are IMHO better than in the US - since the test to get a license is much harder.)

I think driving in Belgium is considered challenging by Americans because of the languages (ie, it helps to know town names and key words in both French and Flemish) and, also, because Priority is to the right. I have never found the traffic in Belgium to be the primary (or, really, any) issue.

I drive all over Europe and admit that outside the Spanish Penisula and Italy I find the ring road around Brussels one of the scariest roads. Last time I was in lane two when a car went from lane 3 to 1 straight in front of me, I wouldn't have been more than terrified if the guy didn't have a hat on and was stamping down his pipe which required both his hands and, of course, his full attention.

Some facts
http://fullfact.org/factchecks/road_...tatistics-3011

Why Amsterdam and Belgium? Why not Amsterdam and the Netherlands? Or Amsterdam the Netherlands and Belgium?
There is so much more to the Netherlands than Amsterdam, just as there is so much more to Belgium than Bruges.

Personally I hate driving on Belgian motorways. Terrifying doesn't come close to describing some of the driving you will come across on them, but generally driving in Belgium, as in most European countries, is fine, provided you know the rules (priority to the right!), speed limits, and understand the pictogram road signs.
True in Belgium it also helps to know the name of the town you are heading for in both French and Dutch, as the name in each language can be very different.

Bilbo's traffic stats are very old btw.

Where do you want to go from Brussels? If you want to visit Brugge, Gent, Antwerpen; much easier by train.

It's not a problem to drive, but Brussels traffic can be a challenge, and you will spend time in traffic jams. Cars from the right get priority, as Hetismij points out; even if you think you are on a main road, you don't always have the right of way, and have to stop for cars coming out of side streets on the right.

Drive if you want to visit villages and the countryside. For visiting cities, take the train.

Remember you will also pay to park, and petrol is not cheap, so add that to the cost of the hire car, and see if the train is not cheaper. For example, the parking at Central Station Antwerp is 18 euros a day.

>>>Should we be worried?<<<

NO.

However, a few tips:
- a GPS system is very advisable.
- as said, parking in the cities maybe expensive (but nothing compared to prices on Manhattan).
- if you want just visit other cities, the train would be my first choice, but if you want to see the countryside, driving a car will be easy.

I've driven in a lot of places, including Manhattan, LA, London etc. The only place I have had to pull off the road and pray was Belgium. Idiotic drivers. But that was 20 years ago. Perhaps all the really bad drivers have since collided with one another.

Belgium has a terrible traffic safety record compared to most Western European countries - you can google it. That said, I've driven a fair bit in rural Belgium (not in the cities, apart from Bruges) and didn't find it terribly daunting.

It's not that bad, although on the ringroad around Antwerp, it can be difficult to come onto the road; there are so many trucks, and when you enter the ringroad, you will have to move across several lanes, through what seems like a wall of trucks.

I think the 'priority from the right' causes most problems, as foreign drivers often assume they have right of way when they are on a through road.

And when you turn right, always keep a lookout for bicycles that are going straight ahead; you have to let them go first. It becomes second nature in the Netherlands and Belgium to look over your shoulder to watch for bicycles when you make a turn.

It might be useful to know where you want to drive.
I agree that for cities, the train will be easier but I myself will always drive, wherever we travel, because I don't want to have to rely on public transportation. Especially view the very bad reputation of our Belgian (and Dutch) railways!

Thanks everyone. I did google auto fatalities around the world. Thank you for explaining the priority to the right thing. I still can't imagine how trains are cheaper if a one way ticket from Amsterdam to Brussels was around 105E pp. It's a week long trip so can't do everything so trying to prioritize. Would love to see the countryside, not sure if would be able to see it from the motorways. I am fluent in French but not Dutch so will work on road signs and we, of course will bring GPS if decide to go ahead with car rental. Any other comments are super appreciated.

One way Amsterdam - Brussels for 105 would be on Thalys - that's an expensive train. You can also take a regular train, but have to change once (probably at Roosendaal).

But I also prefer to drive. As long as you try to avoid the rush hour, it will be fine. And watch your speed, driving from Amsterdam. You will get a ticket if you drive too fast; sometimes it's 100 km/hour, sometimes 120, and occasionally 130.

From Amsterdam to Brussels on the regular train is 36 euro per adult for a single journey. There's at least one change involved and the journey takes 3 hrs.

If you drive, you can stop where and when you want and see sites along the way. If you don't mind driving a little longer you don't necessarily have to take the (mostly busy) highways.

The issue with Belgium and driving is not the amount of traffic or the mass of cars on the road but the driving culture: driving tests were only formalised about 20 - 25 years ago. Before that you didn't need to do a test to get a license, if I understand correctly. Driving in Brussels is a little crazy, lots of little accidents. I have even been overtaken on the right-hand side, on the verge, on a motorway out of Brussels. Another issue, as Tulips rightly points out, is the priority to the right. If you are vigilant, you will be OK - if anything this second factor is more critical because people are moving into the traffic on main roads confidently from side streets and you need to be prepared for them.

Lavandula

>>Have never seen anywhere in europe traffic similar to bad traffic in Manhattan. (The center of London can be tied up since it doesn't have a grid pattern - but can;t imagine why anyone would drive there.)<<

I must live in a different Europe to the one visited by nytraveler. The Moscow ring road has about the worst traffic I have ever seen, Paris, Madrid, Athens; many cities have traffic to rival that of Manhattan. I also drive to central London, why, because it's sometimes easier esp at weekends or bank holidays than taking a train.

>>>I find the ring road around Brussels one of the scariest roads.<<< Yes it is a really unpleasant road to drive on. I've encountered incredible traffic on the Brussels ring road and have taken hours literally to get from places close to the airport to the airport itself, due to traffic.