The Netherlands is well-connected by a strong rail community that may whisk you away to only about any city within the nation and it has a number of connections to Europe’s different main cities. And whereas touring by the Dutch rail system is pretty simple, I’ll cowl a couple of quirks that it’s best to learn about. On this Netherlands practice information, we’ll cowl all the pieces you have to learn about touring the Netherlands by practice and easy methods to discover one of the best practice ticket costs.
Fast Overview of the Netherlands Rail Community
The official Dutch Railways’ identify is Nederlandse Spoorwegen (it’s typically shorted to NS) and it connects main cities with 4-5 trains every hour and smaller cities with hourly trains. You possibly can test schedules on the official Dutch rail web site at www.ns.nl.
How To Purchase Practice Tickets In The Netherlands
Shopping for Dutch practice tickets is pretty easy however there’s a distinction between shopping for home practice tickets and shopping for worldwide practice tickets.
I’ve outlined the distinction beneath:
Shopping for Home Practice Tickets In The Netherlands
Home practice tickets within the Netherlands use a fixed-price mannequin so costs are primarily based solely on the gap traveled. This implies you don’t save something by buying tickets early. Nonetheless, you’ll be able to nonetheless purchase tickets prematurely through Omio and have the digital tickets despatched straight to your cellphone if you wish to keep away from the trouble of shopping for tickets on the station.
Alternatively, you should buy tickets on the station through the self-service machines or from the staffed ticket home windows—each settle for main bank cards.
Shopping for Worldwide Practice Tickets In The Netherlands
The Netherlands has a number of worldwide practice routes that join its main cities with different main European cities like Paris, London, and Brussels. These high-speed trains function on a dynamic pricing mannequin that will get dearer because the journey date approaches—which suggests it’s best to guide early to get one of the best costs.
It’s best to make use of a third-party reserving web site like Omio or TrainLine to search out and guide the most cost effective possibility on your journey time. These companies are user-friendly (particularly when utilizing a international bank card) they usually’ll ship your digital practice ticket on to their smartphone app.
- Omio: Omio is a good practice reserving engine that allows you to guide tickets from nearly each nation’s rail service and different digital tickets are despatched straight to your cellphone. Omio expenses little to no markup they usually make the reserving course of very user-friendly.
- TrainLine: TrainLine is one other third-party practice ticket reserving website that connects straight to a number of European rail networks.
Well-liked Trains Routes In The Netherlands
Prime Home Practice Routes From Amsterdam:
- Amsterdam To Utrecht (30 minutes)
- Amsterdam To Den Haag (50 minutes)
- Amsterdam To Rotterdam (40-60 minutes)
- Amsterdam To Breda (1h 10mins)
- Amsterdam To Eindhoven (1h 20mins)
- Amsterdam To Groningen (2h 10mins, 1 change)
- Amsterdam To Maastricht (2h 30mins)
- Amsterdam To Vlissingen (2h 50mins)
Prime Worldwide Practice Routes From Amsterdam:
- Amsterdam-Paris through the Thalys Excessive-Velocity Practice
- Amsterdam-Brussels through Thalys Excessive-Velocity Practice or Intercity Brussels Practice
- Amsterdam-London through the Eurostar Excessive-Velocity Practice
- Amsterdam-Frankfurt through ICE Worldwide Excessive-Velocity Practice
Basic Ideas For Utilizing The Practice In The Netherlands
- Know Practice Station Names: Most bigger cities have a number of practice stations (Amsterdam technical has 9 stations) so this may create confusion. Double test to ensure you have the fitting station—particularly when reserving your ticket.
- Research The Departures Board: You’ll discover your practice platform through the departure board on the practice station. Don’t fear should you don’t see your practice as a result of they sometimes solely show trains departing inside the subsequent 10-20 minutes.
- Practice Schedule: Well-liked routes between main cities can have a number of routes each hour however much less well-liked routes might solely have a couple of per day.
- Self-Service Machines Are In English: All of the ticket machines (and practice station indicators) are in English—there’s a good probability customer support folks additionally converse English.
- Pack A Picnic: You’re allowed to carry your individual meals and alcohol on trains. It’s nice for these lengthy practice rides.
- No Baggage Limits: There aren’t any weight limits on baggage and you’ll carry as a lot as you need (properly, as a lot as you’ll be able to carry). Merely carry it on and retailer it above your head, behind your seat, or within the baggage racks in every automobile.
- Open Seating: Home trains don’t have assigned seats so sit anyplace.
- Making Connections: The Netherlands is a small nation so many routes join via Amsterdam. Don’t fear if there isn’t a lot time between trains as a result of switching trains is normally pretty fast and simple (it’s not like flying).
- Get To The Practice Station Early: Practice stations are normally pretty simple to navigate however they could be a little complicated should you’re unfamiliar with the station.
- Baggage Storage: Most massive practice stations can have baggage storage choices however small stations almost certainly gained’t have baggage storage.
Try our Full Information To Practice Journey In Europe for extra recommendations on touring Europe by practice.
Extra Europe Journey Ideas From The Savvy Backpacker
James Feess is the creator of The Savvy Backpacker and the writer of the guide “The Savvy Backpacker’s Information To Europe On A Price range”. He is been running a blog about price range journey in Europe since 2010.
No Humorous Enterprise
The Savvy Backpacker is reader-supported. Which means while you purchase product/companies via hyperlinks on the location, I’ll earn an affiliate fee — it doesn’t price you something further and it helps assist the location.
Thanks For Studying! — James
Questions? Study extra about our Strict Promoting Coverage and How To Help Us.
