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Hop-scotching to Hoek van Holland, what to do?

My niece and I arrive in AMS from Paris around 1400 on Thurs, May 11th. We'll have the rest of Thursday in AMS, thinking of a bike ride/tour and just kicking back, Then planning an early reservation (calendar reminder already set! for Anne Frank on Friday, maybe VanGough or Rijks before wending our way to the ferry to the UK. My question(s): 1) If we hop-scotch to Haarlem and Leiden or The Hague, Delft or Rotterdam...what is there to do in the early to mid evening? The Ferry leaves HoH at 2200. Is there anything to do there if we got there early? What are the best stops on this journey? and 2) what sort of train ticket would permit us to get on and off wherever we felt like it? I'm assuming there will be luggage lockers at all of the above noted stations.

By the way, I haven't booked the ferry yet and I hear there are combo tickets but it's a little more challenging doing the Netherlands to UK journey. Any advice here would be helpful as well. When we get to Harwich we are going to Colchester for the day/night before heading into London.

Thanks so much!

Christine

Posted by
2487 posts

Hoek van Holland is not a place to hang around for hours. It's rather functional, to put it mildly.
With a train ticket from Amsterdam to Hoek van Holland you can have a stop at every station along this route. It involves a change at Schiedam, so you have the choice between Haarlem, Leiden, The Hague and Delft. They all have their attractions. As far as I can see, they all have luggage lockers except Delft.
Trains to Hoek van Holland run every half hour, so you have plenty of opportunities to have a look wherever you want, and have a decent meal before moving on to get your ferry connection.

Posted by
1078 posts

https://www.stenaline.co.uk/book-here's the link-we did it this last June with our grandson. There really is nothing to do in Hook other than get off the train and go through PP control and board. Would suggest that you pick up some pastries for breakfast as the offered breakfast on the ferry was underwhelming. It was our second trip going to the UK and we felt the price was well worth it.

Posted by
81 posts

Thanks, all. Looks like we can board the ferry as early as 7:00 PM for the 10:00 PM sailing so I think we'll just stop in Haarlem, rent bikes for a ride to the park or beach, have a nice dinner then time our arrival at the port to board. Packing breakfast/snacks is a good idea. Thank you!