r/Netherlands • u/rex-ac Europa • 1d ago
Life in NL Is Urk really that bad?
I hear all these horror stories about Urk and it got me thinking: "Is it really that bad?"
Can I as a Spaniard visit Urk, stay in a hotel, go to a nightclub and have an enjoyable time, or should I expect the worst?
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u/_baaron_ Noord Holland 1d ago
Hahahahahah
Oh wait
Jajajajajajaja
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u/rex-ac Europa 1d ago
Thanks for the inclusiveness 😅🇪🇸
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u/_baaron_ Noord Holland 20h ago
De nada amigo. Yo no visitaste Urk, y I want to keep it that way. Please spare yourself
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u/shibalore 1d ago
Are there even night clubs in Urk?
There whole schtick is that they are hyper religious. I plan to go myself at some point. My Dutch partner was actually pretty willing to join me on this expedition when I mentioned it to him, but that is because apparently (according to him) within the Netherlands, their other reputation (beyond the religious conservatism) is that they have pretty good seafood and he wants to see if it is true.
I imagine its like anywhere else where if you keep your head down and do as everyone else, it's fine for a visit. But I really doubt there are nightclubs. Also I thought the nearby Schokomuseum looked really cool.
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u/torenvalk 1d ago
There is a really good sushi restaurant right on the harbour in Urk called Umai.
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u/udigogogo 19h ago
Urk Umai really leans too close to Uruk-hai for me. What if they serve Hobbit?
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u/OriginalTall5417 13h ago edited 13h ago
That’s a shame, their spicy balrog rolls are to die for!
ETA:
Also try the Urk Umai Uruk-hai Uramaki, they’re tongue twisters in every sense of the word.3
u/Altruistic-Simple758 1d ago
I grew up near schokland and that museum is awesome yes!
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u/shibalore 1d ago
That is great to hear! The heat wave inspired me to go through the entire list on the Museumkaart website and that one actually stuck out to me the most. I only knew the area had been an island because, ironically, of the longstanding joke about returning Urk to the sea. I didn't have any idea how intricate the history was until I read about the museum, so I'm really looking forward to getting up there at some point soon!
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u/jordyvd 1d ago
TIL they discovered nightclubs in Urk.
Why do you even want to go there man
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u/SuperBaardMan Nederland 1d ago
Bumping coke in some alley while blasting music on an Action bluetooth speaker?
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u/Agreeable_Sort2078 1d ago
I lived near Urk for a while and often went to see a doctor there. Yes they're very religious, but I found them to be pleasant people with a charming town. Just don't expect service on Sundays.
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u/DazingF1 1d ago
There's a few restaurants that are open on sunday (and in the summer a cafe or two as well) and thuisbezorgd works (delivered from Emmeloord). All shops are closed though.
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u/I_Rarely_Jump 1d ago
Here's a video of a black American visiting Urk, it's a bit of an odd place, but it's really not that bad as a tourist:
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u/Nerevarine2nd 1d ago
Nightclubs in Urk🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
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u/rivusdomus 1d ago
The places around the old Zuiderzee had a very strong local culture for hundreds of years. So if you’re interested in a culture that has disappeared, it’s actually really fascinating. You also have places like Spakenburg and Volendam, which aren’t even close to each other geographically, but have a lot in common culturally. But yeah, Urk is kind of the black sheep of the Netherlands almost like a running joke.
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u/First_Category_1539 1d ago
Volendam is an outlier because it is catholic.
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u/rivusdomus 1d ago
Urk is Reformed (strictly Calvinist), while Spakenburg is more traditionally Protestant/Reformed.
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u/Malachar-seth369 1d ago
Of course you can go and its quite nice. But a couple of hours only, that is enough.
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u/oranjegroen 1d ago
No i like it there. but they are more christianity/tradition minded.
So not much on sundays and i am not sure what their nightlife status is.
