We are in the planning stages of our next trip to some areas of Europe that we have yet to explore. We would like opinions from those with experience as to which transportation connections and options would be most efficient: trains, planes, ferry, chunnel, car? Our goal is to link London with Belgium and the Netherlands, in any order, then traveling on to Germany. Or we can start in Germany and end in one of those previous countries. Our plans are very flexible at this time. I am posting this is in "To the West" and "To the North", too. Thanks for your input.
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London, United Kingdom
4684 posts
Train will definitely be most efficient in terms of time for the travel between London, Belgium and the Netherlands. Germany depends on where you are precisely, as it's a bigger country. But if you are travelling between London, Brussels and Amsterdam, the extra convenience of railway stations in the city centre will make up for any increase in headline journey time over air. The main rail providers you need to look at are Eurostar (for the London-Brussels leg), at www.eurostar.com, and Thalys, at www.thalys.com, which links Brussels with Amsterdam and with Cologne (Koln) in Germany. For trains within Germany or between Germany and Amsterdam, check at www.bahn.de. You will get much cheaper fares if you book in advance (from around ninety days) but the cheap fares tie you to specific trains, which may be a problem if you are flying into Europe and travelling a long distance by train the same day. As far as order goes, it's probably best to travel from wherever you are in Germany to Amsterdam, then Brussels, then London, or in the reverse order.