getting from Amsterdam to Koln
 

Anyone know if you can do this journey by bus? If so, where can I go to get info on times and prices. Or by train? I've found the Netherlands Railways site but can't locate info on prices.

Is there anywhere interesting to stop on the way? If it involves a detour that's fine as long as it can be done on public transport.

Thanks for any info you can provide.

You can take the train - which coes through Brussels - look at www.thalys.be

Lawchick, I doubt very much the way through Brussels would make sense.

There are regular ICE trains from Amsterdam to Cologne and on to Frankfurt (via Oberhausen) every 2 hours

www.bahn.de

The ICE trains mentioned by altamiro make the trip in 2hr40min and the 2nd class fare is €52.80. Click on "Internat. Guests" to view the bahn.de site in English.

You can take a Eurolines coach for €22. However, it doesn't run every day. See www.eurolines.com.

We took the train between Cologne and Amsterdam in April and it was really easy. I think it was about 2.5 hours. We bought our tickets upstairs at the train station in Amsterdam (you have to buy international routes on the second level, near the Burger King)

Agreed. You don't go thru Brussels. We used a Germain rail pass but had to buy a ticket for the Amsterdam->border segment.

I offered the via Brussels route solely as a detour.

Sorry, misunderstood you.
It is actually not a bad idea (I found Brussels a strange city, but definitely worth visiting) but the detour is quite substantial.

Thx to all. I'd found the German Railways site - Wow what a useful tool!!

And I'd found Eurolines. Thank you Tim for making me revisit it. I couldn't find "Netherlands", you see, and so gave up. haha. Idiot!! Cos on this site it's "The Netherlands". lesson learned I hope.

The plan originally was to travel Amsterdam to Berlin by train but the first costings I got on that were more than I expected. I then found I could go from Koln (which I fancy seeing again after a very short visit years ago) to Berlin for 49 euros, and started to wonder what other options there might be.

So the bus is 22eur, and perhaps even 15eur booking in advance, though maybe 7eur isn't a big enough saving to sacrifice some flexibility.

I have a follow up question though about he Koln-Berlin sector.

98eur is the std oneway fare.
49eur is the discount bookable fare.
29eur is also mentioned but always with a "no single tickets available" rider.

Does anyone know what the rules for this super cheap fare are?

There are tickets from Amsterdam to Berlin from €58 return. If you don't want to return throw away the ticket. You have to book at least 14 days in advance, and there are only a few tickets available on each train.

chimani,

The "no single tickets available" simply means that the seats at that price are sold out.

If you want to save the cost of a night in a hotel, you could take an IC train from Amsterdam to Bruxelles-Midi and then the night train from there to Berlin Hbf. If you book the night train far enough in advance at http://buchung.nachtzugreise.de, you can get a bunk in a six-person couchette for €39 and in a four-person couchette for €49.

I've done night train Amsterdam-Berlin several times and have always gone Amsterdam- Duisburg for the night train to Berlin and there is some kind of ICN train from Amsterdam you can take and then change at Duisburg to the ICN or NZ or whatever - maybe get a thru discounted fare at bahn.de if not the ticket to Duisburg would approximate to Brussels.

CNL 319 leaves amsterdam Centraal nightly 20:32 ar Duisburg 22:53

NZ 1449 leaves Duisburg 23:19 ar Berlin 4:43am!

Thomas Cooks says "A special connection ticket is required for passengers changing trains at Duisburg to Berlin NZ night train."

whether this is a special price or regular ticket is a mystery but check bahn.de for Amsterdam-Berlin night fares and see if they have similar ones to Brussels-Berlin

Brussels-Berlin may be more convenient however as you leave Midi 23:41 and arrive in Berlin at a more tolerable hour - 8:11 am

When are you planning on going? One month from now you can buy a single from Amsterdam to Berlin for €29. Leaves Ams 10.56 arrive Berlin 17.18.

hetismij,

I couldn't find that €29 fare for Amsterdam-Berlin for any September date on www.bahn.de. So on a hunch, I checked www.ns.nl, the Dutch rail site. Sure enough! It showed up as a special fare there. Is that where you found it or was it someplace else?

Yes, I looked at the NS site. SInce I speak and read Dutch it is the easiest site for me. Anyway I hope it helps and you can get the ticket you want.

Fantastic info - thank you all again.

TimS - re the 29eur fare - thought as much. Guess a bit like Nat Express funfares - you have to perservere and you have to get lucky.

Hetismij - when am I going?. This trip was to have been late October and was going to be a big adventure UK-Moscow. Sadly postponed due to unexpected stay in hospital (you know what they say about sh*t happening!!)

Will now be mid to late April 08 (early May in Russia). I'm just softening the disappointment with tons of research to improve my geography and see what's possible, what's affordable, and what I want to do most.

Come next February I'll be checking both sites for that bargain Amsterdam to Berlin fare!

Nice to have via Brussels as an option. Haven't been there since I was 13. And I think I'll go and see where it is in relation to Bruges.

I guess I'll be back later with more questions.

Happy travels, all.