manda99

I've got Hamilton London tickets booked for a Wednesday and will be meeting friends in London to see the show. I've never managed to make it to Amsterdam and my family always vetoes it, so I decided since I'm doing this trip alone to book my outbound flight straight through to Amsterdam and work my way back to London by Tuesday evening. I've never been to the Netherlands or Belgium. I've been to Luxembourg and Germany and love them both. Train traveling and the journey is a lot of the fun in travel for me, so I don't mind - and actually WANT to - spend time on the train traveling from place to place. I like looking at really old things, not new cities.

What would you plan if you were me?

I'm assuming I'll land in Amsterdam on Friday, and depart to somewhere else Saturday. I'd really like to take Eurostar back to London, but I don't know that I'm particularly interested in Brussels. I've considered Amsterdam-Antwerp-Ghent, Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Gent, Amsterdam-Cologne-Brussels, etc.

Adding: Also, this will be in winter, if that makes a difference.

:D!

I did something quite similar last November.

I used an Any Belgian station Eurostar ticket from London and then my route was Brussels-Ghent-Antwerp-Rotterdam(hotel)-Amsterdam(hotel)-Duesseldorf-NRW-flight to London. However, the route was mainly determined by the fact that I had business plans in Brussels, Amsterdam and Duesseldorf and by hotel / flight availabilities.

You have 4 nights and presumably no business.

The long-distance IC(E) train routes are Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp-Brussels (hourly), Amsterdam-Arnhem-Duisburg-Duesseldorf-Cologne (I think 2-hourly), and Cologne-Aachen-Liege-Brussels (2-3 times a day). The frequencies are supplemented by Thalys trains which are more expensive and tickets are not interchangeable.

So you basically need to choose between Amsterdam to Brussels and stopping off in between, but leaving northwest Germany for another time, or going Amsterdam to NRW to Brussels. Ghent is a bit out of the way for both choices, and the Ghent-Antwerp trains do not really connect well with the Brussels-Amsterdam ones, although it doesn't matter if you want to spend a few hours or even a night in Antwerp.

If you are going to Ghent you could also do Bruges and Ostend which are on the same train line then go back to Brussels for the Eurostar.

The other choice to make is whether you want to see lots of towns or spend more time in a few cities only.

If the former, you can get the Amsterdam & Region Travel Ticket to take trains all around North Holland (or something like that, google it), and in Germany you can get the NRW ticket (or one valid in a subset of zones - see www.rheinbahn.com) and visit as many cities as you can - most of them have an "old town" with nice buildings.

As for it being winter, it just means that you can't see anything outside train windows after 4pm (and if it's very cloudy/raining, you won't be able to see anything all day) so if there are areas that you particularly want to see from the train then schedule them during daylight. Also, if you like Christmas markets and are going in December, there is one in every German town/city and also the ones in Ghent and Bruges are nice.

SkyBuck

Due to the UK taxes, it's usually more cost effective to fly into London and return from AMS, so consider that also if the schedule works for you.

It's possible to avoid Brussels by going from Ghent to Lille and getting the Eurostar there, but doesn't really save much time. Brussels is worth at least a few hours if you've never been. Look into the Any Belgian Station ticket which allows up to 24 hours in Brussels before or after the Eurostar leg.

Bruges and Aachen might be additional destinations to consider.

kalderlake

No specific advice, but this fellow usually has good information on train travel in Europe:

https://www.seat61.com/Netherlands.htm

Koby

Surely Amsterdam deserves more than one night, if you have never been there? And if you do not like new cities, forget about Rotterdam.

You could for instance take the IC train from Amsterdam to Antwerpen on Sunday, and spend 2 nights there. Use the Monday to do a day trip to Gent (Ghent), because Monday is not the best day for Antwerpen anyway (when most museums are closed - and you need to see the Rubenshuis and the Plantin Moretus museum there if you like "old things"). In Gent the Gravensteen castle for instance is open on Monday.

I propose Antwerpen instead of Brussels because it is a lot nicer and friendlier than Brussels. Brussels is interesting, but difficult to “get” on a short visit. I would however stop a few hours there on your way to London (on Tuesday?) to visit at least the Grand Place (central market square). You can do this by buying the already mentioned Eurostar ABS ticket from Antwerpen to Brussels. With this ticket you can take a local IC train to Brussels Central station (right in the middle of the city), spend a few hours there and then continue on a local train from Brussels Central to Brussels Midi/Zuid station to catch the Eurostar.

For Amsterdam to Antwerpen: www.b-europe.com (no need to buy far in advance, since IC trains have fixed prices and no limited availability, but buying online saves you waiting time at Amsterdam Centraal and the surcharge for buying in the station. It could be that you can also buy at the ticket machines in the station but I am not sure about that for international tickets.)

For the trip to Gent: www.belgianrail.be (but you can buy the ticket in the station without problem).

For Antwerpen to London: www.eurostar.com (or www.b-europe.com ).

manda99

Wow, thanks for all the detailed info! I'm definitely flying Amsterdam first, as I've already booked the tickets (first and probably last time on 747 upper deck!).

Based on input, I'm liking the idea of splitting nights between Amsterdam and Antwerp and doing day trips via rail. I feel like I should go to Bruges, but think maybe Ghent will feel similar?

And, yes, no business on this trip. This is just me wandering about just because I want to. I won't even check work email!

Koby

Yes, Brugge is also a possibility of course. It takes about 30 minutes longer to get there than to Gent.

Gent is almost as beautifull as Brugge and less touristic - for now. But if you don't mind the extra travel time and the masses of tourists Brugge is certainly worth it.

CDTraveler

I like both cities, but I don't think they "feel" similar. For me, the best part of Brugge is staying overnight and walking the city after the tourist buses pull out. That's when you can get a sense of it as a living city instead of a tourist attraction.

If you're looking for a window into the more recent past, visit Ypres for the Last Post ceremony honoring the dead of WWI. Brugge is a window into the distant past of Belgium, but just over 100 years ago, on the same soil a terrifying war was fought, which unfortunately was not "the war to end all wars" after all.

Personally I would make considerable effort to avoid Antwerp. Been there, hated it, and there's probably only 3 places I would say that about after many years of travel.

WheelsUpGal

I agree with Kalderlake - look at the website Seat61

https://www.seat61.com/Netherlands.htm

Then scroll down to near the bottom of the page and read about the ferry! I took the overnight ferry both ways between AMS and LON and it was great! Lovely little cabin and it saved me an expensive hotel in either place. There are fares that include the train tickets to somewhere in the arriving country - get that one. I found it a fun way to travel. Didn't have to deal with hanging out at the airport or transport to and from the airports.

manda99

Oh, wow! Will look into this!

kalderlake

Thanks for the information.

I researched taking that ferry last trip, but decided to go a different route.

Maybe next time.

:D!

I wouldn't really recommend a ferry (it isn't really a ferry, it is a cruise ship) unless the point of the trip is to go by sea for the experience, or you live in Essex and want to visit Schiedam / v.v.

There is no AMS to LON boat, it runs from Hoek van Holland to Harwich, and takes 7 hours. It takes ~90 mins to get from Amsterdam to Hoek van Holland and ~2 hours to get from Harwich to London.

I took a day boat which was enjoyable, but basically spent 48 hours on the travel plus hotels and didn't actually do anything else.