France to The 'Dam (By Train)

[redeyezman]

I'll be traveling to Amsterdam, and quite a few other places in early April of this year. I will have the 15 day Euro Pass that gives unlimited train rides, but it requires reservations, and wont be following an itinerary that strictly. So my question is this:

What are the odds of not being able to get on a train from France to the Dam or other locations, because reservations are booked solid 24-48 hours in advance of a train departure?

[liquidSwords]

Are you in Dam for 4-20??

If thats the case make sure u book at least a week in advance . Have a good trip

[redeyezman]

No. I'll be there and gone before 4-15! Hope I don't miss to much good gear though!

[liquidSwords]

Hope I don't miss to much good gear though!

I arrive on the 19th

You wont miss the good gear, i hear Voyagers has a great menu at the moment, Damkring and Grey Area always have something to offer and De Pijp area has a few great coffeeshops.

Just one thing dude, leave some "good gear" for me and the rest of us arriving the following week

[redeyezman]

I'm bringing my Hackintosh so I'll try to get on and leave a good review of the sativa's I find. All the posts on here regarding sativa get so off topic so fast.

[Boner]

As long as you're not looking to stop during Easter (24th?) or Queensday (30th) you should be fine just turning up, have a look here: http://www.booking.com/country/nl.html?aid=200156 around your provisional dates just too see whats available.

[redeyezman]

Seems as though this thread has got a bit off-topic. The question I have:

What are the odds of not being able to get on a train from France to the Dam or other locations, because train seat reservations are booked solid 24-48 hours in advance of a train departure?

I will be using the 15-day unlimited euro pass.

[YourGuru]

Seems as though this thread has got a bit off-topic. The question I have:

What are the odds of not being able to get on a train from France to the Dam or other locations, because train seat reservations are booked solid 24-48 hours in advance of a train departure?

I will be using the 15-day unlimited euro pass.

Mom's an agent... And I travel the Paris Noord-Cantraal often enough...


If you travel on a weekday, you should have little trouble getting on a train headed to Amsterdam. Weekends might be a crunch for immediate travel but the following day might be obtainable. Overall your odds are 3:5 you will get on the train short notice on a weekday and 1:4 on a weekend. But then again I'm not a bookie by trade.

For other countries I think that 48 hr notice is plenty. If the train is fully booked just head to the station and go on standby. It's just like plane travel when it comes to getting in the queue; first come, first served.



~Ian

[redeyezman]

Seems as though this thread has got a bit off-topic. The question I have:

What are the odds of not being able to get on a train from France to the Dam or other locations, because train seat reservations are booked solid 24-48 hours in advance of a train departure?

I will be using the 15-day unlimited euro pass.

Mom's an agent... And I travel the Paris Noord-Cantraal often enough...


If you travel on a weekday, you should have little trouble getting on a train headed to Amsterdam. Weekends might be a crunch for immediate travel but the following day might be obtainable. Overall your odds are 3:5 you will get on the train short notice on a weekday and 1:4 on a weekend. But then again I'm not a bookie by trade.

For other countries I think that 48 hr notice is plenty. If the train is fully booked just head to the station and go on standby. It's just like plane travel when it comes to getting in the queue; first come, first served.



~Ian

Is there a website I can do such reservations from my mobile smart phone?

[Balou]

Unless things have changed, the Eurail Pass only covers Intercity trains. And you would have to pay a supplement for the Thalys. With that said, the Intercity trains in the Netherlands do not take reservations. You would have to take a train to either Belgium or Germany and then on to the Netherlands. The only time I had to make a train reservation was when I used the CityNiteLine.

Peace,
Balou

[redeyezman]

Things must have changed.

http://www.raileurope.com/rail-tickets- ... index.html

[Rasa]

Not to say I know anything about the odds. But I have Never... I repeat Never had a smudgeon of trouble finding a seat on these trains, in fact every time i've taken the Thalys from Paris to Amsterdam or Bruxelles to Amsterdam there have been a ridiculous amount of open seats. Like everyone else said maybe on a holiday like Queensday there would be a small chance you couldnt reserve a seat but they have the train running that line multiple times a day so I would not worry about it at all. I will be traveling with a Eurail pass and taking the same route and have not even bothered once worrying about it... you will be absolutely fine!

[redeyezman]

Thanks for the huge boost of confidence!

[Balou]

Things must have changed.

http://www.raileurope.com/rail-tickets- ... index.html

You might want to read this also. http://www.eurailinfo.com/info-speed.htm

Peace,
Balou

PS - I also found this directly on the Thalys site http://www.thalys.com/fr/en/fares/pass- ... /Amsterdam

[SkinAnother]

Thalys runs up to 26 trains per day to Amsterdam Centraal from Paris Nord, went a few weeks ago on a Monday morning and half my carriage was empty. You should be fine but be prepared to pay a supplement for it.