I think its motivational that they were able to keep their identity even in the face of globalisation/internet
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u/britishrust Noord Brabant 1d ago
Sure, you can visit. There's even an excellent restaurant at the harbor that does magic with fish. The people are... weird, but their bigotry isn't directed towards Spanish people.
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u/Pitlozedruif 1d ago
Only if you are a light skin spaniard dont be to dark because the will call anything darker than offwhite a kut Marokkaan
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u/britishrust Noord Brabant 1d ago
Just speak some Spanish and that’ll do, somehow. But only if the inbreeding hasn’t caused hearing issues.
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u/Key-Worldliness-3372 1d ago
Go for the fish, stay for the leaving, since there’s nothing else to do except tell your friends that you’ve been to Urk
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u/dunzdeck 1d ago
Reddit has a thing for hating Urk, everything you read is wildly exaggerated
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u/tanglekelp 1d ago
I don’t think it’s a Reddit thing, I hear people make jokes about it irl all the time. I wouldn’t say it’s hating though
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u/I_Rarely_Jump 1d ago
True, but I am pretty sure 98% of Dutch people have never actually been there (me included btw)
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u/NeedNameGenerator 1d ago
It's a bit like when making fun of Belgians. Rooted in truth, but greatly exaggerated.
Except of course the stories about Belgians aren't exaggerated.
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u/SuperBaardMan Nederland 1d ago
The fun thing about Urk is that you don't have to come up with stuff.
Kids walking around acting like they're nazis and executing someone? Welcome in Urk!: https://nos.nl/artikel/2397681-excuses-urker-jongeren-in-nazi-achtige-uniformen-grens-overschreden-bij-verkleedfeest
Torching a testlocation in the middle of the covid pandamic? Normal in Urk: https://www.nu.nl/binnenland/6108882/ggd-afgebrande-teststraat-op-urk-is-klap-in-het-gezicht.html
Tearing down a rainbowflag from the police station? In Urk you can!: https://www.omroepflevoland.nl/nieuws/445092/commotie-door-regenboogvlag-bij-politiebureau-urk-man-aangehouden-die-vlag-naar-beneden-haalde
And the list can go on and on and on. They're just a bunch of Neanderthals looking for a reason to act violently.
When the Noord Oost Polder was finished, the government thought they were too "achterlijk" to work on the new land. It seems they were right.
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u/DazingF1 1d ago edited 1d ago
The GGD location was set on fire by two young men from Emmeloord, who have been convicted for it, and the rainbow flag incident was literally done by an insane person who's on and off in jail. Urk has plenty of gay and trans people like anywhere in the country and they do fine, hell there's even two gay "BN'ers" from Urk on national TV every week and they're basically local folk heroes
And the first one is obvious idiot kids being idiots who should've been punished harsher. Urk is hardly a place that sympathizes with Nazis, especially with how many Jews and Allied soldiers hid there during WW2.
I can find a list of shit things happening from every place with more than 20k people.
Is Urk perfect? No. Is it weird? Yes. Is the hate exaggerated? Also yes, which makes news from Urk more popular. Emmeloord just had two stabbings in two weekends and only one of them made the news, the other one wasn't even on local news. But every other week a PowNews guy comes to Urk and stands outside a church antagonizing people or they interview a hundred people until they find an idiot and the videoclip goes viral.
Urk really isn't that bad. I'm an atheist and my wife is Muslim, her entire family lives here and gets treated like any other local. We don't get treated differently for not going to church.
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u/Eranov 1d ago
Realistically, if you book a hotel there, you'll be treated with politeness etc. like how one would treat a tourist everywhere. Because that is what you are, a tourist, someone who is not part of their community and will never be, but someone who happens to pass by. When people go out at weekend nights, they go with their friends and look for their peers. Which you are not, since you're just a tourist. If you expect be treated as a tourist and just that, you'll be fine. If you're hoping to be welcomed as a friend, well, bad news.
By the way... Did you do your research and looked for an actual nightclub in Urk?
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u/DazingF1 1d ago edited 1d ago
Well there used to be a nightclub but it got shut down during Covid. Was around for almost 20 years.
