I'm planning to buy an anonymous OV-kaart at Schiphol Airport when I land there in April. I know it can be used for any domestic train/metro/tram/bus in the Netherlands. But can it be used on an Intercity train (not Eurostar) to Antwerp?
There’s no need to buy a card. You can just use your credit card to tap in an out for the public transportation inside of the Netherlands. You will need to buy a train ticket when traveling to Belgium.
I have all the details in my trip report. Just scroll down to the public transportation section:
You can’t use an OV-chipcard nor tap your credit card if you want to take a train from the Netherlands to Belgium. You need to buy a ticket online or at the train station.
Thanks for the information!
We had the very same questions for our upcoming trip. Thanks for posting and the replies. Safe travels all.
As stated above, you have to go to the international desk at the train station to buy a ticket to Antwerp. The OV card is great if you're doing travel within the NL and using trams around Amsterdam, but would avoid buying one if that's not also part of your plan.
You have to go to the international desk? No tickets to Belgium available through the machines?
You can buy tickets to all train stations in Belgium online at https://www.nsinternational.com/en
Tickets to the major train stations in Belgium, such as Antwerp, should be available at the ticket machines you’ll find in every Dutch train station.