Transport to and from the country
Airplane
Schiphol airport is the largest airport in the Netherlands, near Amsterdam. Almost every (international) airline company flies to and from Schiphol airport. Three smaller airports are situated in Eindhoven, Maastricht and Rotterdam. Flights to London or Brussels are sometimes much cheaper then flights to Amsterdam. Those cities are easy connected with Amsterdam by bus or train.
Train
There are train links between the Netherlands and Germany, Belgium, UK, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark and France. You can easily connect to Paris, Brussels or Marseille from Amsterdam, Schiphol, The Hague or Rotterdam by taking the high-speed train called THALYS. Special flags on the station platform mark the arrival of this train and you are not allowed to step onboard without a valid ticket. For tickets and Flexi Fares see www.nshispeed.nl/en
To make a reservation by telephone you can call TeleSales NS International at 0900 - 92 96 (€ 0.35/minute). The reservation fee is € 10 for each reservation.
Local traintickets can be purchased easlily at the NS self-service ticket machine (yellow machines marked with the NS Logo which means Nationale Spoorwegen - national railways). Watch out: if you buy tickets at the counters you will pay around 50 cent on top! Asking trainroutes at the information counters located in the middle of the stations is for free. It is not possible to purchase tickets on the train!
Bicycles may be taken on the train during off-peak hours. If you have a standard folding Bicycle (Strida / A-bike / Brompton / Denon...) you can take it for free (!), otherwise you will have to purchase a Bicycle day travel card from the ticket machine.
All information concerning trains can be found on www.ns.nl
OV-Chipkaart
Train, tram, bus and metro: In the future, you will be able to travel on all public transport in The Netherlands with just one card: the OV-Chipkaart, which is currently beeing tested in Rotterdam and Amsterdam. An anonymous OV-chipkaart currently costs €4. Boarding rate. Please contact your public transport company for the current price and any special offers.
Public Transport Amsterdam www.gvb.nl
Public Transport Rotterdam www.ret.nl
Ferry
Several ferries operate between the island of Texel and the mainland (Den Helder). Check out www.teso.nl for times and fares. To reach Schiermonnikoog - the island where cars are not allowed - you can best connect with the local Tourist Board VVV Ameland for accomodation during your weekend trip. The Wagenborg ferry www.wpd.nl will take you from Holwerd to Amelo and Schiermonnikoog.
P&O North Sea Ferries operates ferries between Hull and Europoort, also near Rotterdam. Tickets can be bought through the internet. You must rent a cabin, cause it’s a all night trip of ten hours. A Shuttlebus will take you to and from Europoort to Rotterdam or Amsterdam. It’s once a day, so don’t miss it, cause a taxi will cost you much more!
Call: +352 34208 08294 for help or 0871 2002 444 (latest travel updates)
If you are travelling with or without a car or caravan to England you can also consult the Stenaline Ferry fares who charge €33,- for Footpassengers. For internet bookings there is no administration fee. For all other bookings: € 15 per booking!
Bus
The coach service Eurolines has many direct services throughout Europe. You can travel from 26 different European countries to the Netherlands with Eurolines. Check out their homepage for information about the Eurolines Pass and offers (Funfares to Europe).