top of page

How to Travel to the Netherlands from the UK

There are four ways to travel from the UK to the Netherlands: plane, car, train and ferry. They all have different pros and cons which may influence your choice on the best way to travel between the two countries. Generally, travelling to the Netherlands is not particularly cheap unless you're flying RyanAir from Dublin.

 

Here we break it down for you. 

IMG_5238_edited.jpg

Aeroplane

​

Travelling to the Netherlands from the UK is definitely one of the easiest options. You can fly into Amsterdam from pretty much all UK airports multiple times per day. You also have a huge choice in airlines such as KLM, EasyJet, RyanAir, and British Airways. You can also fly to Rotterdam from London City airport too.

​​​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​​

​

​

​

​

​​​

Driving

​

Driving through the UK, across the Dover-Calais crossing and up to the Netherlands is likely only worth it if you're living in the south east of England and/or visiting the south of the Netherlands. You also need to book your ticket on the tunnel in advance and with traffic, you should over-estimate what time you will be there. Driving from Reading - as an example - to Amsterdam via this crossing can take around 8 hours provided no traffic. 

​​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Despite the length of the journey, bringing your car over to the NL can be a great experience, particularly if you're planning on a European road trip, perhaps through France and Belgium too. 

​

It is important that you check how to align your car with the EU standards and ensure your car is fit to bring across into Europe. This has changed since Brexit. Click here for the most up to to date rules. 

​

It could be more cost effective to rent a car on the other side at Amsterdam airport for example. This could arguably be safer as you're driving on the correct side of the car with more visibility with your headlights. In the Netherlands, you have popular car rental companies like Hertz. If you're travelling by ferry, please note that there is an additional charge for Hertz to deliver the rental car to the ports. This is not outlined clearly on their website.

​

 

Ferry

 

Getting the ferry is a very convenient way of travelling across to the Netherlands, particularly as you have three options.

​

Harwich (Essex) to Hoek van Holland -> Stenaline -> 7 hour day ferry, 9 hour overnight ferry.

​

Hull to Rotterdam -> P&O -> 11 hour overnight ferry 

​

Newcastle to Amsterdam -> DFDS -> 16 hour overnight ferry

​

Travelling via ferry from the UK to the Netherlands is certainly not the cheapest one but we honestly think that you save your money by travelling whilst you're asleep. You leave the UK in the evening, fall asleep on board and bang, you're in the NL in the early hours. Honestly, if we could marry the Harwich to Hoek van Holland ferry - we would. 

​​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

An example of a cabin in the ferry.​

​​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​​

You can also book a pet room and bring your pets stress-free. This is our cat Lola enjoying the upper bunk when we moved her to the Netherlands.​

​​​​

Train 

​

You can travel via Eurostar from London St Pancras. You can travel to Rotterdam in 3 hours and 35 minutes and Amsterdam in 4 hours. It is super convenient and a fair price. Plus you only need to be at the train station an hour or so before departure to go through border control and security. Aim to get the direct train so you don't have to muddle around with swapping trains at Brussels. Unless of course you fancy stopping off... check out our 3 Perfect Days in Brussels Itinerary. 

​

IMG_2733_edited.jpg
IMG_2735_edited.jpg
IMG_6398_edited.jpg

Pros​

  1. It is usually the most cost effective - Flying usually is a cheaper way to travel in between the two countries and does only take 40 minutes on average once you are in the air. 

  2. Easy access to major cities from the airport - Once you land into Schiphol, there is an easy train station underneath the airport which makes travelling to your desired city easy.

  3. Options for flight times - Travelling via plane often leads you with up to 8 or 10 options of flight times as there are constant connections between most UK airports and Amsterdam. Meaning you can pick the cheapest or most convenient one.

Cons​

  1. Delays - The amount of delays that UK airports face at the moment is astronomical. There is a very high chance that your plane into the NL will be delayed but your plane headed back will probably be ok and on time. ​

  2. Long security queues - As of 2024, Birmingham airport in particular have been switching to the new security scanners and therefore queues are longer than ever. Since 2025, it seems to have died down a little but it is still a very saturated airport.​

  3. Standing in passport queues at Amsterdam Schiphol - Amsterdam airport has the longest queues for you to wait in for your passport to be stamped. My record of waiting has been 2.5 hours. We have never gone through the immigration line faster than 50 minutes. Especially when so many flights from outside the EU come in at once, it can be a real nightmare. So does flying really save that much time and warrant the cost?

Untitled design (4).png
bottom of page