Getting around: OV-chipkaart, trolleybuses, and bikes

Arnhem has one genuinely unusual detail in its transport system that is worth knowing about before you are confused by it.

The OV-chipkaart (and tapping in with a bank card)

Dutch public transport — trains, buses, trams — runs on a nationwide check-in/check-out system, traditionally via the OV-chipkaart and increasingly via direct contactless bank card tap-in/tap-out. Whichever you use, always tap in at the start of a journey and tap out at the end on every single leg — forgetting to tap out results in a maximum fare charge, not a refund.

Arnhem’s trolleybuses

Arnhem runs the last remaining trolleybus network in the Netherlands — electric buses drawing power from overhead wires rather than diesel engines. It is a genuinely distinctive piece of local infrastructure, and the reason you will occasionally see a diesel replacement bus running a trolleybus route when the wires are down for maintenance.

Cycling

As everywhere in the Netherlands, cycling is the default way to cover short-to-medium distances, and Arnhem’s hillier terrain (unusual for a Dutch city) does not change that much in practice. Buying even a secondhand bike in your first weeks pays for itself quickly. Register it and lock it properly — bike theft is common in student-heavy neighbourhoods, and an unlocked or poorly locked bike is treated as fair game.

Trains

Arnhem Centraal is a major national rail hub, with fast connections to Nijmegen, Utrecht, the rest of the country, and onward into Germany — useful to know for weekend trips without needing a car.