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Ferry Services UK to Amsterdam / Holland
There are 3 ferry services running across the North Sea from the UK to Netherlands - Harwich to Hook of Holland, Newcastle to Amsterdam Ijmuiden and Hull to Rotterdam. If you are not keen on flying or enjoy travelling by ship then these could be good alternatives, especially if you live in the north or east Anglia. |
1. Stena Line "Rail-Sail" Dutch Flyer Service
This is a combination ticket that includes a Stena Line ferry from Harwich to Hoek van Holland and also rail tickets in both UK and Netherlands. From the UK you travel from any of the National Express East Anglia stations including: London Liverpool Street, Ipswich, Colchester, Norwich and Cambridge. The train will take you to Harwich International ferry terminal.
From Harwich there are 2 daily ferries running to Hoek van Holland - one is a day service, the other an overnight sailing. Note, you are obliged to buy a cabin on the overnight service which will be a little more expensive. The journey across the North Sea takes 6 hours 15 minutes.
At the Dutch end you can continue your journey from Hoek van Holland train station to Rotterdam Central and from there to any station on the NS rail network - including Amsterdam which takes 1 hour.
From the UK one-way tickets (UK rail+ferry+NS rail) are priced from £29 and this fare must be booked at least 14 days in advance. From Netherlands you can do the return journey from €45 (NS rail+ferry+UK rail) or from €39 (ferry+UK rail).
Because the train journeys are included this is an excellent deal, especially if you have to get to other parts of the Netherlands.
2. DFDS Seaways Service from Newcastle to Amsterdam
Daily overnight ferry service which takes around 15 hours. The ship arrives at Ijmuiden, a seaside port about 20 km west of Amsterdam - don't be put off by the large steel works close by! Ijmuiden also has a marina with a Holiday Inn hotel and the start of a good (blue-flag) beach running south.
DFDS has a bus service running to the Hotel Victoria on Damrak, near Amsterdam Central station. Connexxion operates public buses from Ijmuiden to Amsterdam plus a hydrofoil ferry from nearby Velsen Zuid to Amsterdam.
Special offer ferry packages are available from about £50 return each for 2 people.
3. P&O Ferry from Hull to Rotterdam
Daily overnight ferry service which takes 10-11 hours. There are buses from the Europoort Rotterdam to Rotterdam and Amsterdam. Standard prices from £120 return, bus is charged at £12.50 each way. From Netherlands last minute 'mini-cruise' deals are available for 2 people from €79 per person.
Alternative: There is an overnight Norfolkline (DFDS) service running 3-x-weekly between Zeebrugge (Belgium) and Rosyth (Edinburgh) in Scotland. The ferry sails from Rosyth at 1700 (Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday) arriving in Zeebrugge the following day at 1400. The ship then departs from Zeebrugge at 1800 (Monday/Wednesday/Saturday) and arrives back in Scotland at 1300 the next day. At Zeebrugge it is possible to connect to the Belgian rail network and travel to Netherlands via Brussels or Antwerp.