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The coach is actually my new favourite way to get there. It takes about 12 hours from London, but that trip is broken up into 4 smaller trips. It's about 3 hours down to dover, a 2 hour ferry crossing, 3 more hours to Brussels where there was an hour stop (Perfect opportunity to go for a beer), and then it's only 3 hours up to the Dam. Its quite a comfortable journey if it's not too busy, there are toilets & free wifi on-board and its a good way to meet fellow travelers.

Flying is not that much quicker. By the time you get to the airport, faff about with security etc.. and then get the train from Schipol, your still looking at 5 or 6 hours from your front door. I have driven there myself in 6 hours door to door.

The only problem with getting the coach is the return journey. It is very likely that you will get searched and therefore delayed at Calais, and again at Dover, but if you can get one of the dirt cheap fares, it's worth it.

I guess security via the coach is different now but when I went by coach about 12 years ago there was NO security check leaving Dover, just a passport control that was done on the coach itself. Coming back was just a fairly quick on & off with baggage and x-ray in Calais. I don't recall a check coming back out of the channel tunnel into England for some reason, it just went straight on to London for connecting coaches. The security as I recall was pretty basic even if they caught a few careless smuggler youths.

But it's not about the security for me but a cost, time arriving and hassle reasoning. If I wanted to take things over for people there then that certainly rules the flight out. I always said I'd never get the coach again after the first time but the flights are getting just a little to restrictive for my liking. And you can die a bloody thirst in Schipol coming back if your flight is dalayed as no shops or drinks machines once you get to the UK flights section of the airport past final security and you cant take a drink with you either!.

Well I've only taken the coach twice, but your experience sounds pretty much the same as mine. Going out is a breeze, but coming back there is definitely going to be a bag x-ray search at Calais, and possibly again at Dover which takes about an hour for the whole coach.

The first time I took the coach I was confident after the easy outward trip that I could bring back a few grams. I got as far as Victoria coach station thinking I'd made it until a policeman appeared and directed the coach into a massive police sting operation with dogs, x-ray machines, the full works! My heart sank into my stomach! I managed to stuff the weed in the seat between the cushion and plastic. The dog picked my scent up and I was thoroughly searched with used bongs and pipes in my bag, which they let me keep! As soon as I was free to go, I got out of there as fast as I could before they found the stashed weed in my seat!

Funnily though last time I bought a huge suitcase full of Belgian beer back that must have weighed about 40kg and customs didn't care one bit.

green8899 wrote:The coach is actually my new favourite way to get there. It takes about 12 hours from London, but that trip is broken up into 4 smaller trips. It's about 3 hours down to dover, a 2 hour ferry crossing, 3 more hours to Brussels where there was an hour stop (Perfect opportunity to go for a beer), and then it's only 3 hours up to the Dam. Its quite a comfortable journey if it's not too busy, there are toilets & free wifi on-board and its a good way to meet fellow travelers.

Flying is not that much quicker. By the time you get to the airport, faff about with security etc.. and then get the train from Schipol, your still looking at 5 or 6 hours from your front door. I have driven there myself in 6 hours door to door.

The only problem with getting the coach is the return journey. It is very likely that you will get searched and therefore delayed at Calais, and again at Dover, but if you can get one of the dirt cheap fares, it's worth it.

How is saving 6 or 7 hours in travel time, getting there faster than half the time "not that much quicker"? How much are you saving to take a bus instead of flying? I can fly from the USA and be out of Schipol faster than your bus trip! Seems like 4 legs of travel over 12 hours is much worse than the short flight and the time spent waiting around at airports.

ZBeebs wrote:

green8899 wrote:The coach is actually my new favourite way to get there. It takes about 12 hours from London, but that trip is broken up into 4 smaller trips. It's about 3 hours down to dover, a 2 hour ferry crossing, 3 more hours to Brussels where there was an hour stop (Perfect opportunity to go for a beer), and then it's only 3 hours up to the Dam. Its quite a comfortable journey if it's not too busy, there are toilets & free wifi on-board and its a good way to meet fellow travelers.

