Travelling between London and Haarlem

[Tubeboy]

Hi everyone,

I need to make a trip from London to Haarlem. I am principally going to collect something very fragile and expensive, so don't want to risk it being damaged in transit. If the missus comes, I suppose we could have maybe a mini break.

What are the options in terms of routes? I am thinking Eurostar to Paris/Brussels, then Thalys to Amsterdam, then the Dutch network. Alternatively, Harwich- Hook of Holland, then public transport onwards.

What would be the cheaper way to go? Is it cheaper to split tickets, that's if I can do it? I have never travelled abroad on the train so any advice on routes/fares would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. I am reasonably flexible in terms of dates/times.

 

[Oscar]

You main options are:
1. Eurostar to Brussels + Thalys to Rotterdam/Schiphol/Amsterdam or InterCity to Rotterdam + connection to Haarlem
2. Dutch Flyer (train to Harwich, ferry to Hoek van Holland), connection to Haarlem.

The Dutch Railways (Nederlandse Spoorwegen) website is www.ns.nl
You can find all times at reiseauskunft.bahn.de
You can buy tickets between Brussels and Rottterdam or Amsterdam using the Thalys or Intercity train at www.b-europe.co.uk
You can buy Eurostar tickets and Eurostar + Thalys tickets (though often very expensive) at www.eurostar.com or www.b-europe.co.uk

Dutch Flyer information - there is a basic fare which varies slightly plus the price of a cabin (optional on the day ferry and obligatory on the night ferry). The Dutch Flyer ticket can also be bought at stations in the UK. Information is also available in the Rail UK Fares & Ticketing Guide. This basic fares are also shown at http://www.brfares.com/#!fares?orig=LST&dest=H443. Travelling during the day on the ferry makes for quite a long journey however.

The quickest journey is via Eurostar (reservation obligatory). If you take the Thalys (reservation obligatory) between Brussels and Rotterdam or Amsterdam you will be tied to a particular train for both services and it is likely to cost more and save little time. If you take the Intercity, you will not be tied to a train after Brussels. With this option you could buy a Eurostar ticket to Any Belgian Station (from £79 return) and an additional ticket from Essen (B) / Antwerpen Centraal (20.60€ / 24.60 € respectively - Essen is the last station in Belgium though the train does not stop and this ticket is likely to be accepted, I am not sure whether it is actually valid; Antwerpen Centraal is the last stop in Belgium). You would take the Eurostar to Brussels (c. 2 hrs), change to an Intercity (normally c. 10-15 minute change-over time, this is not an official connection but should not be a problem), Intercity to Rotterdam (c. 2 hrs), Intercity to Haarlem (c. 55 mins., possible change at Leiden) - total journey time c. 5 hrs outward (plus Eurostar check-in time in Brussels for return journey).

www.seat61.com/Netherlands.htm may be a useful starting point for you.

 

[181]

http://www.seat61.com/Netherlands.htm will probably be worth a look if you don't know about it already.

 

[Gordon]

As ever with international travel, it all depends on when you book, and what day of the week and time of day.

I haven't done the Harwich ferry since the days of the Manchester - Harwich boat train (steam heat mk 1s and a 31!) and Sealink ferry in the early 1980s, but...

If your destination is the Netherlands the Harwich ferry sounds like a reasonably relaxing option to me, with the night crossings giving the advantage of extra time at destination.

I did a test and...
When you first go into the respective web sites, Eurostar looks marginally cheaper at the moment than the Harwich Hook ferry (especially night crossing) Dutch Flyer fare, but when you start adding the onward connections the Eurostar fare starts to add up as you go through all the calculations (ie outbound, then add return, then double it for 2 people...)

In then end my test showed £378 for 2 adults London - Rotterdam return via Eurostar, and for the same date I chose, Dutch Flyer valid all the way from Liverpool Street to Haarlem, plus the cost if a 2 berth outside cabin on the ferry came to £310 (excluding food which can be booked on a Dinner and Breakfast basis on the ferry in a variety of versions)

 

[30907]

The only points to add about Dutch Flyer are:
- the fares don't vary as much as Eurostar (or UK Advances generally)
- the ticket is valid to any station in the Netherlands and from any station served by Greater Anglia.
- if you are travelling solo, single cabins are cheaper than twins, which is unusual for a ferry.
- for a little extravagance, a Comfort class cabin gives you a free minibar (wine/beer/nibbles/fruit) and a (cosy!) double berth plus a single; alternatively the posh restaurant is worth it (book in advance, pay the wine bill in Euros!)

In practical terms, you could do the trip in a day by Eurostar; I'd opt for the night boat over the day boat as otherwise you've spent two whole days travelling.

 

[gordonthemoron]

I would also recommend the Dutch Flyer, the ships are lovely and you can get a reasonable fare quite close to departure

 

[davetheguard]

Or you go out one way and come back the other.......

I'd certainly recommend coming back on the night boat as you then miss out on all the UK Border Agency hassle: showing your passport to them at Brussels, and then queuing up with the other 750 people off a Eurostar to show it to them again at St.Pancras. Oh, and you might have to show it to them en route as well! You'd also miss out on the rather dingy and uninspiring Eurostar facilities at Brussels. Seriously consider a cabin upgrade, but whatever you book, the cabins will be much better than those provided before the channel tunnel opened.

As for Eurostar, although not nearly as good as it was in First -sorry, Standard Premier-, Eurostar is still a good way to go, but the actions of the UKBA have really IMHO spoilt it for UK-bound journeys via the Brussels route!

 

[30907]

Coming back by ferry you also get woken up at 06.30 European time (the lorries offloading an hour earlier didn't disturb me) rather than 05.45 UK time outward - a slight bonus, at least if your body clock has adjusted.