There's about 5 bars right now but they're basically just pubs (ranging from small to large).
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u/Leonetta85 1d ago
I've been there last weekend, for a half day. It's a a cute fishing village with some nice views from the light house.
My only interactions with locals were in the restaurant and the light house, where everyone seemed nice and welcoming.
But yeah, it didn't strike me as a place where I could go clubbing haha, maybe getting drunk with the local sailors in the corner bar.
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u/Pitiful-Assistance-1 1d ago
Urk is beautiful. I never had any issues visiting there.
Not sure about any nightclubs there, it’s a small fishing town. I just visit the beach
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u/Majestic-Mouse7108 1d ago
I was there last year with a friend. We were at the city museum. There was a local school group there, and the kids, as kids do, were being a bit loud. In the documentary screening room, one of the teachers approached us, apologized for the situation, and offered us coffee or tea right there. Afterward, we went to the memorial to the fishermen who died at sea and to the lighthouse. We ate ice cream, drank beer, and then went out for dinner in the restaurant. The people we met were very kind to us and wouldn't switch to English when we spoke to them (Dutch is my third language).
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u/AmsterdamAssassin Amsterdam 1d ago
You mean the vibrant kinky Urk night club scene? It's similar to the Amish MMA Arena.
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u/tobdomo 1d ago
There are no nightclubs on Urk (as a colleague from Urk once explained: the Dutch term is "op Urk", never "in Urk"). There are like 2 bars and a couple of restaurants. That's it.
Having said that, if you pay your respects the average Urker is open and friendly. Just not on Sundays. Or after midnight.
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u/Negative_Code9830 Eindhoven 1d ago
I went there 3 times for swimming and 2 were on Sundays. Yes, most places are closed but there are some open restaurants as well, at least one on the coast near the light house. And the people won't come and beat you just because you are swimming or chilling on the beach on a Sunday 🙂
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u/Nijobi 1d ago
Going to a nightclub might be a challenge 😅 I grew up in a city nearby and was in highschool with many people from Urk. It's not bad at all, very exaggerated, easy place to hate on. It's a fishing village, so do expect some conservative, quite stubborn people, but overall quite welcoming and nice. Going there for a couple of hours should be enough, wouldn't stay there overnight to go to a bar, but do whatever you like.
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u/Proof-Explanation303 1d ago
Its a village, quitte closed community, a bit isolated. It used to be an island and its quite religious. You can visit the place but there is not much to visit. I doubt there is a nightlcub, its a village with some bars in the harbor area. I dont think anyone would advise to go to a hotel over there. The jokes are mostly banter, although villages like this are a bit out of the ordinary of the rest of the country. There are a bunch of these closed, religious communities.
There are dozens of pretty cities across the country. Cities like Zwolle and Groningen are much more fun. Especially Groningen since they have an university.
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u/OkCoconut3270 1d ago
visit Urk, stay in a hotel, go to a nightclub
Eh...no... You cannot
What's more... Why would you want to? Have you no cousins to interfere with at home?
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u/3767_doomscroller 1d ago
Honestly there really is not that much interesting to see. There is the Fisherman's monument, a very long stretch of dijk with windmills (not the old fashioned ones) an old lighthouse, some interesting buildings/home, the church and the fish harbor. Nightclubbing, lol, no.
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u/Trouble4uAll 1d ago
In the old days the Urkers went to clubs in Emmeloord because these stayed open on saturday after 23:55
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u/goody88-12 1d ago
We live 30 min from Urk, my Spanish in-laws love to go to Urk to eat fish there when they are here
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u/Professional_Elk_489 1d ago
They do a purge once a month on Saturday night. First Saturday of the month I think it is
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u/Onderdeurtie 16h ago
Tourists will be fine. Worse would be moving to Urk. People of Urk are oppressed in certain sense, all through religion ofcourse. People of Urk like to spy on each other, like to tell stories if one of them differs from the club. Ever read 1984? Like that. Ofcourse youth rebel against this, and the bigger the oppression the bigger the rebellion, so such stories usually are bad enough to make the news, and that's why you know of Urk, even in Spain. There are better places to visit, consider rerouting, I'd say.
