BackgroundThe Netherlands is receiving increasing numbers of Yemeni refugees due to the ongoing war in Yemen. Since there is a lack of knowledge about access to healthcare by refugees, this study investigates the experiences of Yemeni refugees with the Dutch healthcare system from a health literacy perspective.MethodsQualitative semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted among 13 Yemeni refugees in the Netherlands, to gauge their level of health literacy and investigate their experiences with the Dutch healthcare system. Participants were invited using convenience and snowball sampling. Interviews were done in Arabic and then transcribed and translated ad verbatim to English. Deductive thematic analysis was conducted on the transcribed interviews based on the Health Literacy framework.ResultsThe participants knew how to use primary and emergency care, and were aware of health problems related to smoking, physical inactivity, and an unhealthy diet. However, some participants lacked an understanding of health insurance schemes, vaccination, and food labels. They also experienced language barriers during the first months after arrival. Furthermore, participants preferred to postpone seeking mental healthcare. They also showed mistrust towards general practitioners and perceived them as uncaring and hard to convince of their health complaints.ConclusionYemeni refugees in our study are well-acquainted with many aspects of Dutch healthcare, disease prevention, and health promotion. However, trust in healthcare providers, vaccination literacy and mental health awareness must improve, as also confirmed by other studies. Therefore, it is suggested to ensure appropriate cultural mediation services available for refugees as well as training for healthcare providers focused on understanding cultural diversity, developing cultural competence and intercultural communication. This is crucial to prevent health inequalities, improve trust in the healthcare system and tackle unmet health needs regarding mental healthcare, access to primary care, and vaccination.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-023-15732-6.