When the October edition of The Holland Times lands, the Dutch outdoor sporting season may be winding down, but the calendar most certainly is not. From horses in Leeuwarden to gymnasts in Rotterdam, runners in Amsterdam and skaters in Heerenveen, the final months of 2026 offer international residents a useful tour of the country through sport. Some events are genuinely global, others are unmistakably Dutch and several manage to be both. The weather may suggest hibernation. The sporting schedule has received no such memo.
Indoor Friesland provides the starting point. Running at WTC Expo in Leeuwarden through 17 October, the event combines international dressage and show jumping with family programmes and the sort of equestrian theatre the Dutch do particularly well. The opening weekend is devoted largely to dressage, followed by international CSI1 and CSI3 show jumping. Friesland has a horse culture all its own, so this is more than a competition dropped into an exhibition hall. It is also an accessible day trip for expats who might know little about tempi changes or combinations but can recognise control, courage and a horse with more grooming products than most people own.
Those wanting something louder can travel south. The Dutch Darts Championship comes to MECC Maastricht from 16 to 18 October as part of the PDC European Tour. Darts has made the leap from pub game to arena entertainment without completely abandoning the pub along the way. That is part of its charm. The players are close, the rules are quickly understood and the audience is encouraged to make itself heard. Maastricht offers a smaller and generally more affordable version of the full television circus, although a recovery period the following morning should probably be included in the travel plans.
The month’s unquestioned international centrepiece is the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships at Rotterdam Ahoy from 17 to 25 October. Qualification begins the programme before the men’s and women’s team finals, the individual all-around competitions and the apparatus finals over the closing weekend. This is a genuine world championship, not a touring exhibition, and Olympic ambitions will be attached to every routine and landing.
Gymnastics is particularly friendly to an international audience. Little translation is required when somebody launches from the high bar, completes several revolutions in the wrong direction and lands on a strip of carpet barely wider than a front-door mat. Even newcomers soon learn that a tiny shuffle on landing can separate a medal from fourth place. Qualification sessions often provide the best opportunity to see athletes from the widest range of countries, while the finals offer the pressure and theatre.
That opening weekend overlaps with the TCS Amsterdam Marathon on 17 and 18 October. The marathon and half-marathon entries are sold out, but the best part for the rest of us remains free. The route along the Amstel, through Vondelpark and into the Olympic Stadium turns a long run into a moving tour of Amsterdam. The elite field is impressive, but the real charm comes several hours later when ordinary runners, urged onby families and complete strangers, discover that 42 kilometres was perhaps an ambitious way to spend a Sunday morning.
Motorsport fans have the Supercar Challenge finale at TT Circuit Assen on 24 and 25 October. It lacks the global profile and ticket prices of Formula 1, but offers a busy programme of GT and touring-car racing at one of Europe’s most celebrated circuits. The month then closes at Thialf in Heerenveen, where Dutch long-track skaters compete for World Cup places from 30 October to 1 November. A selection tournament may not sound glamorous, but in Dutch skating it can be ruthless. The depth of talent means a world-class performance does not always guarantee a ticket to the international circuit.
November begins with Jumping Indoor Maastricht from 5 to 8 November. The event combines international show jumping with FEI World Cup driving, in which teams of horses and carriages attack an indoor course at a speed that appears to concern everybody except the driver. It is sport, spectacle and hospitality rolled together, with Maastricht itself making a persuasive case for turning the competition into a weekend away.
Football takes over the following week. The Netherlands meets Greece at the Johan Cruijff ArenA on 13 November in the UEFA Nations League. It may not carry the historical baggage of a meeting with Germany or Belgium, but an Oranje home match remains one of the easiest ways for an international resident to join the national mood for an evening. Orange clothing helps. Knowledge of every verse of the national anthem is optional.
Nijmegen hosts the Zevenheuvelenloop on 14 and 15 November. The famous 15-kilometre race is sold out, though watching is free and the Saturday-night seven-kilometre event adds its own atmosphere. The course name translates as the Seven Hills Run, which is refreshingly honest advertising. Spectators can enjoy the wooded route and enthusiastic crowds while being grateful that somebody else has to run uphill.
The month’s least diplomatic appointment comes on 29 November, when Feyenoord hosts Ajax at De Kuip. De Klassieker remains Dutch club football at its loudest and most emotionally charged. Tickets will be difficult, and official club channels or hospitality are much safer than the imaginative marketplace of online resellers. For those fortunate enough to get inside, it offers a crash course in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam rivalry and proof that Dutch directness can become considerably more direct after kickoff.
December belongs to sports the Netherlands has made its own. Rotterdam Ahoy hosts the WielerZesdaagse from 1 to 6 December, six days of indoor track cycling mixed with lights, music and entertainment. Riders race on a steep wooden track that looks alarming from the stands and must feel even more so from a bicycle. The format rewards endurance, tactics and teamwork, but newcomers need not master every classification to appreciate riders passing at motorway speed with no brakes and very little room for negotiation.
From 4 to 6 December, the international speed-skating World Cup arrives at Thialf. For expats choosing one distinctly Dutch sporting trip, this may be the answer. The arena is loud, the racing is easy to follow and the crowd treats a fast opening lap with the seriousness other countries reserve for a late winning goal. Dutch stars face leading skaters from the United States, Canada, Norway, Japan and the rest of Europe on one of the fastest and most atmospheric tracks in the sport.
The Dutch Sprint and Allround Championships on 27 and 28 December provide one final outing before the fireworks begin. The practical advice is simple: book early for the gymnastics, football and major skating events, while remembering that the road races remain excellent free entertainment. More importantly, do not assume the sporting year ends with summer. In the Netherlands, autumn sport moves indoors, turns up the music and, by December, puts on skates.
Written by John Mahnen