Take the train to Holland (for less than you think)

Ok. To clarify something I’ve been raving about for a year or so now, and to follow on from my trip to Haarlem in the Netherlands (see below). I travelled the whole way by train, and my ticket London – Brussels – Haarlem – London cost just £74 return, all inclusive.

Eurostar now sell through train tickets from UK train stations to a number of European cities; the faster journey from London to Lille, Brussels, or Paris means that you can reach almost any part of western Europe in a door-to-door time that is either comparable or only marginally longer than the equivilent door-to-door journey time of flying.

A Eurostar ticket from London to Brussels is automatically valid to any station in Belgium. This is neat, but here’s something neater. Eurostar.com can sell you a through ticket to Amsterdam and several other Dutch cities. But beware – these tickets are for fast connections from Brussels on the French / Belgian / Dutch Thalys high speed trains. These sell at a premium over regular Intercity, Eurocity and domestic trains. You can save a bundle and enjoy extra flexibility by telephoning Eurostar (0845 7303030 or 01233 617575) and asking for a similar but subtly different type of ticket. The “Any Dutch Station” ticket costs a flat £15 (for a youth or senior concession, and I belive £20 for an adult) more than than a London – Brussels return ticket. But it allows you to travel onwards to any station in the Netherlands on any train other than the high speed Thalys for twenty-four hours after your arrive in Brussels. Likewise, the return is undated, and can be used any time in the twenty-four hours before your return Eurostar leaves Brussels.

So I was able to stop off in Brussels for a night on the way out, and again in Antwerp on the return. Not only did I get a ticket from London to Haarlem for about the same as a plane ticket (including all taxes, charges and airport transfers) I got two free stopovers and utter flexibility to get around.

To get this ticket you need to call Eurostar – the website can’t sell it. Find the cheapest / most convenient London – Brussels ticket online, and then ask the telesales agent to book those trains with the “Any Dutch Station” add-on. Comfortable and reasonably fast intercity trains leave Brussels Midi every hour throughout the day for mainline stations to Amsterdam, and that is your stepping stone for a great train trip to Holland.

There is a rose in (Dutch) Haarlem

I was back in Haarlem last weekend. Haarlem is the attractive small city about fifteen easy minutes on train west of Amsterdam that I first visited many years ago, and subsequently revisited last year as part of my dissertation research.

During that trip I interviewed the well known and very well regarded cartoonist and illustrator Joost Swarte. He came to speak in Sheffield a few months later, and reminded me of the biannual comics festival he has been instrumental in organising in the city. It being the weekend after my final exams, how could I refuse? With Eurostar now twenty minutes faster to Brussels, and a door-to-door train ticket purchased for eighty English quid, I was on my way, taking advantage of the ludicrously flexible train ticket that allowed for a night in Brussels en route. The festival was brilliant; as well as browsing dozens of stands belonging to comics retailers from across the Netherlands and Belgium, I attended a few events and even hobnobbed with some of my favourite artists.

But I suspect the real draw for me was the city itself.

I don’t believe I’ve found a more attractive town in northern Europe. The dense central core of Haarlem is just perfect in my eyes. It’s almost a miniature Amsterdam, only there are no drunken British stag weekends and no spaced out American backpackers overdoing it in the coffeeshops.

Herman Hertzberger guided me through my undergraduate architectural education, with his incisive and beautifully compiled design manuals (one and two) for students of architecture. Meandering through the streets of Haarlem, I politely develop the theory that while Hertzberger was a talented designer, much of his commonsense design tips were derived from a close observation of the Dutch cityscape. Every home in the centre of Haarlem seems to have some interaction with the street; every doorway and porch extends beyond the wooden doorframe and takes possession of the threshold between street and home. Despite the proximity of the public street to private homes, layers of ownership and threshold are almost inherently nurtured and manifested with benches, potted plants and privately owned street furniture. This is a dreamy place to get lost in on a summer’s afternoon. Every open doorway or chair that has been lifted out onto the pavement brings a friendly “Hallo” from a Haarlemer catching the sun or enjoying a glass of wine.

I have to be careful about romanticising places I visit on my travels – it’s something I seem to do a lot. I remember returning from my first international holiday as a child (we went to Legoland near Billund in Denmark) thinking that Denmark must be the greatest country in the world. Domestic disagreements with utility firms / politicians / public transport (delete as approrpiate, although I’m not deleting any) usually lead me to see everything through rose tinted spectacles when I’m on holiday. However I’m fairly confident when I say that Haarlem and maybe even Nord-Holland in general is an area I’d consider living in one day. I don’t speak the language but I perfected French by pushing myself into the deep end of a francophone swimming pool, so why not Dutch?

During the festival I noticed a flyer announcing the 2010 dates of the next Stripdagen. Having enjoyed so much the way in which the Grote Markt (above) filled with comics sellers and fans, I look forward to returning in a couple of years’ time to rediscover this colourful and friendly Dutch city.

Snapshot: train kisses the buffers in Dordrecht

Seen through the window of my train from Brussels to The Hague yesterday morning – a local train operated by Arriva (Nederlands Spoorwegen has begun to privatise parts of its network) failed to stop in time at one of Dordrecht station’s bay platforms, mounting the buffers and concrete platform. Nine passengers, the driver and conductor were all uninjured.