Netherlands Rail Fares - Why Advance purchase??
 

Is there any price advantage in advance purchase of train fares in the
Netherlands, or is it simply better to buy a ticket at a station and go
immediatly seeing that to most destinations trains run about every hour?
The various internet sites flogging tickets seem to suggest that advance
purchase is cheaper, and there are so many "resellers" taht it seems hard to
find the "real" Dutch rail fares amongst all the commercial ticket reseller
hype like RailEurope trying to sell tickets to tourists.

I don't want to advance purchase, because I will be wanting to go to various
places to buy a boat in Holland, and won't know exactly where next till it
happens.

Is there an internet site to get good factual advice on rail travel in
Holland, free of all the confusing ticket reseller hype and commercial crap
one commonly finds.

Perhaps hiring a car woul be much cheaper for two people travelling
together, as the one way fare from Amsterdam to Sneek quoted on RailEurope
website was A$56, so A$112 for two, and you can hire a car for several days
for less than that. I have driven a lot (50,000Kms) in Europe so experience
is not an issue.

Netherlands Rail Fares - Why Advance purchase??
 

On 08/08/10 05:11, CamperVanner wrote:

Perhaps hiring a car woul be much cheaper for two people travelling
together, as the one way fare from Amsterdam to Sneek quoted on RailEurope
website was A$56, so A$112 for two, and you can hire a car for several days
for less than that. I have driven a lot (50,000Kms) in Europe so experience
is not an issue.

If you are looking at/for boats in NL, I think you need a car.Many of
the harbours are a long way from the nearest station.

This website is useful fir finding second hand boats http://www.botenbank.nl

It was even more useful when the website was multilingual.

Netherlands Rail Fares - Why Advance purchase??
 

CamperVanner wrote on Aug 8, 2010:

Is there any price advantage in advance purchase of train fares in the
Netherlands, or is it simply better to buy a ticket at a station and go
immediatly seeing that to most destinations trains run about every hour?
The various internet sites flogging tickets seem to suggest that advance
purchase is cheaper, and there are so many "resellers" taht it seems hard to
find the "real" Dutch rail fares amongst all the commercial ticket reseller
hype like RailEurope trying to sell tickets to tourists.

I don't want to advance purchase, because I will be wanting to go to various
places to buy a boat in Holland, and won't know exactly where next till it
happens.

Is there an internet site to get good factual advice on rail travel in
Holland, free of all the confusing ticket reseller hype and commercial crap
one commonly finds.

Perhaps hiring a car woul be much cheaper for two people travelling
together, as the one way fare from Amsterdam to Sneek quoted on RailEurope
website was A$56, so A$112 for two, and you can hire a car for several days
for less than that. I have driven a lot (50,000Kms) in Europe so experience
is not an issue.



I would have thought that hiring a car is obviously the best way. Trains are
all very well for travelling between city centres, but how are you going to
get to the actual places where these boats are being sold? Taxi?

--
Mike Lane
UK North Yorkshire
mike_lane at mac dot com

Netherlands Rail Fares - Why Advance purchase??
 

CamperVanner in :

Is there any price advantage in advance purchase of train fares in the
Netherlands, or is it simply better to buy a ticket at a station and go
immediatly seeing that to most destinations trains run about every hour?
The various internet sites flogging tickets seem to suggest that advance
purchase is cheaper, and there are so many "resellers" taht it seems hard to
find the "real" Dutch rail fares amongst all the commercial ticket reseller
hype like RailEurope trying to sell tickets to tourists.

I don't want to advance purchase, because I will be wanting to go to various
places to buy a boat in Holland, and won't know exactly where next till it
happens.

Is there an internet site to get good factual advice on rail travel in
Holland, free of all the confusing ticket reseller hype and commercial crap
one commonly finds.

Perhaps hiring a car woul be much cheaper for two people travelling
together, as the one way fare from Amsterdam to Sneek quoted on RailEurope
website was A$56, so A$112 for two, and you can hire a car for several days
for less than that. I have driven a lot (50,000Kms) in Europe so experience
is not an issue.

The official website is http://www.ns.nl/. At the first glance, the fares
system is simple, and a one way trip from Amsterdam to Sneek is 25,20 €
tonight as well as in one month, starting in the morning. A day ticket is
45,40 €, best buy for 250 km and more, as they say. No advantage for
advance booking has been noticed.

The advantage of a car might be to be more mobile at your destinations,
driving to the shipyards, hotels and the like. My vague memory of the
traffic there is "disciplined, no speeding". Yet, parking in the city
centers might be a subject.

Have a nice trip!

Paul

Netherlands Rail Fares - Why Advance purchase??
 

for apatrids incapable of understanding the language in the country they've
been living in for the last 20 years


"Martin" a écrit dans le message de groupe de
discussion : ...
On 08/08/10 05:11, CamperVanner wrote:

Perhaps hiring a car woul be much cheaper for two people travelling
together, as the one way fare from Amsterdam to Sneek quoted on
RailEurope
website was A$56, so A$112 for two, and you can hire a car for several
days
for less than that. I have driven a lot (50,000Kms) in Europe so
experience
is not an issue.

If you are looking at/for boats in NL, I think you need a car.Many of the
harbours are a long way from the nearest station.

This website is useful fir finding second hand boats
http://www.botenbank.nl

It was even more useful when the website was multilingual.

Netherlands Rail Fares - Why Advance purchase??
 

