On April 24 we plan to take the train from Paris - Haarlem, unless they aren’t allowing visitors in the Netherlands. We do have a Plan B in the event that happens. I looked at the train schedule on my OUI.sncf app and it showed Your search criteria does not match any available train journey.
Is it too early to look at trains for that date? Is there another site I should be looking at?
Thanks for any information you can provide.
Yes, that is too early. And yes, you should be using https://www.nsinternational.com or http://www.thalys.com
Haven't checked schedules but it is possible that you would have to go Paris to Amsterdam and switch to a local train to Haarlem. That could account for the message.
You will go into Amsterdam and then change trains to Haarlem.
Same station, easy transfer, probably 2 different tickets though.
I don't think that there is a reason to buy the second leg in advance as it's basically a commuter train which runs about every half hour as I recall.
Thanks everyone. I was looking at Paris - Amsterdam, knowing it would be easy to get another train to Haarlem. The Thalys site says no trains are available on 4/24. There are trains available the next day. The nsinternational site had trains on 4/24, but shows that “Engineering works may occur on this track, thus the itinerary is not definitive. For direct Thalys trains please check your travel at a later moment.”
My takeaway is that train travel on 4/24 between Paris and Amsterdam is iffy at best. I hate to do it, but maybe we just have to fly.
Andrea, Kate ran into the Thalys problem the week before…she was trying to get to Paris on the 18th but has been forced to go early, lol.
Easter weekend track engineering work on the Brussels-Amsterdam section.
Pam, I think Kate ran into the track work timeline on Easter weekend. She was able to work around it by changing her travel days.
Sam, we will be traveling the Sunday after Easter. Maybe weekends are all going to be like that for awhile? If we don’t travel on the 24th and wait until the next day we will have to pay for two places to stay on the 24th. We will fly if it comes to that.
I loved Haarlem. Are you planning on a visit to the Corrie Ten Boom House? I think they have one tour a day in English. Not sure what Covid has done to future tours.
We booked online in advance.
My takeaway is that train travel on 4/24 between Paris and Amsterdam
is iffy at best. I hate to do it, but maybe we just have to fly.
Why not just do as suggested and "check your travel at a later moment"? I understand that it is nice to have most of your tickets booked in advance. But this is not a strange thing, track maintenance happens and it usually means trains go on sale a bit later for those days as the schedules need to be reworked. Then you just have to wait a bit and buy your tickets later, but since noone else can buy tickets either the prices will not skyrocket as you wait.
Diane, I do plan to go there. We have a week in Haarlem and if we make it there, depending on what’s happening with Covid and any shutdowns, I have a lot of places I want to go. Our Plan B is to stay in France.
Badger, I will definitely wait a bit to see what happens before buying an airline ticket. Thanks for your help.
I've never traveled by train before in Europe.
Do we handle our own luggage the whole way?
Any other tips to pass on would be appreciated.
Hello heyzink.
Yes, you have to be able to load your own luggage on and off trains in Europe.
And keep an eye on it while traveling.
Look at the website
It's very useful.
A good incentive to packing light!