Flying is not that much quicker. By the time you get to the airport, faff about with security etc.. and then get the train from Schipol, your still looking at 5 or 6 hours from your front door. I have driven there myself in 6 hours door to door.

The only problem with getting the coach is the return journey. It is very likely that you will get searched and therefore delayed at Calais, and again at Dover, but if you can get one of the dirt cheap fares, it's worth it.

How is saving 6 or 7 hours in travel time, getting there faster than half the time "not that much quicker"? How much are you saving to take a bus instead of flying? I can fly from the USA and be out of Schipol faster than your bus trip! Seems like 4 legs of travel over 12 hours is much worse than the short flight and the time spent waiting around at airports.

What I really meant by that is flying and driving (by car) take about the same time give or take an hour or 2 from actually leaving your house to getting to central station. However, if flying takes about 6 hours from your house to get to Dam, and costs between £50-£80 return, and a coach that takes 13 hours from your house costs £11 return, at the end of the day it doesn't really make that much difference time wise if your staying there for a few days anyway, and you can also take the coach overnight and save on accommodation.

Flying is fine if money is not an issue, but I have had some ridiculously cheap trips to the dam by not being fussy about how I get there or where I stay.

In 2008 ish... I think... I got Ryan air flights to Eindhoven for 1p, so 'me and her' got return flights for 4p including no taxes and no other fees......4p came off the debit card. Admittedly the return train fare to dam from down in eindhoven was 30 euro or something but all in all, that was a fucking deal. Remember when Ryan air was actually cheap. Now they want 50 quid to bring a bag

I recently also got £15 return on the mega bus. 12 hours each way though. Having done that a few times now, i Don't know if maybe its me who should be paid really to get through a journey like that.

i could never sit on a bus for 12 hrs,

I just seen that in the news about the new baggage charge ryan air have and people pay that
in my country to fly to Amsterdam its either ryan air or aer lingus i wish we had easyjet or some other budget airline
imagine what the cost of plane tickets will be in ten years
anyway i will be in mokum next month

3-4hrs from leaving home to stepping into Voyagers by plane , 24hrs by coach !!!! It's a no brainer really , fuck the money

For fucks sake your all whingers. Me and Sal must be dedicated fucks, it took us nine hrs to Singapore wait three hrs then 13 hrs to Amsterdam by plane.

Slip & Sal wrote:For fucks sake your all whingers. Me and Sal must be dedicated fucks, it took us nine hrs to Singapore wait three hrs then 13 hrs to Amsterdam by plane.

Yeah but you get free booze the whole way

there is not enough free booze for a 25 hour flight you guys from down under are dedicated

Not enough free booze if you ask me. KLM didn't really dig it when I asked if there was a coffeeshop on the plane.

matty223 wrote:i could never sit on a bus for 12 hrs,

I hate buses...

Thought I paid a fair price with German Wings until I discovered that they charge passengers for seat choice by forcing them to select a seat when making reservations. What a scam... now this is a hidden charge. Not until the seat selection process did I know that I was required to pay an additional 20 Euros (36 if I selected a seat with more leg room).
People may hate on Ryanair for their nickle and dime fees, but at least one knows all of the them up front.
Here's something to think about - what percentage of the worlds population cannot afford to fly?
How many go into debt in order to travel by air, especially during holiday? emergencies?
Yeah, plane tickets are too expensive, but I don't hate on the airline companies... my problems are with airport authorities and their ridiculous fees including subsidizing airport shopping malls, hotels, and casinos (that last bit may not be accurate); and governments that impose two or three security fees ( how about just one? ).
Next time one looks at airfare, compare the cost that the airline charges to that of the fees that are imposed by other entities (except fuel surcharges and that lot of BS)...
Many examples, especially international travel, the fee charged by the airline is less than the total of the additional fees.

Happy flying...
...

UR its been a practice herw in the US to charge for isle seat exi,t row seatms extra leg room seat , for a few years now