Amsterdam (Rough Guide) - Martin Dunford [5]
• Consider the environment on holiday as well as at home. Water is scarce in many developing destinations, and the biodiversity of local flora and fauna can be adversely affected by tourism. Try to patronize businesses that take account of this.
• Travel with a purpose, not just to tick off experiences. Consider spending longer in a place, and getting to know it and its people.
• Give thought to how often you fly. Try to avoid short hops by air and more harmful night flights.
• Consider alternatives to flying, travelling instead by bus, train, boat and even by bike or on foot where possible.
• Make your trips “climate neutral” via a reputable carbon offset scheme. All Rough Guide flights are offset, and every year we donate money to a variety of charities devoted to combating the effects of climate change.
Getting there |
Flights from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa
There are no direct flights to the Netherlands from Australia and New Zealand: all involve at least one stop. Singapore Airways and Malaysian offer the most direct routes out of Sydney (stopping in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur respectively). Thai, Austrian and Qantas all have two stops (Bangkok/Munich, Bangkok/Vienna and Singapore/London). Flights from Christchurch go via Sydney and London and from Wellington via Melbourne or Sydney and London. One further option is to pick up a cheap ticket to London, and then continue your journey to Amsterdam with one of the no-frills budget airlines.
From South Africa, KLM offers direct flights to Amsterdam, with services from Cape Town and Johannesburg. South African Airways offers one-stop flights via London and Frankfurt or Munich; Lufthansa via Frankfurt; and Virgin Atlantic via London.
Fares from Sydney or Melbourne are around A$1800–2000, and from Auckland A$2200. A return flight from Christchurch or Wellington will set you back around NZ$3000. Flights with KLM from Cape Town cost around R8600; from Johannesburg, R7300. Indirect flights via London or Frankfurt cost around R8000.
Getting there |
By train
The simplest and quickest way to travel from the UK to Amsterdam by train is to take the Eurostar service from London nonstop to Brussels. Trains depart from St Pancras International station (1hr 59min) in central London; and from Ebbsfleet International station (1hr 48min), off Junction 2 of the M25. Trains arrive at Bruxelles-Midi station (Brussel-Zuid in Dutch), from where plenty of fast trains – including the Thalys high-speed services (www.thalys.com) – head on to Amsterdam (around 2hr 30min). The total journey time from London is around six hours, and Eurostar can arrange a through ticket from any point in the UK.
A standard return fare to Amsterdam costs around £150, but special deals are commonplace, especially in the low season; and you can also sometimes reduce costs by accepting certain ticket restrictions. Book through Rail Europe or directly through the Eurostar website (for both, see "Rail contacts").
The Dutch Railways website (www.ns.nl) can give full timetable details (in English) of trains from stations in the UK to any station in the Netherlands.
A much longer – but cheaper – rail-and-ferry route, the Dutchflyer, is available through Stena Line in conjunction with National Express East Anglia trains. The journey operates twice daily (early morning and evening) with trains departing London’s Liverpool Street station bound for Harwich, where they connect with the ferry over to the Hook of Holland – the Hoek van Holland. The whole journey takes between nine and eleven hours. From the Hook, there are frequent trains onto Rotterdam (every 30min to 1hr; 30min), where you change for Amsterdam (1hr). As for fares, a standard return costs £70, £90 on an overnight sailing, cabin included – cabins are compulsory on overnight sailings. Tickets are available from National Express East Anglia trains