Train

Five Excellent Things to do in The Netherlands

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A couple of weeks ago I finally made the jaunt across the channel to The Netherlands, and it fast became one of my favourite countries. I began with the obvious – Amsterdam, before moving on to some slightly less touristy locations such as Rotterdam and Kinderdijk. My 8 days in The Netherlands, most of all, were made pleasant by the local people. The Dutch are amongst the friendliest and happiest people I have ever encountered. Everywhere I went I was met with smiling, helpful people. When I took the train, the staff at the station were helpful, the announcements on board where clear and informative. It was the people of the Netherlands that made sure my trip went smoothly and left me excited to make another trip there. Admittedly, there is still so much of The Netherlands to see and I most definitely intend to go back and see more of it when I can, but for now, here is my list of five excellent things to do in the Netherlands.

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Train Travel in the UK

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Train travel in the UK can be confusing at best, so I’ve put together a brief guide to getting around mainland England, and in particular the best ways to use public transport in London.

Around the UK

National rail operates the trains within England, with different routes being covered by different train companies. You can check the timetable here, and buy tickets at a number of ticket providers online (e.g. National Rail, TheTrainLine), direct from the train company’s website (e.g. EastCoast, First Great Western, Southern Trains, Virgin Trains) or call center, or at ticket offices or from automated machines in stations. You can buy tickets in advance of the date you want to travel, and some companies allow you to reserve seats if you book online or over the phone.
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Train Travel in Continental Europe:
A Beginner’s Guide to InterRail

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InterRail provides passes to European residents for train travel in Europe. The scheme boasts major discounts on some train travel, and the freedom of hop-on, hop-off travel across the majority of European countries (see exceptions below). If you’re not a European resident, you can take a look at Eurail passes instead. You can by passes to cover a single country, or to cover the whole of Europe. However, you do need to check in advance whether or not the country and / or train you are traveling on uses reservations, as this will restrict your travel a little.

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