On 08/09/2010 12:12 AM, Martin wrote:
On Sun, 08 Aug 2010 19:53:59 +0200, Paul wrote:

CamperVanner :

Is there any price advantage in advance purchase of train fares in the
Netherlands, or is it simply better to buy a ticket at a station and go
immediatly seeing that to most destinations trains run about every hour?
The various internet sites flogging tickets seem to suggest that advance
purchase is cheaper, and there are so many "resellers" taht it seems hard to
find the "real" Dutch rail fares amongst all the commercial ticket reseller
hype like RailEurope trying to sell tickets to tourists.

I don't want to advance purchase, because I will be wanting to go to various
places to buy a boat in Holland, and won't know exactly where next till it
happens.

Is there an internet site to get good factual advice on rail travel in
Holland, free of all the confusing ticket reseller hype and commercial crap
one commonly finds.

Perhaps hiring a car woul be much cheaper for two people travelling
together, as the one way fare from Amsterdam to Sneek quoted on RailEurope
website was A$56, so A$112 for two, and you can hire a car for several days
for less than that. I have driven a lot (50,000Kms) in Europe so experience
is not an issue.

The official website ishttp://www.ns.nl/. At the first glance, the fares
system is simple, and a one way trip from Amsterdam to Sneek is 25,20 €
tonight as well as in one month, starting in the morning. A day ticket is
45,40 €, best buy for 250 km and more, as they say. No advantage for
advance booking has been noticed.

The advantage of a car might be to be more mobile at your destinations,
driving to the shipyards, hotels and the like. My vague memory of the
traffic there is "disciplined, no speeding". Yet, parking in the city
centers might be a subject.

A better description is aggressive and can be very fast on motorways despite the
speed limits. Parking in city centres is expensive.Luckily most boatyards have
their own parking and aren't in city centres.

Well, the driving might be faster if the Netherlands didn't have such a
lot of traffic on the motorways.

Netherlands Rail Fares - Why Advance purchase??
 

On Sun, 8 Aug 2010 13:11:57 +1000, "CamperVanner"
wrote:

Is there any price advantage in advance purchase of train fares in the
Netherlands, or is it simply better to buy a ticket at a station and go
immediatly seeing that to most destinations trains run about every hour?
The various internet sites flogging tickets seem to suggest that advance
purchase is cheaper, and there are so many "resellers" taht it seems hard to
find the "real" Dutch rail fares amongst all the commercial ticket reseller
hype like RailEurope trying to sell tickets to tourists.

Websites like RailEurope are generally much more expensive than
buying tickets on the ground when you get there. And they never
mention the many discounts offered by by the rail lines.

I suggest going to the offial Netherlands rail site at
http://www.ns.nl/cs/Satellite/travellers

I haven't looked too deeply into the site, but it may be possible
to order your tickets and pick them up when you arrive in the
Netherlands. Still, I've never had a problem buying rail tickets
at the station on the day of departure. Major events and local
holidays could make it hard to get tickets, though.


--
************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

Netherlands Rail Fares - Why Advance purchase??
 

"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 09 Aug 2010 16:20:13 +0200, Tom P wrote:

SNIP

Well, the driving might be faster if the Netherlands didn't have such a
lot of traffic on the motorways.

Yes, they are saturated in some places.
--

Martin


We were in the Netherlands in April and June (with a car trip to Scandinavia
in between) and had no saturation problems at all. But then we picked our
travel times. :-)
The only time we had a problem was near Hamburg on the way to Denmark.

But you are right about the railway stations being (mostly) a long way from
the boatyards. I would not hesitate to rent a car.

Gerrit - in sunny Albany Western Australia


--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ---

Netherlands Rail Fares - Why Advance purchase??
 

On 10/08/10 04:42, Gerrit wrote:

"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 09 Aug 2010 16:20:13 +0200, Tom P wrote:

SNIP

Well, the driving might be faster if the Netherlands didn't have such a
lot of traffic on the motorways.

Yes, they are saturated in some places.
--

Martin


We were in the Netherlands in April and June (with a car trip to
Scandinavia in between) and had no saturation problems at all. But then
we picked our travel times. :-)

:o)

The A4 near Leiden locks up every day. There is section that is still
only two lanes each way.
The A44 from Leiden to Wassenaar locks up every day.
....
The Rotterdam ring seems to have improved, maybe there is less traffic.

The only time we had a problem was near Hamburg on the way to Denmark.

But you are right about the railway stations being (mostly) a long way
from the boatyards. I would not hesitate to rent a car.

Gerrit - in sunny Albany Western Australia

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ---

Nice to hear from you again, Gerrit.

Netherlands Rail Fares - Why Advance purchase??
 

On 08/10/2010 04:42 AM, Gerrit wrote:

"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 09 Aug 2010 16:20:13 +0200, Tom P wrote:

SNIP

Well, the driving might be faster if the Netherlands didn't have such a
lot of traffic on the motorways.

Yes, they are saturated in some places.
--

Martin


We were in the Netherlands in April and June (with a car trip to
Scandinavia in between) and had no saturation problems at all. But then
we picked our travel times. :-)
The only time we had a problem was near Hamburg on the way to Denmark.

But you are right about the railway stations being (mostly) a long way
from the boatyards. I would not hesitate to rent a car.

Gerrit - in sunny Albany Western Australia

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ---

It depends which part of the country. North of Amsterdam is fairly
quiet. The area Amsterdam, Utrecht, den Haag, Rotterdam is really crowded.

T.