Home › Travel Guides › Europe Travel Guide › Netherlands › Travel to Netherlands
Image gallery

Dutch windmills, Netherlands

© 123rf.com/Phillip Minnis

Travel to Netherlands

Flying to Netherlands

The national airline is KLM-Royal Dutch Airlines (KL) (www.klm.com). Easyjet (www.easyjet.com), Lufthansa (www.lufthansa.com) and Continental (www.continental.com) are among the many airlines offering regular flights to the Netherlands.

Arkefly (www.arkefly.nl), a Netherlands-based discount carrier, links Holland with Spain, Portugal, Greece and a few destinations in the US and Canada. Besides Schiphol, the Netherlands' principal airport near Amsterdam, the airports at Rotterdam, Eindhoven and Maastricht are also arrival points for international flights.

Flight times:

From London to Amsterdam is 1 hour 15 minutes and from New York is 7 hours 20 minutes.

Departure tax:

Included in ticket price.

Travel by rail

Eurostar operates direct high-speed trains from London St Pancras International to Brussels (journey time - 1 hour 55 minutes). From there, Thalys (tel: + 32 7079 7979, in Belgium; www.thalys.com) high-speed trains continue the journey to Amsterdam (2 hours). Through booking is available with Eurostar (tel: 0818 6186, in the UK only; www.eurostar.com) or Rail Europe (tel: 0844 848 4064, in the UK only; www.raileurope.co.uk).

As an alternative to the Channel Tunnel, rail travellers can take the Dutch Flyer (tel: 0844 576 2762, in the UK; http://www.stenaline.co.uk/ferry/rail-and-sail/holland), a rail-and-sail package, departing twice daily from London's Liverpool Street station to the port of Harwich. From there, a ferry crosses to Hoek van Holland, with an ongoing rail connection to Rotterdam, Den Haag or Amsterdam.

Rail passes:

InterRail: offers unlimited first- or second-class travel in up to 30 European countries for European residents of over six months with two pass options. The Global Pass allows either continuous travel (for 15 days, 22 days or a full month) or a set number of days within a fixed time period (five days in 10, or 10 days in 22).

The One-Country BeneLux Pass offers travel for three, four, six or eight days in one month through Luxembourg, The Netherlands and Belgium (they are grouped together as one). Travel is not allowed in the passenger's country of residence. Travellers under 26 years receive a reduction. Children's tickets are reduced by about 50%. Supplements are required for some high-speed services, seat reservations and couchettes. Discounts are offered on Eurostar and some ferry routes. Available from Rail Europe (www.raileurope.co.uk/inter-rail).

Eurailpass: (www.eurail.com) offers unlimited first-class train travel in 22 European countries. Tickets are valid for 15 days, 21 days, one month, two months or three months.

Driving to Netherlands

Eurotunnel (tel: 0844 335 3535, in the UK only; website: www.eurotunnel.com) runs shuttle trains for vehicles between Folkestone and Calais. Driving time from Calais to Amsterdam is approximately 3 hours. See also the car ferry operators listed under Getting There By Water.

Eurolines (tel: 0871 781 8181; www.eurolines.co.uk) offers bus service five times daily from Victoria Coach Station in London to Amsterdam's Amstel Station, with additional stops in Rotterdam and Den Haag (The Hague).

Getting to Netherlands by boat

Rotterdam, Hoek van Holland and IJmuiden are the main ports for ferry crossings from the UK. Cars and motorcycles can be transported on any of the following: Stenaline (tel: 0844 770 7070, in the UK; www.stenaline.co.uk) offers day and night crossings between Harwich and Hoek van Holland (6 hours 45 minutes); P&O Ferries (tel: 0871 664 2020, in the UK; www.poferries.nl) runs nightly between Hull and Rotterdam (8 hours); and DFDS Scandinavian Seaways (tel: 0871 522 9955 in the UK; www.dfdsseaways.co.uk) has a 5pm daily departure between Newcastle and IJmuiden (15 hours, 30 minutes), which is connected to Amsterdam by fast ferries.

Main ports: Rotterdam (www.portofrotterdam.com), Amsterdam (www.portofamsterdam.com), Dordrecht (www.portofdordrecht.nl), Groningen (www.groningen-seaports.com).

Recommended Sites:

Protect yourself from malaria
Before you travel, find out if your holiday destination is in a malaria zone.
(An educational initiative organised and funded by GlaxoSmithKline Travel Health. UK/MARK/0173/10 September 2010)
Travel insurance
For residents of over 150 countries. High levels of medical, evacuation, emergency & most adventure activities covered.