We will be traveling (family with 2 teenagers) in late April. We are hoping to avoid renting a car. Our itinerary includes Haarlem, Delft with side trip to Leiden, and Amsterdam with day trips to Edam/ Volendam/ Marken and Utrecht. Should we but separate train / bus tickets or is there a more economical pass that would cover our destinations?
Thanks!
You have to do the maths. Plan your itinerary, add the cost of all individual tickets and compare that to the price of a pass. That's the only way to find out.
Good to know: If it makes sense to combine any of your side trips, you are allowed to make stops along the way and get back on with an individual ticket for a given train route at no extra cost as long is it is on the same route and the same day.
The places you mention are largely served by Connexxion (bus) and some information on tickets can be found here including offers: https://www.connexxion.nl/en/tickets.
What could be interesting though for trips around Amsterdam is an Amsterdam & Region Travel Ticket (https://www.gvb.nl/en/travel-products/tourists).
An Off-Peak Group Ticket could be another option to consider: https://www.ns.nl/producten/en/meest-gekocht/p/groepsticket-daluren.
Thank you everyone. I did a bit of math and it looks like we will be doing individual tickets. That was great information that we can get off in between the start and end of a trip. That will help greatly if we decide to stop in Leiden or add in other small sites along the way.
I'm planning my trip for the spring and after pricing the train trips, it will be just under 90 euros if I do all I wish.
The OV chip card seems to be my best option. I like the idea of a personal card (vs the anonymous version) because it can re-fill (top-off) automatically if you set it up.
I think the ease of a pre-paid card will be good.
Have a great trip!
Nowadays when you can easily use your debit or credit card to tap in and out in public transport, the OV chipcard is no longer the best option for tourists. This is because both the anonymous and the personal OV chipcard cost €7,50 to purchase. In addition to that you need a European bank account to set up the personalized OV Chipcard, so the public transport can use direct debit.
When you use your credit card to tap in and out, the fare is the same as when you would use a OV chipcard. More information about this can be found here; https://www.ovpay.nl/en
This might also be interesting for you: https://www.ns.nl/producten/en/reizen-in-de-daluren/p/groepsticket-daluren