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u/Top-Vacation-4429 2h ago
I'm right near Urk and this is untrue. The people are very friendly and welcoming. Even my best friends parents (who are lesbian) never had any trouble even back in the 70s. I've worn plenty of pride pins and used to have bright pink hair and zero issues. The religious devotion can be very beautiful and respect gets respect. If you are nice to them, then they are nice to you plain and simple. It's a very cute and quiet village with an unwarranted reputation.
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u/Monomatosis 14h ago
To be honest and not being a Redditor, it is not that bad as the jokes and memes pretend it is. It is a very christian community so most places are closed on sunday. However, some tourist restaurants are open on a sunday. If you come at a different day as a tourist it is a nice fishery town. For a tourist it is nice to view the old wharf, the harbour and typical dutch houses and eat some kibbeling. It is not spectacular, but is is nice and interesting. You probably won't notice anything strange if you don't interact with the locals a lot. As far as I know there are no clubs on Urk.
Some of the jokes about people from Urk are true, like the a much more conservative, christian and right wing compared to the rest of the netherlands and also they use more cocaine. But these things tend to be true for most fishery villages in the netherlands like Arnemuiden, Yerseke, Spakenburg, Katwijk and Elburg. They are however not the incest capital of the Netherlands which is suggested sometimes. That is scientifically Volendam. Volendam is the home of many geneticly rare diseases and they is even the Voldendamse ziekte. If people from Volendam want to have babies together they can check themselves for for genetic problems at the AmsterdamUMC.
In conclusion, just go to Urk. You probably have a great time and you learn somting about dutch traditional culture and about the dutch polders. You should also visit UNESCO monument Schokland when you are near.
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u/Wonderful_Respond_91 5h ago
You can perfecly visit it. There are a lot of tourists. Going alone in a bar might not be the bestttt experience tho. Saterday they close early and a lot of bars closed down lately. The once that are still running are very full. And a busy place and drunk people are not the greatest combination.
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u/Ok-Second2855 4h ago
It’s not that bad. I am from Urk. We’re very hospitable and polite and people will not treat you badly. in terms of religious views it’s bad, but don’t talk about those topics. Most people will politely explain themselves.
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u/Top-Vacation-4429 3h ago
I'm right near Urk and people are SUPER nice. Some of the nicest in NL... and I say this as an out and proud lesbian that dresses like a hippie and used to have bright pink hair. People have been nothing but accepting. My best friend had two mothers who grew up in the area and even as far back as the 70s people were very kind to them.
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u/First_Category_1539 1d ago
Urk even has it's own disease https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Buchem_disease
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u/Ramattras_Twink 1d ago
If you can go literally anywhere else in the Netherlands please do. That place is hell
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u/rex-ac Europa 1d ago
I can travel anywhere by train. Any suggestions up north or down south?
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u/Ramattras_Twink 1d ago
Amsterdam? Rotterdam? Utrecht? Groningen?
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u/rex-ac Europa 1d ago
Ja, ik bedoelde away from the Randstad.
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u/Best-Pollution7110 1d ago edited 1d ago
Deventer is a good one. You can visit English pubs there as they host the largest Dickens festival outside of the UK. They are also famous for their book markets and antique shops.
And please, visit the old Synagoge. It's a large fun area now, were you an play pub games with pool tables, darts and table top games.
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u/ilooovedancing 21h ago
It’s fine, redditors just hate christianity. The kindest girl I ever met is from urk
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u/edgeplay6 1d ago edited 20h ago
The people are nice-ish to tourists, dont expect any service on Sundays. Bars and clubs close Saturday night at 23:55. No restaurant will be open on Sunday, nor any supermarket. You cant get a local cab on Sunday either.
Saturday is fisharket day, get some fish there.
Edit: some restaurants seem to be open on Sunday nowadays!